A days work in Lunenburg

 

The early morning view from our hotel room window was promising! The humans were up early as there was lots to do. The hotel had still not got its wifi up and running as their provider still had no power. Parts of Lunenburg were also out of power, so we were lucky. Breakfast was taken in the hotel for which one had to pay cash as there was no Internet for doing credit cards! 

After breakfast Brec went and got the dinghy and engine with the motor car. Our BBF met him at the Wharf and then took the car to fill up the extra jerrycan they bought yesterday. That done he collected Sandy and all their baggage from the hotel. Back on the Wharf Brec was pumping up the dinghy! The kit was loaded onto a trolly from the car and Sandy took the car to get ice for the boat! 

An emotional farewell was taken and she set off to Halifax to return the car and fly first to Montreal where she will take the train tomorrow to New York! 

The men then launched the dinghy into the water, loaded it up with half the kit and set off for OTTER! Once there Brec got off took all the kit out of the dinghy and then our BBF set off back to the Wharf to collect the rest of our belongings!

It’s quite a climb down but thankfully the tide was in or it would have been further! Back at OTTER the kit was unloaded and then our BBF from the dinghy tied on to the mooring chain, which Brec had pulled up out of the water, a new Buoy as the old one had blown off in the Storm. 

The men the set about putting sails back on. They worked slowly, but methodically from bow to stern. First the Genoa then the staysail and then the main sail! 

It’s easy in the telling but there are many little things that need to be done so it all works and it takes time. When that was done our BBF tied the Liferaft back on deck. The dodgers and the Pram-hood put back. When all was done personal kit below was sorted out and finally the men were ready to go ashore for a meal.

We should mention that our BBF made lunch and tea at teatime to replenish some of the energy used during the day!

                        The new mooring buoy!

We are back in position with Pugsly and have brought two new friends with us! They are Sandy bear and Schnupsie the hedgehog! Both were birthday gifts from Brec and Sandy! 

Back to Lunenburg

We were up early as we were going back to Lunenburg and Brec was keen to get going! The start of the day in New Glasgow was overcast very with light rain showers as we got on the road about 09:30 hrs. It cleared more and more as we traveled on. We stopped once for fuel just North of Halifax by the airport.

When we arrived in Lunenburg at around 12:00 hrs we drove straight to the Zwicket Warf to check on OTTER. She was riding peacefully on her mooring in flat calm water as if there had never been a Hurricane that passed through here!

OTTER can just be seen above the bow of the dark yacht!

However, evidence that a Hurricane had been here there was! We had seen broken trees and branches, many already cleared aware. The worst though was that there was no power in Town at all! We were able to check into our room in the Dockside Inn, but they had no power and their restaurant would remain closed.

We unloaded the humans and our kit into the hotel. Then the men left Sandy and us there while they went to see if they could get access to the dinghy! They returned without success, but had heard that the supermarket was open as they had a generator. Together with Sandy they went there to revictual the boat and to have stuff to eat for lunch.

With the stores they returned to the hotel where our BBF made lunch! After lunch the men went to the Filling Station by the supermarket as Brec was keen to get one more Jerrycan for diesel. That way he would be fully sufficient in fuel to motor all the way to Provincetown if necessary! They were successful in this and Brec also bought a small torch which he and Sandy did not have with them, plenty on the boat just not in their luggage and the bathroom has no windows so is in total darkness! Our BBF has his headtorch so he didn’t need one, and we bears can see in the dark!

The men now lay down for a nap! When our BBF woke the sun was shining. Brec surfaced and he told him that he was going to sit in the sun on the dockside! He also discovered that Tim Hortons outside town had power and was open. Alan told Brec to pick him up when they were ready to eat.

The Dockside Inn where we have returned to!

It was nice and warm in the sun and our BBF just chilled looking at boats and being by the sea, always good for the soul he says!

Brec came and collected him and they drove to Tim Hortons, Sandy wanted to sleep some more and was left in the Hotel! 

Our BBF‘s meal! While the men were eating and charging their phones, Sandy rang and asked for them to bring her something! She also gave them the good news that the power in the hotel was back on. Hurrah! So ended another day in Nova Scotia!

A Birthday in a Hurricane.

Our day started with Birthday messages for our BBF from our Worms patchwork family and then Brec and Sandy sang too. The humans then went to breakfast. The weather outside was windy with rain, the hurricane was coming closer. Birthday messages were coming in from all sides of the planet. His Pace-O’Shea patchwork family also sang and wished him well, as did many old comrades and sailing friends.

As the stone shows it is the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the Hector to start the Scottish Colony in November Scotia.

After breakfast we went to visit the said ship in Pictou where it is being restored.

The ship is being restored to modern standards so that they can take visitors out on the lake. 

We experienced how cramped it must have been. Now they are installing waterproof bulkheads which the original did not have. 

On deck the wind was increasing as the storm got closer.

The Bluenose II was sadly not open for viewing, but was snug and safe in her berth.

This hut was safely tied so the hurricane could not blow it away.

Our humans now went looking for a cafe and had to resort to a trip to Tim Hortons. It was lunch time but out BBF only wanted coffee and a doughnut. The humans then returned to to the hotel for a nap.

After the nap shopping was on the agenda, but sadly the Mall here is slowly dying and there was nothing for our BBF to buy.

They went then for a birthday G+T to the Sports bar.

And later for a meal to the Swiss Chalet.



To our BBF’s complete surprise Brec and Sandy had planned a surprise party with cake, cards and presents.

Our day ended with a rainbow as well as a birthday party all of which are good omens for the future. 

Round Cape Breton Island

We were up early, for today promised to be long day. Brec was worried about OTTER for Hurricane Lee arrives Saturday and watched various news and weather programmes on TV. His main worry was, had he done enough to protect OTTER from the storm and kept thinking of additional things he could have done! There seem to be so many different forecasts of what will happen to Lee though the direction of travel seems to be constant now, the eye will go into the Gulf of Main so passing to the west of Nova Scotia. 

The humans went to breakfast and it was a help yourself type of buffet. You could get fresh pancakes from a machine by pressing a button, then wait for them to come out the end and you could make your own toast. Coffee too came from a large machine. Suitably breakfasted we all got in the car and we were off.

The day started grey and overcast with some light rain showers, but the road was good and we made fair progress to our first destination which was Sidney a town on the Northeast end of Cape Breton Island. Occasionally one caught glimpses of the Bras d’Or Lake and the Atlantic Ocean to our right. Stops were made to take photographs when the road allowed.

As the day went on the weather improved and when we got to Sidney we found an Irish Pub where we could sit on their roof terrace with a view over the harbour for lunch.

The men had the fish chowder which we understand was delicious. Our BBF even shared his Guiness with Brec who couldn’t manage a whole pint.

We saw no organ grinders and paid much more for our beds!

We crossed over the water to get to the Cabot Trail. The Trail was a windy road through the mountains and offered great views over the ocean.

There were fun motives too.

And many views were spectacular.

Then we went through the mountains to the other shore on the North side of the island.

The sun slowly went down and we then drove on in the dark and only stopped at a place to eat.

Sandy drove the whole way  and we calculated that by the time we got back to our hotel in New Glasgow she had spent 12 hours behind the wheel. Thankfully as a former travelling sales person in the Paper Industry she not only was an experienced drive, but loved driving. A couple of glasses of Port in the “Shipfaced” glasses were drunk before all humans collapsed into bed.