Contributed by Mike Turney, SV Nelleke
This part of the world is great for cruising, providing some of the most unspoiled and picturesque bodies of water in North America, and I can’t possibly do justice to everywhere up here.
I can and will, unashamedly and unabashedly, depict the places and people that I know here in my adopted province by marriage and let you make up your own minds. I don’t make any money from this but if I can convince some of you to pay us a visit then I will have achieved my aim, particularly if I can convince you to visit some of the undeveloped spots that I think are the best places to cruise.
The Eastern Shore extends from Halifax to the Canso Causeway and consists of a series of deep inlets and broad bays surmounted to seaward with numerous rocky islands, some little more than bare rock and others of as much as 100 acres, tree-covered, with small interior lakes or swamps. The direct distance is approximately 250 km (155 mi.) but, if you follow all the inlets and bays, it easily exceeds three times that distance. The coastline is very irregular, interrupted by numerous harbours and headlands and highlighted by a narrow band of offshore islands. Faults, perpendicular to the shore, have created the deepest harbours in the province, Halifax and Country Harbours, along with numerous smaller coves where tiny fishing communities are sheltered. Salt marshes have developed in a few shallow inlets, especially Chezzetcook and Petpeswick, but for the most part only exposed rock confronts the ocean. It is a haven for a variety of bird life from Great Herons to Atlantic Puffin as well as containing many pods of dolphin and several large seal herds. The leatherback sea turtle is often sighted and during summer and early fall the area is a feeding ground for minke, finn and humpback whale herds.
This is a young coast, and when the glaciers scoured the region they took most of the soil with them, depositing it far out to sea. What little there is now comes from sediment carried in rivers and from erosion of loose drumlins scattered along the shore. Weathering of rock to replace the soil takes much longer than the ten thousand years that have elapsed since the last ice age. The bedrock is predominantly greywacke (quartzite) and slate. These were initially deep-water sediments deposited on the eastern side of the Atlantic off Africa, transformed under extreme heat and pressure, and thrust up against North America during continental drifting, millions of years ago. Igneous material later pushed up through this metamorphic cover to form the granite outcrops at the eastern extremity around Canso.
It is the island archipelago that distinguishes the Eastern Shore and what makes the region such a pleasure for the paddler. Nowhere else in the province will you find the number and variety of shoals, islets and islands as along this neglected coast. A few are large, hundreds of acres in size, but most are more modest, and some barely rise above the surface at high tide. Some are tree covered while others have acid bogs and scrub bush. The smallest are mere lichen-draped rocks, fringed with seaweed. Collectively they offer many sheltered routes and protection from a capricious ocean. These days, none are permanently inhabited and only a scattering of cottages and camps interrupt a wilderness trail. You will be sharing them with only the seals and sea birds.
A harsh maritime climate coupled with the lack of any significant topsoil has resulted in an impoverished vegetative cover. In some places this is entirely absent or restricted to the lichens and hardy shrubs, which can find a hold among the crevices. Elsewhere, a forest of dense spruce creeps up to the water's edge, stunted and deformed by the omnipresent salt air. This is not farming country. However, the coastal waters are clear and clean, and the littoral vegetation blossoms. Molluscs, crustaceans, and fish that have not yet been caught by offshore trawlers thrive in the nutrient rich, cool sea. The main attractions are the sea bird colonies and the seals. Gulls, guillemots, petrels, terns, and cormorants nest on the islands along with Eider Ducks, Ospreys, and occasionally, Bald Eagles. The Harbour and Grey Seals are common, and it is an unusual trip where you won't find them basking on the shoals. Deer live on the forested islands, sometimes year-round and sometimes only during the summer, swimming out and back.
The ocean moderates the temperatures considerably. During the winter, the little snow that falls is often interspersed with rain, and thaws are frequent - still it is not pleasant kayaking weather! Summers are much warmer, although the temperatures are several degrees cooler than inland readings, averaging 21 C (70 F) in the daytime and 15 C (60 F) at night. You will need a sweater and hat by the campfire, later in the season. The water temperature seldom reaches comfortable bathing levels, let alone allows an extended immersion due to a capsize. An exception is the protected, shallow inlet. Until July it is particularly cold and sometimes not much above freezing. By September it ranges from 13 C to 20 C (55 F to 68 F).
