MV Dirona travel digest for Bras d'Or Lakes 2016


Show Bras d'Or Lakes 2016 travel log map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at //mvdirona.com/maps/LocationCurrent.html.


   

8/28/2016: Leaving Newfoundland
We're underway on a 150-nm, 24-hour passage to Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia. In addition to looking for a good weather forecast for the run across Laurentian Channel between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, we also need to time our arrival at the entrance channel, Great Bras d'Or. The current at the narrow north end can flow up to 4.5 kts, and wind blowing against current there can generate rough waters. We initially were planning to spend a couple more days in Newfoundland, but the forecast for our planned departure deteriorated this morning so we decided to take today's good weather instead. We expect 10-15kt westerly winds decreasing to light this afternoon and picking up to southerly 15 late overnight. The winds are forecast to be 25 knots from the south near noon tomorrow and 30 knots by evening, so we want to be through the entrance before then.
8/28/2016: Oil pressure sender
With the generator off the oil pressure was reading 32 PSI. It's easy to test if the problem is the sending unit or the guage and wiring: get a known good ground and ground the oil pressure sending unit wire and the gauge should read 0 PSI. Disconnect that same line and it should read 82 PSI. It did so we know it's a sending unit problem. Replacing the sending unit is quick and easy, and the oil pressure is now back to reading normally.
8/28/2016: MSC Diego
Mediterrean Shipping Company (MSC) Diego passing ahead as we enter Cabot Strait. MSC is the second largest shipping in the world measured by TEU (20ft equivalent unit) shipping capacity. As with our northbound crossing, we didn't see much traffic in Cabot Strait.
8/28/2016: Conditions
We saw steady 20 knot westerly winds for much of the afternoon and were pitching up to 14 degrees. The winds finally have started to settle down and boat motion is reducing.
8/29/2016: Southwesterly
As predicted, the winds increased from the southwest about six hours ago. We're taking waves pretty much on the bow and pitching motion has increased. Conditions should improve as we near the lee of Nova Scotia and the entry to Bras d'Or Lake.
8/29/2016: Point Aconi Power Plant
The Point Aconi Power Plant is a 165MW coal plant operated by Nova Scotia Power Corporation. Seen in the background is a wind turbine. Also in the area is Sydney Mines, a large coal plant. Strobes are on every wind turbine, the two smoke stacks in Sydney Mines and the smoke stack on the power plant. We could see the strobes twenty miles out to sea— the sky was pulsing over quite a wide area.
8/29/2016: Great Bras d'Or
We'd timed our arrival into the Great Bras d'Or channel in the last hour of the flood current to avoid fighting an ebb, but not be in so strong a flood current that we'd lose steerage. Also, a strong flood current against the predicted southerly winds can generate rough seas. The precautions seemed unnecessary, as conditions were excellent as we approached the outermost bouys of Great Bras d'Or.
8/29/2016: Buoys
The massive ocean buoys marking the Great Bras d'Or outer entrance indicate that conditions can get pretty rough here.
8/29/2016: Black Rock Light
The lighthouse at Black Rock Point to our southeast.
8/29/2016: Range Markers
Range markers where the channel narrows between Noir and Carey points. When the two towers are lined up, as they are in this picture, a boat is on the correct course. If the bottom tower is to the left of the top one, a boat is off course to starboard, and if the bottom tower is right of the top tower, a boat is off course to port. The channel buoys now are smaller inland-sized markers.
8/29/2016: Current
We'd not seen much current so far and were thinking that we might have been overly cautious in our planned arrival time. But as we neared the constricted section our speed picked up three knots to nearly ten knots with visible laminar flow on the water surface. The waters beyond were a little rougher with small wavelets, then the current dissipated as the waterway widened.
8/29/2016: Fishboats
Fishboats moored at a small marina along the south shore.
8/29/2016: Seal Island Bridge
Approaching the Seal Island Bridge with rain falling as we continue south through Great Bras d'Or.
8/29/2016: Night Winds
Night Winds is the first power boat pleasure-craft we've seen underway since leaving the Boston area.
