Position           44:22.40N 064:18.44W

Date                1510 (Canadian Atlantic) Friday 26 July 2013

Passage Run – 21.8nm – 22nm in 3hrs 15mins

This slightly complicated route around the islands and rocks across the entrance to Mahone Bay could have been very pretty if we could have seen anything.  We briefly saw the outline of Big Tancock Island through the murk but only for a few seconds before it was again swallowed up by the fog which for most of the time seem to give visibility of under 150m.  Thank heavens for chart plotters and radar.  I think that I have used the radar in anger more in the last two weeks than in the previous two years.  The number of buoys carrying radar reflectors that really show up on the plot is an indication of how much fog there is on this coast.  The ability to lock the radar image as an overlay on the chart plotter and seeing the radar image of the buoy and the chart position coinciding is very reassuring.

About half way up Lunenburg Bay the fog lifted, as the Pilot says often happens on the approaches to ports up long bays, and we were able to see our way into Lunenburg.  It is always a relief when you find yourself in the correct place, well it matched the photograph.

We found a good anchorage in 5m just off the golf course.  Whilst this is a little further to dinghy to the town it should give us some protection from the south westerly 20-25 knots forecast for overnight. 

When we went ashore for a walk the wind was blowing from the south east, that is straight into the harbour which made for a somewhat bouncy ride that fortunately turned out not to be as wet as prophesied.

The town still maintains some large fishing boats but there appeared to be little activity on that front.  The quayside is pretty and there are many well preserved buildings.

On the quayside there is a very poignant memorial to those lost at sea, a stark reminder of the hazards faced by fishermen the world over.

“Dedicated to the memory of those who have gone down to the sea in ships and have never returned”