Expect plenty of fog from May to July (even later in some years) as warm, moist, continental air condenses over the ocean. The Eastern Shore experiences slightly more fog than the South Shore and considerably more than along the Northumberland Strait. Prevailing winds are from the southwest, and storms, when they occur, are usually short. As in other places, the topography influences local weather conditions, but rapid and dramatic changes, such as catabolic winds and twisters, are very rare. Beware, however, of the funnelling effect around headlands.
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The tidal range is only about 1 m to 2 m (4 ft. to 8 ft.) and the currents are negligible (under 1 knot), except for a few narrow channels or around headlands. The outflow from the rivers is insignificant since the drainage basins are small and the summers relatively dry. Large swells will occur in areas exposed to the open ocean, but inside the island belt these are usually attenuated. On a windy day, you will experience a chop, which is often at an angle to the swell(s). Special attention should be given to shoals (of which there are many). Even on a calm day, a seemingly innocuous swell can break unexpectedly over these rocky areas.
Of particular interest is the history of the Eastern Shore. Human habitation goes back several thousand years, when natives traveled along it in birch bark canoes. They have left their mark in names such as Musquodoboit Harbour, Mushaboom, Necum Teuch, and Canso. The first European to have recorded his visit was Champlain during one of his voyages to map the coast. Fishermen soon followed and made use of the many islands and sheltered coves to salt and dry their catches. Some remained throughout the year and supplemented fishing with a little subsistence farming. Small settlements arose along the shore, taking advantage of the rich inshore grounds. Dozens of fish plants, shipyards, and lobster canneries opened.
Canso was the largest of these communities, and in the early 1700's hundreds of vessels called at the port, annually. By the early part of the twentieth century, economic conditions were changing. The interior of the province had opened up and road transportation became practical. People moved to the urban centres and the coastal population began to decline. By the end of the Second World War, there were few permanent residents left on the islands. Today there are none. The recent crisis to the Atlantic fishery has only hastened a long-established trend. Most of the islands, once private, have reverted to public ownership and the remainder are rarely used. Except in lobster season (mid April to mid-June), you will seldom encounter another craft on these waters. Even the lighthouses, operated manually until the '80's, have all been automated. What was once a prosperous shore is slowly reverting to wilderness. Even the two largest towns have fewer than one thousand residents.
Most people visiting Nova Scotia by boat tour the South Shore extensively. Shelburne, Lunenburg, Chester, Mahone Bay are all names that are very familiar to visitors. Then, in most cases they will leave from Halifax and head to Cape Breton and the Bras d’Or Lakes, bypassing the Eastern Shore entirely. If they do this, they miss some of the best cruising grounds in Atlantic Canada. Even the local boaters skip this part of the coast, and I have never been able to find out why. In fact, if you tour some of the more remote inlets you are more likely to meet an American flagged yacht than a Canadian one and very few of those.
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Jeddore http://jeddore.com/index.html
Upon leaving Halifax heading east, if you consult the sailing guides, the first thing that will strike you is that you are in for a bit of a sail. The first few communities are only accessible by shoal draft boats so if you are in a keel boat you will have to bypass villages with names like: Three Fathom Harbour, Petpeswick, and Musquodoboit. Worth noting, if only for the uniqueness of their names.
After about 25 nm you will reach Jeddore. You can’t miss it. To the west are large red sandstone cliffs; to the east are a series of rocky islands and just off shore, smack dab in the middle of the harbour mouth is a conveniently placed rock with a lighthouse named, surprisingly enough, Jeddore Rock.
As you enter the harbour, to the west is West Jeddore with a small fishing plant and a public wharf. You can tie here but it is exposed to easterlies so you don’t want to leave your boat unattended for very long. To the east is East Jeddore, a beautiful and characteristic fishing village with a series of fish houses and docks along the shoreline. There are even a couple of artisans living here - painters and wood carvers. If you want to visit though, anchor off and take your dingy in. The channel in is marked privately with stakes and pieces of spruce tree that are maintained by the local fishermen on an annual basis. The only trouble with this system is that there is no red and green to tell the visitor which side to leave the trees on as you are coming in. You have a 50% chance of getting it right. I didn’t! Although I met a very charming fisherman with a big Cape Island boat who kindly pulled me off the mud bank, and subsequently showed me some good spots to dive for scallops, I made a point that from then on I have avoided taking Nelleke into that side of the harbour.