8/30/2016: Herring Cove
The pastoral setting and low rolling hills off Herring Cove in the Bras d'Or Lakes are a big change from Newfoundland's steeply-sloped fjords.
8/30/2016: Connectivity
This is the first time we've changed countries and not had to buy a new SIM card to get cellular connectivity in a long time. Our AT&T prepaid plan was supposed to extend to Canada, but we didn't believe it until we actually saw it working. We've been using our KVH Mini VSAT satellite system since leaving Boston, which has worked flawlessly. But the data costs are about 20x that of cellular, so it's nice to get back onto cheaper connectivity.
8/30/2016: Baddeck
We moved the boat all of two miles this morning and anchored off the town of Baddeck. Our tender is the farthest one away, just right of the boat with the blue awning, at the Baddeck Marine dock.
8/30/2016: Bells at Baddeck
Baddeck was the summer retreat for inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel for the last 30 years of their lives, and both are buried here. The statue "Bells at Baddeck" commemorates their close relationship with and contributions to the community of Baddeck.
8/30/2016: Boardwalk
Taking in the harbour view from Baddeck's beautiful waterfront boardwalk. Dirona is just beyond the sailboat that is directly above Jennifer's head.
8/30/2016: Tom's Pizza
We had such an good pizza lunch at Tom's Pizza, with local craft beers (Propeller IPA & Breton Brewing Irish Red), that we returned the following day for lunch as well. Same pizza, two different local craft beers (Boxing Rock Hunky Dory IPA & Garrison Irish Red).
8/30/2016: Courthouse
The historic Victoria County Courthouse was constructed after Victoria County split off from Cape Breton County in 1851. The building, constructed in 1889, is listed under the Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act.
8/30/2016: Museum
Alexander Graham Bell is most known as the inventor of the telephone, but he continued inventing for the remainder of his life across a broad spectrum from kites, powered flight and high-speed boats to the transmission of of speech and sound by wire and light. Much of this work took place in Baddeck and the museum here is the only one in the world to feature actual artifacts and documents from his Baddeck experiments. Bell's descendants donated them in 1955 with the agreement that they be displayed in Baddeck.
8/30/2016: White Glove Tour
We took the White Glove Tour, where you are taken to the archives and have an opportunity to hold and examine artifacts that aren't on display to the general public. Here Jennifer is holding one of Bell's many original notebooks. Bell took copious notes of everything he did and always had a small notebook on hand.
8/30/2016: HD-4
Jennifer is standing next to a full-sized replica of the HD-4, a hydrofoil boat powered by two Liberty L-12 engines. Bell and his assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began experimenting with hydrofoils in 1908 and in 1919 in Baddeck the HD-4 set the world speed record at 70.86 miles per hour (114.04 km/h), a record that stood for two decades. The original HD-4 that set the speed record is in the background on the right.
8/30/2016: Kidston Island Lighthouse
The view to Dirona moored off the Kidston Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse is the Baddeck emblem and is featured throughout the town.
8/30/2016: Beinn Bhreagh
Looking up to Beinn Bhreagh, the Bell family summer estate on a peninsula opposite Baddeck. Descendants of Alexander and Mabel Bell still come to stay in the summer. The Bells visited Baddeck during a cruise of the east coast of North America. The landscape, climate and Scottish traditions there reminded Bell of his birthplace in Edinburgh, Scotland and they decided to build a summer home there. Bell lived there initially in the summer, but increasingly year-round to conduct his experiments. Both Alexander and Mabel are buried on the grounds.
8/30/2016: Nat Geo
Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, was the first president of the National Geographic Society, Bell was the second and Bell's son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, succeeded him and became the first full-time editor of National Geographic magazine. Bell's grandson, Melville Bell Grosvenor, and great-grandson Gilbert Melville Grosvenor also were editors of the National Geographic Magazine and Presidents of the Society. In honor of Bell's contribution to the society and to the world in general, National Geographic world and area maps feature Baddeck on par with larger centers such as nearby Sydney.
