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It turns out that our decision to delay departure to Nova Scotia for a day was a good one. On arrival in Yarmouth (at the southern end of the province) we were greeted by a very friendly local, Roger, who was excited to tell us about an experienced, single-handed, trans-Atlantic sailor heading east who had tried to get around Tropical Storm Cristobal but instead had been rolled several times in 20 ft seas, de-masted, and had to be rescued by helicopter. He was certainly further out than we would have been but such stories (which non-sailors feel particularly compelled to repeat in lurid detail) are an important reminder not to hurry and ignore the weather. As it was, our crossing of the mouth of the Bay of Fundy on July 23/24 was relatively calm but was largely fog-bound and being at night it was significantly cold in the damp air. The currents that make the tides of the Bay so famous were noticeable both in affecting our direction (mostly cross currents for us) and in the changeable state of the water surface. Only around the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest had we seen more visible and variable water conditions due to currents.

With a view of a bald eagle on the beach, we had left our anchorage in Southwest Harbor in sunshine on Wednesday morning having had a good lobster dinner for Randall and fish & chips for me at the Captain’s Galley on Beal’s Lobster Pier the night before. But as night fell we were very thankful to have had the radar fixed and especially in the morning as we motored gingerly into Yarmouth Harbour in thick fog.

As our Port-of Entry into Canada, Yarmouth was a good choice as the customs process by phone was very efficient. At the marina, we also saw a couple of customs agents meeting another boat who were very welcoming. Having been quite chilled overnight, it was a bit of a surprise to find that as the day advanced it not only warmed up but became very hot and humid…thanks to the southwest winds pulled up by Cristobal. We walked all around downtown Yarmouth and along an excellent path at the water’s edge, back out towards the sea. We re-provisioned (given that we had reduced the amount of food we would bring into Canada) and had a delightful meal out to celebrate getting to Nova Scotia. We liked Yarmouth with its industrious fishing fleet and facilities for visitors by private boat or the high-speed CAT ferries from places like Bar Harbor and Portland. Our only disappointments were needing to leave before the boat parade-of-lights that weekend, and finding that our laptop was showing the flickering, mulit-colored screen of death. A local computer consultant wasn’t able to help us but suggested that Halifax would be the best place to consider buying a replacement…Fortunately, we have all our electronic charts on the chart-plotter as well as the laptop but we would have to get the latter fixed or replaced to download weather charts and access other boat-related documents, as well as for email, blog-updates, etc.