As planned, we made an overnight run along the coast of Nova Scotia, and we were pleased we were able to sail during much of the daylight hours. We arrived at St. Peter’s in the late morning. St Peter’s is the small community at the entrance of the Bras d’Or Lakes, two large, connected brackish lakes in the center of Cape Breton Island. We entered through a lock and swing bridge without incident. We plan to spend the next week or longer exploring the lakes.
St. Peter’s was initially settled by Nicolas Deny in 1650, and the town was a center for agriculture, lumbering, fishing and fur trade. The townspeople traded with the Mi’kmaw people and built a haulover road between the Bras d’Or Lakes and the North Atlantic to facilitate trade and resupplying. In 1869, after 15 years of construction, St. Peter’s Canal opened to create a southern water route from the lakes to the ocean. It is 800 meters long and on average 30 meters wide. The lock is a “tidal lock,” meaning it can adjust water levels based on tidal level of two separate bodies of water (the lakes and the ocean). Based on tides, sometimes the lake is the higher body of water, and sometimes the ocean. The lock master told us this is one of two such locks in North America, and one of the only locks with a female lock master.
We had a quiet day of rest after our 28 hour trip and were treated to a lot of rain while safely anchored. We are always happy to have a freshwater rinse of the boat! The salt from ocean splash is hard on everything. The following day, Jim stayed aboard and Anne took the paddle board to shore to explore St. Peter’s and the adjacent Battery Provincial Park.