8/30/2016: Thistledown
We'd walked over to the Thistledown pub for lunch, but found they were open only for dinner. We also learned a dock was nearby, so we brought the tender over for a great meal with craft beer from local brewery Big Spruce.
8/31/2016: Baddeck
The morning sun lighting up the Baddeck waterfront on a calm morning. The double-masted sailboat on the left is the Amoeba, that does tours of the Baddeck waterfront and area, including a pass by Beinn Bhreagh.
8/31/2016: Swimmer
Splashing in the water turned out to be a swimmer who swam toward the Kidston Island Light and around the corner, presumably round the island and return to Baddeck. With the reasonably shallow depths and minimal ocean exchange, the water temperature is 71F.
8/31/2016: Piper
Alexander Graham Bell was attracted to Baddeck's Scottish heritage that is still going strong. This piper walked past Tom's Pizza while we were having lunch and we could hear his pipes all afternoon.
8/31/2016: Farmer's Co-Op
Baddeck is the largest town on the Bras d'Or Lakes, so we took the opportunity to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables at the convenient Farmer's Co-Op. We'd not bought anything since Boston and were low, but not quite yet out of anything.
8/31/2016: Depth Sounder
The tender depth sounder keyboard issue James fixed in Newfoundland came back, so we gave up on it and replaced the head with a spare.
8/31/2016: Lobster
We picked up a couple of lobsters while grocery shopping earlier today and had a great meal on the back deck.
9/1/2016: Port of Sydney Marina
Despite 1) falling rain, 2) a forecast for thunderstorms, 3) an exposed run through the edge of the North Atlantic 4) uncertainty about anywhere to land the tender, and 5) a potentially difficult re-entry to Little Bras d'Or channel into a strong ebb current against a freshening northerly wind, the shortest and admittedly the slightly more crazy member of the team badly wanted to run the tender twenty miles through Little Bras d'Or channel to have lunch at a Sydney pub. We made it through to Sydney and discovered the small Port of Sydney Marina right downtown. Our tender is tied at the outer pier near the right end of the rock breakwater.
9/1/2016: Governors
Three pubs were within walking distance of the Port of Sydney Marine and the Governors was top of our list.
9/1/2016: Mission Accomplished
Rain fell during most of our run to Sydney, but we'd bundled up in rain gear and stayed relatively dry. We had an excellent meal at Governors, particularly the 72-hour-cooked ribs, with local craft beers. Mission accomplished. Well, sort of. We still had to get back to Dirona.
9/1/2016: Big Ceilidh Fiddle
The 55ft (17m) Big Ceilidh Fiddle at Sydney's cruise ship pavilion recognizes the importance of fiddle music in the musical heritage of Cape Breton Island.
9/1/2016: Boardwalk
Sydney has a nice boardwalk that runs much of the length of the waterfront.
9/1/2016: Merchant Navy Memorial

This memorial to those who served in Canada's merchant navy during World War II was unveiled a few months ago. Early in the war, Sydney became an assembly point for convoys carrying coal, steel and other materials essential for the Allied war effort. In addition to the danger of German attacks, the Sydney convoys often were made up of ships hastily pressed into service and never meant for the open sea. Due to the demand for manpower in the armed forces and industry, many who served on these boats were as old as forty or fifty or as young as fourteen. A total of 177 convoys sailed from Sydney between 1939-1945, often averaging more than 14 ships in a convoy. German U-Boats successfully attacked 48 Sydney convoys, sinking 226 ships.

The memorial features three mariners inside a Carley Float, a life raft made of wooden slots latched over used oil drums. A fourth mariner in the water is being rescued by one of the men inside. One of the mariners is standing in the raft and seemingly waving his hand to attract the attention of a passing boat. Convoys were not allowed to stop regardless of the reason, so such survivors often weren't rescued.

9/1/2016: Princess of Acadia
The rain had stopped, so we spent some time touring the Sydney waterfront before returning to Dirona/ This is the retired ferry Princess of Acadia run across the Bay of Fundy between Digby, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick. The ferry can carry 650 passengers and 180 automobile equivalents and was in operation from June of 1971 to October of 2015.
