So we finally quit doing boat projects and went sailing! We set off from Pictou towards Canso and after a very calm morning the wind picked up and we had a really nice sail from Cape George to Havre Boucher. We anchored there for the night and set off the next day for Canso. Again, after a calm morning when we went through the Canso locks, we had a favourable wind and a nice sail from the Straits of Canso across the bay to Canso.
Arriving in Canso in the early afternoon we relaxed and puttered around for a bit before heading off to the StanFest grounds to get our weekend passes. Luck was with us as we ran into some people who wanted to sell some extra passes for about half price (great news to a couple just trying to get used to living on retirement income!).
For anyone who isn't familiar with StanFest it is a weekend long music festival with mainstage concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and daytime 'workshops', with multiple artists on stage for hour long sessions. There are six different workshop stages, so lots of choice as to who to go and hear - and lots of times you get to see some great jam sessions. We would highly recommend going, for anyone interested in music. Most people camp and the weather can be brutal - typical StanFest attire includes all the clothes you have with you, including boots and rain gear, to combat the rain, fog and cold. We have been lucky over the four years we have been attending, and this year the only complaint was that it was too hot!
Friday night we walked up to hear the concert and I had my jeans and boots on, and fleece and raingear in my pack, fully prepared for a usual evening on the grass in Canso. By the time we got there and sat down in our lawn chairs, I was so hot that I took off my boots and socks and rolled up my pants for a couple of hours until the sun was down and it cooled off. The only real reason for a fleece was to keep the bugs off! It was baking hot during the days, and we were glad to be in the shade of the tents, but we had a really good time.
Monday morning we were happy not to have to get up at 4:30 a.m. as in past years, to head for home so we could get back to work. Instead we took a trip in the dinghy over to Grassy Island, which we think maybe should have been named Buggy Island instead. It was a flat calm day and after we got back we hauled up the anchor and motored to St. Peter's where we went out for supper to celebrate our anniversary.
Tuesday we went into the lakes and had a great sail across West Bay before we anchored for the night not far from Marble Mountain. The next day we tied up to the wharf at Marble Mountain and met Dave's sister Carol and her family, who had driven up from Bedford for the day. We had a great sail around West Bay and then barbequed burgers for supper before they headed for home, leaving Julien with us as crew for the rest of the trip.
After a bit of rain on Wednesday morning the weather turned beautiful again and we spent a night in Orangedale where we went for a walk and saw the trains even though the museum was closed, MacRae's Cove where we went for a walk on the beach and decided to venture into the woods to explore a trail which turned out to be a big mistake as we got eaten alive by mosquitos, D'Escousse and Ballantyne's Cove before heading for Pictou.
After we went through the Canso locks we saw about 40 or 50 pilot whales, which was really cool. A few of them came really close to the boat and when Julien and I went up to the bow to have a look at one, after it dove down we saw these great huge bubbles in the water, which was amazing. It was such a hot day that we went swimming at the beach at Ballantyne's at 6:30 p.m. to cool off!
When we got back to Pictou on the last day Carol and Luc came to pick up Julien it was another baking hot day and we went back out on the boat and anchored just outside Pictou Harbour for a swim before they went home.
This trip gave us an opportunity to try out some of our new gear and everything is great. I love the new stove and the new barbeque is great too. The aft head plumbing is finished and functioning (after the addition and adjustment of a few hose clamps) and our new VHF with the unit in the cockpit is very handy. The instruments are working well, although we haven't figured out how to turn off our depth alarm in shallow water, which is pretty annoying. It sounds like Dave might have added a big fridge project to the list, since in this hot weather we have been having the fridge compressor is working too much, so hopefully he can get that figured out before we leave.
Still lots to do, and only about four or five weeks to do it in, but 10 days away on the boat allowed us a bit of a break and we're ready to get back at it again.
Arriving in Canso in the early afternoon we relaxed and puttered around for a bit before heading off to the StanFest grounds to get our weekend passes. Luck was with us as we ran into some people who wanted to sell some extra passes for about half price (great news to a couple just trying to get used to living on retirement income!).
For anyone who isn't familiar with StanFest it is a weekend long music festival with mainstage concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and daytime 'workshops', with multiple artists on stage for hour long sessions. There are six different workshop stages, so lots of choice as to who to go and hear - and lots of times you get to see some great jam sessions. We would highly recommend going, for anyone interested in music. Most people camp and the weather can be brutal - typical StanFest attire includes all the clothes you have with you, including boots and rain gear, to combat the rain, fog and cold. We have been lucky over the four years we have been attending, and this year the only complaint was that it was too hot!
Friday night we walked up to hear the concert and I had my jeans and boots on, and fleece and raingear in my pack, fully prepared for a usual evening on the grass in Canso. By the time we got there and sat down in our lawn chairs, I was so hot that I took off my boots and socks and rolled up my pants for a couple of hours until the sun was down and it cooled off. The only real reason for a fleece was to keep the bugs off! It was baking hot during the days, and we were glad to be in the shade of the tents, but we had a really good time.
Monday morning we were happy not to have to get up at 4:30 a.m. as in past years, to head for home so we could get back to work. Instead we took a trip in the dinghy over to Grassy Island, which we think maybe should have been named Buggy Island instead. It was a flat calm day and after we got back we hauled up the anchor and motored to St. Peter's where we went out for supper to celebrate our anniversary.
Tuesday we went into the lakes and had a great sail across West Bay before we anchored for the night not far from Marble Mountain. The next day we tied up to the wharf at Marble Mountain and met Dave's sister Carol and her family, who had driven up from Bedford for the day. We had a great sail around West Bay and then barbequed burgers for supper before they headed for home, leaving Julien with us as crew for the rest of the trip.
After a bit of rain on Wednesday morning the weather turned beautiful again and we spent a night in Orangedale where we went for a walk and saw the trains even though the museum was closed, MacRae's Cove where we went for a walk on the beach and decided to venture into the woods to explore a trail which turned out to be a big mistake as we got eaten alive by mosquitos, D'Escousse and Ballantyne's Cove before heading for Pictou.
After we went through the Canso locks we saw about 40 or 50 pilot whales, which was really cool. A few of them came really close to the boat and when Julien and I went up to the bow to have a look at one, after it dove down we saw these great huge bubbles in the water, which was amazing. It was such a hot day that we went swimming at the beach at Ballantyne's at 6:30 p.m. to cool off!
When we got back to Pictou on the last day Carol and Luc came to pick up Julien it was another baking hot day and we went back out on the boat and anchored just outside Pictou Harbour for a swim before they went home.
This trip gave us an opportunity to try out some of our new gear and everything is great. I love the new stove and the new barbeque is great too. The aft head plumbing is finished and functioning (after the addition and adjustment of a few hose clamps) and our new VHF with the unit in the cockpit is very handy. The instruments are working well, although we haven't figured out how to turn off our depth alarm in shallow water, which is pretty annoying. It sounds like Dave might have added a big fridge project to the list, since in this hot weather we have been having the fridge compressor is working too much, so hopefully he can get that figured out before we leave.
Still lots to do, and only about four or five weeks to do it in, but 10 days away on the boat allowed us a bit of a break and we're ready to get back at it again.