The Great White North

Saturday, June 7, 2025 Departed Tolchester Marina at 2:39pm heading north to the C&D canal, to the Delaware Bay, then North Atlantic Ocean. Destination, the Provence of Nova Scotia, Canada. Very light winds, temp is 77F, on the Chesapeake Bay. We are currently motoring. 5:30pm, a heavy downpour of rain with gusty winds fell upon us. Thankful for our full cockpit enclosure, we are staying very dry.

We started out “night watches” a bit late. While Dan sleeps, I have 7pm -1am shift. Listened to podcasts, She WHAT? and Smartless.

Sunday, June 8, 2025 Day 1, total nautical miles traveled 144. Max speed 8.92 kn, ave speed 6.05 kn..

Gray sky’s air temp is 62F, fog, drizzling rain on the ocean, choppy seas this morning. Currently just south of Atlantic City, NJ.

6pm, approaching the ship traffic separation lanes around NYC. The wind has been steady around 23 kn, we’re motor sailing 28 degrees off the wind, waves around 6ft. It’s like bashing up the west coast of the US. The captain is feeling a bit queasy and is now sleeping. Dinner for one, Jambalaya, (we made enough for 3-4 days) eating meals out of bowls or Yeti mugs is very efficient.

Monday, June 9, 2025 Day 2, total nautical miles traveled 275, 131 miles traveled in the past 24 hours.

Another gray, cold (at what temperature do you start to see your breath), choppy seas day! Winds 18-22 kn, still cruising 30 degrees off the wind. Visibility due to fog is less than 1 mile. A 600 ft cargo ship crossed in front of us 1 mile away, sets off alarms, yet I can’t see it! Current location nearing the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound. Funny thing about weather forecasts, they are not always correct. The wind angle is coming more from the north. Our plans may change to go through the Cape Cod Canal instead of going around Nantucket.

During my watch, listened to Joe Rogans podcast interview with Kash Patel.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 Day 3, total miles traveled 422, 147 miles traveled in the past 24 hours.

This morning starting at 6am we traversed the Cape Cod Canal. Going with the current, we reached 11.4 knots! Still gray, foggy and damp, temperature 58F, no wind right now on Cape Cod Bay. By 10:15am we should be on the North Atlantic Ocean, about a 200 mile trek to Nova Scotia. We saw whales today, looked like Humpbacks!

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 Day 4, total miles traveled 555, 133 miles traveled in the past 24 hours.

Good morning sunshine! First day we’ve seen the sun since Saturday.

Sometime during the night, the boom topping lift became disconnected. The topping lift is a line fixed to the top of the mast, that connects to the end of the boom. This keeps the heavy boom up when the mainsail is rolled into the mast. I hoisted Dan part way up the mast in a boyson chair to capture and secure the topping lift line that was dangling, and interfering with the other sails. A temporary fix was to connect the spare main halyard to the boom for support. The proper reconnection will be done when we are at anchor or docked.

Thursday, June 12 Day 5, total miles traveled 653, 98 miles traveled in the past 24 hours.

Arrived at the dock in Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club in Nova Scotia at 9:12am

Completed our check in with customs and immigration via phone, we’re good to go explore!