9/1/2016: Ryan Leet
The Ryan Leet is a 281ft (66.70m) ocean-going salvage tug powered by 2 3600 BHP main engines with a bollard pull of 69 metric tons.
9/1/2016: Ocean Delta
The 136ft (41m) tug Ocean Delta was built in Norway and is owned by Quebec-based Ocean Group.
9/1/2016: Mining Equipment
Behind the Ocean Delta was a barge full of mining equipment including several large trucks and stacks of portable lighting. AIS later showed the ship underway for Voisey Bay, Labrador, where a 6,000 ton-per-day open-pit mine and concentrator operation is located.
9/1/2016: Leif Ericson
Between 1991 and 2001, the Norway-built MV Leif Ericson operated across the English Channel between Dover, England, and Calais, France. The Canadian government purchased the ferry in 2001 for it's Crown Corporation Marine Atlantic to operate between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, on the southwest corner of Newfoundland. The ship is named to mark the 1000th anniversary of Norse explorer Leif Ericson who arrived in the New World nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The vessel has a capacity of 500 passengers and 300 passenger vehicles (combination of automobiles and tractor trailers), but usually carries only commercial vehicles, leaving passenger traffic to the MV Blue Puttees and MV Highlanders.
9/1/2016: Little Bras d'Or
We'd be arriving back at Little Bras d'Or near maximum ebb, which at nearby Great Bras d'Or was around 3.5 knots. We didn't have any about the current in Little Bras d'Or, but assumed it would be worse due to the narrower channel. We'd also read that the channel had been semi-closed to navigation with a fixed bridge due to dangerous currents. The wind had picked up from the northeast, against the ebb, as we returned back to Little Bras d'Or channel and waves were kicking up a bit too. Fortunately the channel entry was sheltered from northeast winds and waves and we had only the current to contend with. The flow was strong at several knots, but nothing our 30-knot tender couldn't easily manage.
9/1/2016: Fishing Vessels
Dozens of fishing vessels were moored along Little Bras d'Or, all of them impressively maintained.
9/1/2016: Trent n' Girls
The fishing vessel Trent n' Girls was carrying large radar reflectors similar to the ones we'd seen on the run from Palm Beach to Boston.
9/1/2016: Traps
Large traps and line piled at a shed near Trent n' Girls.
9/1/2016: Anchorage
The view to our anchorage over a small spit from the bay opposite.
9/1/2016: Church
We ran the tender into a small lagoon off the anchorage, where this large church stood. We've seen a large number of churches on Cape Breton Island, ranging from small and simple to large and grand like this one.
9/2/2016: Long Island
On our way out of St. Andrews Channel we passed through the narrow channel east of Long Island. A few cabins were alongshore, but no people were in evidence. A sandspit at the south end of the channel constricts the entry more than is apparent on the chart.
9/2/2016: Cliffs
The unusual weather-sculpted cliffs along the west shore of Island Point reminded us of the ones we saw at Langgi in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
9/2/2016: Island Point Harbour
We anchored for the night at the head of Island Point Harbour. The winds came up from the north about 15-20 for much of the day, sending wind waves into the anchorage, but settled down by evening.
9/3/2016: Beinn Bhreagh
We got a better view to Beinn Bhreagh, Alexander Graham Bell's summer retreat, with clear weather and a little more distance from the point.
9/3/2016: Washabuck River
The Washabuck River is a lovely, pristine place to anchor, with plenty of sheltered coves to tuck into and little evidence of people anywhere. Apparently members of the Cruising Club of America own much of the surrounding land and have kept it in its natural state.
9/3/2016: LNGC
We took the tender on a 50-mile (return) trip to the head of Wyhcocomagh Bay. The route through St. Patrick's Channel was incredibly well-buoyed with range markers as well. When we reached the other side, we found out why. The Little Narrows Gypsum Company (LNGC) has their large commercial loading facility there. That also explains why the entry to Great Bras d'Or channel is so well marked—large commercial ships are passing through en route to and from the LNGC dock. The quarry has yielded gypsum and natural rock since 1935 and has traditionally shipped the product down the Eastern Seaboard, but has not operated since last summer due to poor markets for their product.