If you continue deeper into the main harbour (well marked) you will eventually get to a point where the harbour branches or forks in two. You can anchor at the head of each and each has some feature to recommend it. The eastern branch is the ancient site of a first nations community hunting camp and you can still occasionally find stone arrowheads on the beach, if you know what to look for. The western branch has a motel and restaurant at the head as well as a small but fascinating Fisherman’s House Museum that is furnished and maintained by the local communities – well worth a visit.
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Ship Harbour
If you like raw and basic seacoasts to cruise, then Ship Harbour is one of those magic places. You could spend weeks in this area poking around in the various bays and inlets, testing out new anchorages, as well as fishing or bird and whale watching. Like Jeddore, the main harbour is a deep inlet that culminates in a river, but you don't have to actually go into the harbour proper to enjoy this area. There are several sites offshore.
Wolfe Island
This is my absolute favourite spot in the harbour. Wolfe Island is easy to spot on the chart - it looks like pac man about to take a chomp out of the bay to the east. The island itself is about 100+ acres and even boasts a small interior lake. At one time there was a small community living here but now there are only a few fishing camps and cottages. There is a privately maintained campground on it too, but we have never been able to find out how to get permission to camp here. The mouth of pac man is called Long Creek and it is here that the transient yachts stop to drop the hook. Clusters of rocks guard the mouth to the creek and small islets that are easy to see in clear daylight, but if you are coming in here at night or in the fog (it is Nova Scotia, after all) you should have radar. Approach from the northeast and stay to the starboard side of the creek. To port the depth shoals up gradually. The creek is actually a geological slip fault with the deeper side to starboard. At the head of the creek there are a couple of small islands with what looks like good water behind it. Don't be fooled! With keel draft you shouldn't even try to get up to the islands. The rule of thumb that we use is to go no further than the cottages on the starboard bank.
This spot is well known to the local folk and during the day, particularly on the weekends you might be joined by people in smaller outboards or small cape island boats out with their families or girl friends for the day. They will pretty much all go home at dusk with the exception of one or two who might stay for a campfire in the small campground. We have found everyone to be very friendly and helpful and they certainly don't mind sharing this spot with the cruising tourist.
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Inside the Harbour
Ship Harbour itself is a fascinating place to tour from both the land and the sea. Rosborough Boatbuilders, although their offices are in Halifax, have their plant here in Ship Harbour.
These folks used to build sailing yachts reminiscent of a much older era with the master cabin aft with large windows facing the stern. We still see many of them up here and every once in awhile bump into one when visiting friends down south. Lately they have converted to building powerboats and rigid hull inflatables. They make a high quality very sturdy product and the family is very well known in these parts.
The town of Ship Harbour is right at the head of the bay, near where the river flows into the sea and where Highway 7 winds around the coast. In fact, if you meet someone who says they come from Ship Harbour, you might want to get them to elaborate. As with Jeddore, they could come from East, or West or even somewhere close by on the Highway. There is a fair amount of waterfront land available and as it is within 1-hour drive from Halifax it is starting to attract the attention of private individuals as well as developers.
Mushaboom
Nelleke has only been in this spot once and that was during a very traumatic time when the engine was apparently overheating; I couldn’t find the raw water filter to check if it was blocked; I was in a bit of a rush to get back home – you know the story. And, yes, Nelleke was only just new to us and yes we should have checked out the location of that critical part prior to setting off.
Anyway, some folks from Clearwater, Florida, who eventually became great friends, directed us into this spot. Just inside the harbour mouth to the west is a large basin with plenty of shelter from all sides and a good soft bottom for excellent holding. Three of us rafted up and fixed the cooling system and while we were there other boats came in to anchor. The basin was large enough to allow each group enough privacy that we could not hear what was going on with any of the other boats, even when they shouted to us. We had to communicate by radio.
The only wharves on the shoreline are private and only a few of those so this isn’t the sort of place to go to looking for nightlife but you could take the dog ashore in the dingy or yourself if you just wanted to stretch you legs.
One of these days we want to go further up into the harbour. We’ll let you know what we find.
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Liscomb Harbour
Liscomb is one of the few well-known stop off points on the Eastern Shore that every sailor in Nova Scotia knows about. The Liscomb River drains into Liscomb Bay, a beautiful tree lined harbour about 5 nm long. Occasional cottages and seasonal homes dot the shoreline and on the north side Highway #7 every once in a while comes down to the shoreline. The Bay contains a series of smaller islands each with spots to anchor if you don't want to sail right up to the mouth of the River. There is even supposed to be a treasure buried somewhere on Spanish Island. If you decide to visit Little Liscomb Harbour, be very careful. The channel from the Bay is well marked but very narrow and you could be up on a very rocky shoal very quickly.
