We traveled three long days from Yarmouth to reach Nova Scotia’s capital, Halifax, for a total of 169 nm. When we left Yarmouth, we had to be conscious of the tides. A well timed departure could add 2 kn to our speed as the tide pushes us ahead, while a poorly timed one could reduce our speed by 3 kn. With that in mind, we left Yarmouth at 5am on the first day. It would have been even better to leave earlier, but we wanted our sleep. As anticipated, our departure was completely socked in with fog, so we turned on our fog horn, kept on our running lights that we usually use only after sunset, fired up the radar and kept a sharp eye for other vessels: we never saw another boat.
After a full day of foggy travel (a mix of sailing and under motor), we arrived to a spectacular harbor. As we entered the more protected water, the fog lifted and we were treated to a beautiful view, loon song, and the realization that we only had to share the anchorage with two other boats.
The second day was similarly foggy, and again, we watched the fog lift as we made our way to our anchorage. There, we were the only boat. We saw many jellyfish, some 10 inches in diameter. We stayed in the boat!
On the third day, we arrived to Halifax in the early evening. We happened to arrive on a Wednesday, and true to yacht club tradition, we were treated to several regattas on our way through the harbor. We docked at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, which boasts the title of the oldest yacht club in North America. Jim chose it based on location and that it was the yacht club from which a family set sail in one of his favorite sailing books. We were weary after all our travel, and once we tied up and ensured our boat was secure, we had a quick dinner at the yacht club and tumbled into bed.
Our friend and crewmate, Brian, flew home to Minneapolis from Halifax as planned. We spent a couple of days in Halifax, waiting for a weather window for a 24 hour sail to Cape Breton Island, our planned next stop.
We enjoyed our 2 full days in Halifax, taking advantage of the time in various ways:
- Some needed boat purchases from a very well-equipped chandlery nearby. We’ve been surprised over the course of our travels how hard these can be to find
- General boat chores like laundry and cleaning
- Visiting other boat owners at the yacht club’s annual “Pier Fest” designed for members to get to know one another. We felt very welcome when the owners of the boat next to ours encouraged us to attend. It’s always fun to talk with other sailors and get locals’ advice on anchorages and routes
- Watching the local sailing school where the kids spend most of the day on the water, rain or shine
- Anne spent a day in Halifax, having never been here before. She did some work at their beautiful, state of the art public library, took an historical walking tour (always a fan favorite), and visited the Maud Lewis exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Maud was a well-known, prolific artist from rural Nova Scotia whose paintings are even more impressive given her chronic pain and limited function due to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
- Sampling Tunisian food, a first for both of us
- Walking in the wilderness area directly across the road from our marina. The area reminded us very much of the North Shore of Lake Superior: rock, blueberries and loon calls.
Halifax has a rich maritime history. The original inhabitants were the Mi’kma’ki people, and there is evidence of their presence for at least the past 18,000 years. The first Europeans to arrive were the British in the mid-1700s, and for many years, it was fought over by the French and British, like many places in todays’ US and Canada. With just over 500,000 “Haligonians,” it is the largest city in the province and remains an active site with 2 container ports, a cruise ship terminal, major Coast Guard and naval presence, many ferries, and a lot of pleasure boating.