By: Chuck & Andrea Wistar

The Down East Circle Loop circumnavigates America’s northeastern states and Canada’s maritime provinces clockwise from New York City via the Hudson River, Erie Canal, the St. Lawrence River, Northumberland Strait, and returns from Nova Scotia and Maine on the Atlantic Coast, Buzzards Bay, and Long Island Sound. It is about 2,500 nautical miles, and welcomes the well-found cruiser to sights and cultures unlike any others in the hemisphere.

Cruisers (and writers) too often overlook the Canadian segment of the Loop. Yet in so many ways, those parts are the most beautiful, intriguing, and adventuresome. In the previous two parts, we described our Summer 2004 journey from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence past the world-class cities of Montreal and Quebec and around the remote and dramatic Gaspe Peninsula as far as the eastern shores of New Brunswick.

In early August we departed Miramachi, New Brunswick, bound across Northumberland Strait to Prince Edward Island, famous for its distinctive red soil, new potatoes, and Ann of Green Gables.

Northumberland Strait separates PEI from the mainland. It ranges from 10-20 miles wide but runs the entire 100-mile length of that smallest of Canadian provinces. A strange mix of currents pulls in warm water from the Gulf Stream a hundred miles or so off the shores of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and settles them in the strait. Water temperatures can reach the 70s in the summer – about the same as Virginia Beach!

Docking was easy at the Summerside Curling and Yacht Club, home of the current Canadian national and international curling champions. It is a big time sport! Visitors will enjoy a bike ride on the Confederation Trail – PEI’s 200-mile meandering rails-to-trails path through pastoral fields of wheat and potatoes. It is easily accessable from nearly every town and all major cities.

Fuel is available throughout all the waters of the Down East Circle Loop, but only rarely are pumps handy at a dock. Instead, it is delivered by truck. Arrangements are simple, as it is done all the time for the commercial fishermen. It is sold by the liter, and when you get finished with the metric and currency conversions, there is some serious sticker shock. We fueled in Summerside for the first time since we had topped off in Brewerton, NY, at the western end of Lake Oneida on the Erie Canal. We were delighted to learn that our twin Cummins 220s were sipping a total of only 5.8 gph, much less than the 6.5 gph we are accustomed to at our cruising speed of 9 knots. The difference is largely attributable to the wonderful “downhill” currents that helped us through most of the 1,000 plus miles covered since the last fuel stop.

A delightful 45-mile cruise down Northumberland Strait and under the Confederation Bridge – a 5-year old, 9-mile span that links PEI with the mainland – found us in Charlottetown, a really great city. The provincial capital has a huge performing arts facility with multiple theaters. Other venues participate in a summer-long festival of music, comedy, and drama. Our accommodations were at the Charlottetown Yacht Club. The term yacht club is widely used in Canada, but not in the sense of private US clubs. Membership is usually open to all; most have active racing, cruising, and social programs. Transient cruisers are welcome just as they are in marinas throughout the US.

In Charlottetown as in just about every port we visited, we discovered that Canada is amazingly well ‘wired’ for Internet service. In even the smallest and most remote villages, the town library has a couple terminals free for the asking. The federal and provincial governments provide most of the funding. Any and all are welcome to use the service, which is almost always free. These saved us lugging the laptop somewhere, and let us keep up with any email, banking, and our Website (www.celebratecruising.com) as needed. In larger ports, wi-fi connections are often available in local coffee shops.

Seas were flat for several hours after we departed Charlottetown and headed east across Northumberland Strait between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. An unforecasted 20kt northerly wind really stacked things up, though, and we pulled up 30 miles short of our intended destination.

The good news is that we tucked in to Ballentyne’s Cove around the tip of Pt. George for the night – a picturesque gem and a neat discovery. At the new floating docks, fully surrounded by a high, granite sea wall, we were greeted by Mr. Ballentyne himself, the fifth generation of the family that started things. It is a busy tuna fishing port because giant (over 1,000 lbs) bluefin tuna school there in August and September to fatten up on the abundant mackerel. They are caught on hook and line from small fishing boats, and auctioned early each morning – many going to Japan the same day for thousands of dollars apiece!

From Ballentyne’s Cove, it’s about 30 miles across St. George’s Bay to the Canso Strait. The strait separates the mainland of Nova Scotia from Cape Breton Island, the huge northern region of that province with its famous Bras D’Or lakes. It is series of large and small deep lakes all easing into one another other, and chock full of gunkholes, not unlike the Chesapeake Bay. In all our cruising, every Canadian (and US) cruiser we met seemed to be going to or coming from Bras D’Or. Our schedule did not permit a visit, but next year . . .

The Canso Causeway lock breaks a control dam between Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia. The lift is only a foot or so at slack tide and we didn’t even have to tie up. Without the dam and lock, currents would run 7-9 knots.

Crossing the Strait of Canso we saw what we thought might be a dead baby whale, but as we got close it moved and Andrea did some research and concluded it was a basking shark, not unusual in these waters. Rounding Canso we reached the easternmost point of our loop at W60° 54’. Now we really were beginning the return part of our trip. Head seas greeted us and we turned in to Whitehead Bay for a quiet anchorage and respite from the wind.

With a weather forecast full of discussion about winds from the southeast at 30km/h gusting to 50km/h, we knew it would be a handful. Instead of taking the three easy days we had planned to get to Halifax, we got going at 0630 and headed straight for it even though it meant bypassing some stops we had been looking forward to. The further we got, the smoother it got, and we wound up at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron 13 hours and 117 nm later, flat seas the last several hours.