9/3/2016: Buoys
Judging by the the large sea buoys ashore, the Little Narrows Gypsum Company is responsible for maintaining or at least supplying some of the buoys to guide ships to and from their docks.
9/3/2016: Cable Ferry
At the tightest point in Little Narrows, we had to wait for the cable ferry to pass. When it is safe for us to proceed, the operator changes a light onshore from red to green.
9/3/2016: Aquaculture
We toured around the village of Wyhcocomagh, but didn't see anywhere interesting to go ashore, so continued around Indian Island. Tucked off the southwest corner were several active fish pens. This seemed like an unusual choice of locations, as there would be minimal water flow and the waters likely would become polluted fairly quickly.
9/3/2016: Eagles!
As we rounded the southwest point of Indian Island, we saw an eagle in a tree, then another, and another and another. At least half-dozen were in the tree, with a similar number in the next tree over and many more farther along the island. We stopped counting after about fifty. We'd never seen so many eagles in one place, not even in Alaska.
9/3/2016: Fish
Indian Island is a breeding ground for bald eagles. It looked like someone had been encouraging them with a fish feed as well, perhaps from the aquaculture operation.,
9/3/2016: Close-up
So far all the eagles we've seen in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are quite skittish and won't let us get within hundreds of feet. The eagles at Indian Island were surprisingly unconcerned about our presence and let us get quite near for some excellent close-ups.
9/3/2016: Fuel Gauge
The fuel gauge in our tender failed sometime around the time we made our Sydney run and always read full. We're lucky we didn't run out of fuel on that run. We took it apart and the sending unit is operating fine, but nearly rusted through, so we'll probably replace it as well. The guage no longer functions, so we'll have to live without it and buy a new one. Fortunately they are fairly standard and reasonably inexpensive.
9/4/2016: Sea Smoke
We woke up to a clear, but cold morning, with sea smoke drifting across the bay. This is looking north out of the anchorage toward Baddeck.
9/4/2016: Brrrr!
No wonder we had sea smoke. The air temperature was 46.5F this morning, compared to a water temperature of 71F (leftmost circular gauges in top row).
9/4/2016: Hermine
We've been keeping an eye on tropical storm Hermine the past few days. The area we're in is showing in the dark green zone for the first time since we've been checking. This means that there is a 5% probability we'll see 1-minute average winds of greater than 38mph over the next 5 days.
9/4/2016: Underway
Underway on a beautiful clear and calm morning. We're planning to pass through the narrows at Barra Strait today, where current can reach several knots, so we left the anchorage to time our arrival for slack water mid-tide.
9/4/2016: Cormorants
Cormorants crowding the tip of an islet as we leave Washabuck River Harbour.
9/4/2016: Gillis Point Light
The light on Gillis Point no longer is operational, but the tower still stands.
9/4/2016: Barra Strait Bridge
Passing through the Barra Strait Bridge behind SV Seraph of Hamilton. The bridge clearance is 29.5ft, just barely too low for our 30ft air draft.
9/4/2016: Grand Narrows Bridge
The Grand Narrows Railway bridge was a major feat of engineering in its time due to it's length (nearly a mile), depths in the strait (almost 90ft), the currents in Barra Strait, and the presence of ice during the winter and spring breakup. A five-car special train carrying the Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley, was the first to cross when it was completed in 1890. Lord Stanley was one of the original inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame and is known to hockey fans worldwide for donating a silver punch-bowl to be awarded to Canada's top-ranked amateur ice hockey team each season.
9/4/2016: Portage Creek
At anchor off the low railway bridge into Portage Creek. This is a lovely and secluded anchorage, particularly in today's excellent weather.
9/4/2016: Impeller
We got a Maretron alarm indicating the generator had hit 199F (the generator will shut down if it goes over 205F). This is what was left of the raw-water pump impeller. We'd just changed it in June of this year, only 170 hours ago, an unusually short time to fail. Likely we had a jellyfish or some other obstruction that caused the pump to run dry for a period.
9/4/2016: Blades
The failed impeller threw seven blades—this is the first time we've ever had a Globe Impeller break apart like that. You've got to make sure you find all the missing blades. In this case, four of the seven were at the heat exchanger entrance.
9/4/2016: Sunday Tour
Perhaps a half-dozen small craft, likely from nearby Orangedale, toured the basin while we were anchored. Everyone seemed to be out enjoying the sunny long weekend.
9/5/2016: Sea Smoke
Sea smoke in Portage Creek this morning.
9/5/2016: Tools
We just aligned the main engine. It was a big job, and there were a lot of tools in play. We'll write up the details in a blog posting.
9/5/2016: Sunset
Sunset at the head of remote and isolated Denys Basin.
9/6/2016: Binning
In the semiconductor world, binning refers to testing at the end of the line and sorting on some dimension. For example, on processors, the very best bins can run at higher frequency while the less-capable parts are sold to run at a lower frequency and a lower cost. James said that Jennifer appeared to be binning the raspberries ripest first.
9/6/2016: Mud
The anchor rode came up encrusted with so much thick, sticky mud we couldn't see the chain and at times couldn't even make out the chain shape. Generally the anchorages in the Bras d'Or Lakes have had excellent holding with these mud bottoms.
9/6/2016: Fog
Leaving Denys Basin in a very calm, but foggy morning.
9/6/2016: Grey Seal
We've never see a Grey Seal before and weren't quite sure what this animal was. It's nostrils are widely space and the head flat, without ear flaps, compared to other seals we're used to seeing. And it was a big animal. This likely is a bull--they are large and can reach 8.2-10.8 ft (2.5-3.3 m) long and weigh 370-680 lbs (170-310 kg). The Grey Seal is found on both sides of the North Atlantic, ranging between New Jersey and Newfoundland in North America. The largest colony in the world is at Sable Island off Nova Scotia.
9/6/2016: River Cove
At anchor in sheltered River Cove. We found the charted depths on entry quite different from either the chart or the chartlet in Cruising Cape Breton and had to backtrack a couple of times to avoid uncharted shallows that came up suddenly. Before anchoring we made a complete circle around where we intended to set the anchor to look for uncharted shallows.
9/6/2016: Malagawatch Canal
Looking north from the isthmus between Big Harbour Island and the mainland through the remains of the Malagawatch Canal. The canal was 1,000 ft long, 17 ft wide and 4ft deep and connected Malagawatch Harbour to Denys Basin. A wooden bridge with 4-ft clearance carried land-based traffic between the mainlaind and Big Harbour Island. Locals built the canal in the late 1800s to provide safe and faster navigation between Marble Mountain and Orangedale via a portage from Little Harbour into Malagawatch Harbour and then through the canal into Denys Basin. This took 20 miles off the trip between Marble Mountain and Orangedale.
9/6/2016: Little Harbour
We ran the tender from Malagawatch Harbour and west into Little Harbour to have dinner at the Cape Breton Smokehouse restaurant. This is looking east down their dock into Little Harbour.
9/6/2016: Cape Breton Smokehouse
We had an excellent meal at the Cape Breton Smokehouse. Here we are sharing an appetizer of smoked salmon, the house specialty. The owners' sailboat is moored outside. They sailed around the world from Germany and 18 years ago landed in Nova Scotia and decided to stay and build the Cape Breton Smokehouse. The building is beautifully-made, with huge solid wood beams throughout and excellent view of the harbour.
9/6/2016: Tower
While returning to Dirona we noticed a tower sticking out above the trees at Campbell Point and went ashore to check it out.
9/6/2016: View
The view from the top of the tower. Campbell Point is being developed and the tower allows prospective buyers to get a view for the area. We didn't stay long at the top because hungry mosquitoes were in clouds so thick we had trouble not breathing them in. If the developer wants to sell any lots at all, they won't show them in the evening when the mosquito clouds are thickening.
9/6/2016: Beach Peninsula Estates
Jennifer pointing to our anchorage on the aerial photograph of the area on the Beach Peninsula Estates marketing sign at the tower base.
9/6/2016: Bugs
That evening we were sitting in the cockpit with a couple of large Citronella candles burning when we could hear a humming that sounded like equipment running. We realized it was the sound of thousands, if not millions, of hungry bugs surrounding the boat. The candles were effective, but we eventually retreated inside and this is the view looking out one of the pilot house windows. We felt like we were in a Hitchcock story.
9/7/2016: Bugs
This morning the boat was covered, walls and floors, with millions and millions of mostly dead mosquitoes. Yuck. They were sticky and hard to remove—it took us over an hour to get the boat cleaned up again.
9/7/2016: N2k Meter
Several NMEA 2000 devices had dropped off the bus and we were getting alarms due to missing data. We plugged our N2KMeter into the bus and it flagged 10 to as many as 70 errors per second on the bus, indicating that a device likely was faulty and producing bad data. We narrowed it down to a DSM250 monitor in the master stateroom. Once we unplugged it, we saw zero errors per second for hours at a time.

Update: We later took out the "faulty" DSM250 that was producing all the bus errors and it tested out fine. The problem cause was a poorly fabricated field installable cable between the main bus and the DSM250 producing the errors. That is two connection problems in the last 6 months. One a loose knurled connection between a Tee fitting and the power lower inserter and the other was this bad drop cable. Good news across the board.

9/7/2016: Quarry
Between 1888 and 1921 a quarry operated at Marble Mountain to mine for marble. The old quarry, visible at the upper left dominates the scenery here. To the right along shore are massive piles of by-product from the crushing and screening process and the transfer of the material to loading wharf that was roughly at the center of the photo. When the mine was in operation, several hundred people lived in the area and Marble Mountain was one of the most prosperous towns in Cape Breton.
9/7/2016: Store
The large building on the right is an original store from the early 1900s when mining operations were taking place. This is one of only five original buildings still standing.
9/7/2016: Landing
We'd tried to land the tender a little farther to the east of this picture, but hadn't dropped the stern anchor far enough out. When we tried to retrieve it to reset, it had wedged on something underwater and wouldn't budge. After much back and forth and slackening and tugging, we finally freed it. We tried a different spot and this time the anchor dragged. On the third try, we switched from a Danforth-style anchor to a grapple. That held well and we finally could get ashore. Sometimes even simple tasks require more effort than they should.
9/7/2016: Clarke Cove
Interpretive signs overlooking Clarke Cove give detail on the area's history and geography. The pilings visible between the signs are the ruins of the wharf where ships loaded with marble. Dirona is barely visible as a small white speck off the island at the far left of the photo.
9/7/2016: Lookout
We scrambled up the by-product piles to the road. This is the view north from a lookout a little farther along. The old wharf near the interpretive signs is about center of the photo.
9/7/2016: Quarry
Standing on the edge of one section of the quarry. Mining seemed to have been done in at least four levels over varying periods. We're standing at the 2nd level from the top, with a large level below us. The level above us and another level below aren't visible in the picture. Notice Jennifer is wearing shorts—after a few mornings with temperatures in the 40s, we now are seeing afternoon temperatures in the 80s. Overall the weather has been excellent.
9/7/2016: View
We popped out to a clearing with sweeping views over Clarke Cove and the surrounding area. The old wharf is visible to the right of center and we're anchored left of the large island that is slightly left of center. The white patch left of center at the bottom of the picture is the roadside lookout we were at earlier.
9/7/2016: Anchorage
Our anchorage with the light on Cameron Island in the background.
9/7/2016: Top Level
A path led up to the topmost level of mining operations. This is looking north into the quarry. An impressively large amount of mountain is missing. We were hoping to get farther around to the east side of the edge, but the trail ended in thick woods that we didn't feel like pushing through.
9/7/2016: Break
Taking a break and enjoying the view to Clarke Cove from the topmost level.
9/7/2016: Metal
We walked back down and into the large flat area that was below us when we first arrived. We were surprised at how little metal debris or anything mechanical was left in the area. This is one of the few pieces of scrap metal we found. A rock had crushed it, so probably it couldn't be moved or wasn't worth it.
9/7/2016: Support
From the quarry we returned back on the road through the old town area. This is a seaward corner of the old store building that we'd seen from the water. We stopped to chat with the building owner who was deep into a multi-year project restoring the building to be a summer home for his family. Here he is solving a structural problem, where the wood beam supporting the rear south corner is beginning to fail. He's installed temporary supports for the house, removed the bad beam, poured a new cement foundation and is just getting ready to install a permanent steel beam to support the corner.
9/7/2016: Interior
Upstairs the store had been kept in much the same way as it likely looked at the turn of the 19th century.
9/7/2016: Steam Boiler
This steam boiler on display near shore probably was used in the mining operations.
9/8/2016: Breakfast
Waffles and bacon for breakfast in the tranquil Crammond Islands. Real maple syrup is one of the few products we've either not been able to find outside North America, or was crazy expensive, so we're enjoying having it again.
9/8/2016: Hydraulic Fluid Leak
We found a small amount of water and what looked like hyraulic oil in the forward bilge. We chased down the hydrualic oil leak to a weeping O-ring at the forward isolation valve and replaced it.
9/8/2016: House Water Pump
After fixing the hydrualic fluid leak, we traced the freshwater leak to a minor leak in the house water pump at the shaft seal. We carry two spares, one already installed that can be put in service by turning a valve and a second in storage. In the picture, we've switched over to the backup pump and the primary is out for warranty service.
9/9/2016: St. Peters Canal
St. Peters Canal, built in 1869, connects the south end of Bras d'Or Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. In most locks, the water flow is unidirectional, with one side always being higher than the other. The typical doors close into the shape of a 'V', with the point of the 'V' oriented upstream. Because the Bras d'Or Lakes are open to the Atlantic at the north end at Great Bras d'Or Channel where we entered, the tide level inside the lake at the locks sometimes is higher than outside and sometimes is lower. St Peters Canal is the only one in North America to require double gates to handle the bidirectional water flow. They usually close both doors, but only the door with the 'V' facing the higher water is actually being used. A video of us transiting the St. Peters Canal showing the bridge opening and the lock operating is at https://youtu.be/o463FzkpRPg.
9/9/2016: Moored
Tied off for the night outside the locks. The bollards ashore are a good fifty feet apart, so we're using our 75ft lines fore and aft. We don't use those lines much, but they have come in very handy on a number of occasions, such as med-mooring to fuel in the Marquesas Islands.
9/9/2016: Tim Hortons
We've not seen a Tim Hortons store for a long time. Canadian members of Jennifer’s team at Microsoft in Seattle often returned from a visit to Vancouver with several dozen Timbits to share with the other expatriates. Tim Hortons is popular in St. Peters too. We had dinner across the road and were amazed that the drive-through was almost always lined-up, no matter how quickly the cars were processed.
9/9/2016: St. Peter's Church
How could the church here be called anything else? :) Below the church is a mural showing the canal through the ages from portage, through construction and modern times.
9/9/2016: MacBouch
Moosehead beer at MacBouch and a good pizza for dinner later. Moosehead isn't exactly craft beer, but the company was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, so it's at least local beer.
9/9/2016: New Bridge
Overlooking the canal from the swing bridge on our walk back to Dirona. A new two-lane bridge is under construction to replace the current single-lane bridge.
9/9/2016: Battery Provincial Park
Battery Provincial Park has a number of walking trails on the east side the canal. We took the Canal Trail back down to sea level.
9/9/2016: Timbits!
Timbits for breakfast for tomorrow from Tim Hortons. They didn't all make it to morning.
9/9/2016: Flybridge
We entered the canal on an overcast and windy day. Later in the evening, the winds settled and the sun came out so we had evening coffee and drinks on the flybridge enjoying the canal view.