But the real reason that most boaters make this stop is the Liscomb Lodge. This is a great spot located right at the head of navigation for the Bay. The trip is well marked albeit with small buoys, but they will show up with radar. Liscomb Lodge has a small wharf that could hold two 40' boats or more if you are prepared to raft. They also have a series of moorings in the river. These tend to be crowded with a very short scope but they are solid. Or you can anchor in the river mouth. The bottom is soft with good holding.
Upstream used to be a major logging site and in the old days they would move the cut timber down to the sea by water. The result is that the water is full of tannin from the bark that has settled on the bottom over the years - it gives it a brownish hue. I had often thought that it would be really fun to take a canoe up the river with a sleeping bag and pup tent and camp out on the way upstream fishing all the way. When I was a boy and my Dad was posted to Halifax, we sometimes came to this part of the world camping. The rivers and lakes are full of trout and salmon.
The Lodge has built a series of interpretive walking trails through the woods of varying lengths and I highly recommend that anyone visiting take a walk on at least one of them. The only problems with this site in the summer are the bugs. Make sure that you bring plenty of insect repellent - you'll need it! The Lodge gift shop sells the stuff in the large size - not a good omen!
But then let's not forget the Lodge itself. This is a great place. Forgetting for a moment that there are bicycles and pedal boats and kayaks for rent, that there are hotel rooms and suites to rent as well as private cabins, that there are washers and dryers to use, shore showers, a hot tub, a pool - the big attraction is a world class restaurant. Great food, reasonable to moderate price, great view and ambiance and a nice deep woodsy feeling. The specialite de la maison is Planked Salmon, which is to die for!
Oh! And by the way! Yes! Yacht crews are welcome to use the pool and hot tub while staying.
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Whitehead Harbour http://nslps.ednet.ns.ca/whitehead.htm
This is an interesting spot to stop over. Most people head into Yankee Cove that is just inside the mouth of the harbour to the east. Very nice quiet spot that a lot of people really like, especially the US touring boats...something about the name, I guess.
We like to go a little further in to the head of the Bay to the little spot named Whitehead. There is a fishing wharf there that we were introduced to by a couple out of RNSYS on a pretty little sloop named Triplicity. It is an active fishing wharf and we tied up among some crab fishing boats getting ready to go out that night. Shortly after we tied up this fellow arrived on the dock and asked us for $5 for the Fisherman's Association. "Oh, right!" says I to myself, "Great line!" But then he hands me a receipt! Not too many panhandlers give out receipts so I concluded that he was legit. Then he proceeds to show me where we can plug in for power and to run our hoses from for water. All for $5!
We had a nice dinner aboard and a walk around through the community. We quickly discovered that it was a First Nations village - everyone was very friendly and helpful. A couple of fellows even asked if we needed a ride to a store. I got up in the middle of the night to check out the lines, etc. and the crab boats were still behind us. Later at 0600 when I got up to cook breakfast, they were gone. I am a very light sleeper and I am quite used to the fishing boats leaving port at full throttle especially if they can bounce some tourist around in their yacht, but not here. Not a sound, not a ripple. They must have been casting off in whispers and gone out under bare idle. Unbelievable consideration and kindness.
In summary, this is a great spot to stop overnight. Not much happening on shore, but the local residents are very friendly and the price for tying up alongside is very reasonable.
Andrew’s Island/ Andrew’s Pass
As you leave the Eastern Shore, you have several choices – you can head directly for St. Peter’s in Cape Breton, Port Hawksbury at the mouth of the Canso Lock, or you can head in to visit the town of Canso. I strongly recommend the latter as Canso is a great quiet little town with lots to recommend it for the cruising tourist. I won’t discuss that here as I have already posted something on Canso on this thread.
However, getting to Canso from the Eastern Shore could be fun too. You can go to seaward of Andrew’s Island and over the Ledges to come at the town from the sea. This is the long route. Or, you can head through Andrew’s Passage, the shorter route. This is the shorter and far more picturesque route that takes you between Andrew’s Island and the mainland, past several small cottages and fishing camps and comes out into the Canso approaches just short of the town breakwater.
A word of caution. The passage is very well marked but you will need to be aware that you transition from going upstream to going downstream midway through and the change happens to be right at a buoy where there is no latitude to go on the other side even if you scrape your paint! It is obvious which one it is if you check your chart.
