Wednesday 23rd June 2016  45:16.340 N  66:03.940 W

Distance sailed 55 miles

At 05.00, dawn, on Saturday 18th Shelduck departed the pontoon at St. Andrews so as to arrive at the Letite Passage near low tide where the flood can reach 5 knots and makes swirls, eddies and boils. I probably should have departed an hour earlier, in the dark, as after just half an hour of flood the waters were already boiling. Shelduck was able to make just 2 knots at 3000 revs. She was thrown around exciting Anne who calmed herself, as usual, by taking photographs. At 08.00 I called the customs and reported I had left St. Andrews and that our ETA in St. Johns would be about 13.30. I was asked to call again at noon and on arrival at St. John, which was at 13.45, we tied up at the customs pontoon in the city centre under the Hilton Hotel. Thirty minutes later 2 officers arrived and stamped our passports for a 6 month entry. Shelduck had made good time in a 10/15 knot south westerly on the quarter and also because as we turned north east after Letite Passage the tide was with us.

I decided to stay at the pontoon overnight because the Royal Kennebaccasis Yacht Club had a Charity Regatta on and could not accommodate us until the following day. Anne and I had little sleep at the pontoon. It is very uncomfortable there and at high tide little waves were coming in on the beam giving Shelduck a hard time. I also stayed there because I wanted to first tackle the Reversing Falls into the St. John River in daylight. The falls are produced by the narrow rocky gorge through which the St. John river flows into St. John Harbour. At low tide the volume of water flowing out produces a very strong current with turbulence greater than most yachts are designed to navigate. As the tide rises however back pressure gradually tames the torrent. Entry and exit at about half tide gives a twenty minute window to traverse the falls. Next morning at 09.45 Shelduck left the pontoon for the nearby falls and had an easy passage in fine weather. It is just 5 miles to the club and on arrival Hannah Stanton topped up our diesel. We also met Dr. Kathy Keith who offered to take Anne to do some shopping and clothes washing next day. Other members were very helpful offering charts of the extensive St. John River, a favourite of Cruising Club of America members and so many others. We did not have the time available to do it justice.

Next day Kathy arrived and took Anne off to town. I called Brian McKenney, whom everyone calls Bear, the local Raymarine agent. He soon found that the problem that I had in displaying my new Canada chart was because my E 80 chart plotter software needed updating. Navionics had amalgamated the Canada charts with the U.S. charts and had also included 18,000 inland lakes.This produced a 16 GB card compared to the average 2 GB of the other cards I had aboard. Brian returned in an hour and successfully updated the chart plotter software. Before leaving the U.S. I had downloaded Navionics new U.S./Canada chart on to my phone and it proved excellent but was, of course, without AIS and Radar.The 16 GB was no problem for the iPhone. Thanks to Brian everything is back in order now.

On Tuesday morning Anne invited Dave Redfern aboard for tea. He was awaiting the launching of his boat near our berth. Members boats are stored in the club’s grounds. After the launching and mast stepping Dave offered to take me on a tour of St. John and allow me top up on propane and provisions. He drove almost every street of the city’s Preservation Area which I enjoyed. Anne came too.

Before dinner Kathy returned to say good bye to find we were staying for another day because of heavy fog in the Bay of Fundy. I am taking great care in planning the rounding of Cape Sable Nova Scotia which Canadians call their Cape Horn. At present I plan the passage round on Saturday 25th.