Halifax is a neat city - great farmers' market, waterfront renaissance, restaurants, parks, pubs, etc. It is a major metropolitan area with all the conveniences one would expect in the US. We rented a car and visited Peggy’s Cove. In some ways it is a bit touristy, but it is certainly picturesque, even in the fog. By the way, don’t even think of trying to visit it by boat. Rocks, shoals, ledges, tides, and currents make it a wonder that even the local boats can find their way in and out.

Mahone Bay is an extensive cruising ground a short cruise down the southwest coast of Nova Scotia from Halifax. It is sprinkled with islands and dotted with shore-side villages. Chester is a very tony community with a lot of American summer residents – some changing the region with McMansions amid the traditional and quaint homes around the harbor. Mahone Bay is full of grassy and wooded islands, certainly a place where one could cruise for several days inhaling the touch and feel of the real Nova Scotia.

Just 20 miles further down the coast is Lunenberg. Arriving in there was like cruising into the middle of a post card. The town is completely given over to maritime enterprises – originally shipbuilding and fishing. In recent times, tourism has become important, as fishing has waned. Every waterfront building is painted a brighter color than the next. Even on the residential streets, each house is freshly painted and accented with vivid contrasting trim colors. As elsewhere in Canada, we were struck by the neatness, cleanliness, and friendliness. E-mail, again, was readily available at the library, as were fresh lobsters at the conveniently located supermarket. We cooked them aboard for dinner – outstanding!

Port La Tour is a quiet fishing village 80 miles down the coast where we again anchored and staged for rounding Cape Sable at the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia. Two families (one with four generations aboard) made a quiet evening cruise out to visit us in their lobster boats and welcome us to their home waters.

Negotiating Cape Sable requires some real planning because the tides and currents are such a major factor in the approach to Yarmouth, effectively at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy with its incredible tides and tidal flows. Computations called for us to clear Cape Sable around noon. We did, and rode the flood the next 40 miles to Yarmouth. Everything turned out to be a non-event. Perfect weather, perfect tidal current, calm waters, and a pleasant anchorage in Yarmouth Harbor.

Although we had entertained thoughts of heading around and up the Bay of Fundy to Nova Scotia’s own Annapolis, St. John, and other cruising destinations, a scheduled rendezvous with friends in Maine led us to save those for another day. We decided to go to Grand Manan Island far across the Bay of Fundy but about 20 miles short of the New Brunswick mainland. We set out at 1130 Atlantic Time and arrived at 1930.

It was flat calm, and to our delight about halfway across the water became alive with billions of jumping herring feeding on trillions of krill and all the above being inhaled by three huge finback whales. We stopped and drifted for half an hour as the whales took steamshovel-size bites of lunch. Awesome.

Grand Manan is grand. It is a sizeable island about 15 miles off the coast of the Maine / Campobello Island mainland. It is a busy fishing center, but also a rustic vacation region. We hiked the rim of the 200' high cliffs that are the north shore. The tidal range is around 20'. It provides a free "dry dock" for the local fisherman to use when the bottom of the boat needs some fresh paint. We also dined on the best lobster roll sandwich we've ever had. Andrea was treated to a bag of dulse by a local whose company harvests and packages this vitamin and nutrient rich delicacy. It is essentially dried kelp (seaweed) and can be eaten dried, raw, in a salad, and as a seasoning. One must acquire a taste for it.

We set out for St. Andrews, NB, some 30 miles distant across the remainder of the Bay of Fundy. A bit of fog got in the way but lifted as we rounded East Quoddy Head on Campobello Is. The strait to Eastport, ME was full of current and eddies accommodating the 25' tides in this region.

Arrival in St. Andrews was a piece of cake - we were led to a mooring by the “wharfinger,” and went ashore to enjoy this perfect destination. At low tide, the harbor in St. Andrews dries out about 300-400' from the high tide shore. We found food, a hot Internet cafe, gym, lobster rolls, shops, and once again, the friendliest of welcomes all around. St. Andrews gets our 'five maple leaf' rating for certain. Some flaky weather forecasts combined with our complete enjoyment of the town resulted in a delightful four-day stay. But it could not last forever.

As we neared the end of our cruise in Canadian waters it was a melancholy moment. We looked forward to our return to the US, but we knew we would miss the friendship, beauty, and amazing cruising we had enjoyed for nearly two months. Lobsters aboard capped four activity-filled days, and having a full moon rising over what Chesapeake boaters would call a ‘slick cam’ mooring field only enhanced our romantic impression of the wonderful Canadian waters.

We departed St. Andrews on a foggy afternoon bound just a dozen or so miles to Eastport, ME, to clear customs. Canada was now in our wake. Coasting down the more familiar bays, sounds and rivers of Maine and New England took another delightful month before we eventually "closed the loop" where we began in Annapolis, MD.

Behind us were the actual experiences that trumped any of our early apprehensions. Tides and currents can be planned and managed to an advantage. Language is not a problem. Navigation is completely straightforward. Depths make it comfortable for any draft vessel. Plastic transactions are convenient, accurate, and give you fair conversions. Prices in Canada are somewhat of a bargain compared to the US with the exception of fuel. Although we were often out of sight of other cruisers, sometimes for a day or more, we never felt out of touch if something were needed quickly. The locals are always there and ready to help. Getting around was never a problem in cities large or small.

For us, the Down East Circle Loop was a cruise of a lifetime. The friendliness of Canadians everywhere we traveled, the spectacular nature of our northern neighbor, and the excitement of discovering new waters all combined to make this an adventure we recommend without hesitation to any serious cruisers who yearn to get off the beaten path.

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain