We had a smooth and easy bus trip back to the boat in Dartmouth, where we stowed the bikes and got WildHorse ready to sail again.  Next morning, we left there and went around Halifax up to the Northwest Arm, and tied up again at the Armdale Yacht Club, which was more centrally located and easier access for our friends Mark & Elaine Baier to meet us after flying to Halifax from Truckee.  It was also a lot easier to provision etc on the bikes from there.  Provisioning is, of course, grocery shopping, but then everything related to a boat has to have a special name! Weirdly enough, while we were there, a film crew came and they closed the main area to film a Hallmark Christmas movie.  Strange to see Christmas trees and decorations in August…

Mark & Elaine had no problems getting to the boat from the airport, and we got them all moved aboard.  Next morning, we left and had a good sail out of Halifax Harbour around to Rogue’s Roost, which is a little extremely protected area between islands.  In what seems to be a theme in Nova Scotia, it used to be a place where English privateers (legal pirates) used to hide after attacking American ships during the Revolutionary War, then agian, where rum runners would hide out to load up to smuggle to the US during Prohibition.

On the way down, we kept passing and being passed by a boat from Halifax, headed to the same place.  They were locals and when it became clear that we were going to Rogue’s Roost, they called us on the radio and offered to guide us in.  It is a very narrow, rocky, and shallow entrance and can be tricky the first time you try it.  We probably would have made it on our own, but it was nice to have them show us the way.  They also kept warning us that it might be crowded, since it was a nice day, but when we got there there were 3 boats, including us.

Inside, it was completely still and as quiet as a mill pond,  It’s a provincial protected area, so no buildings or signs of civilization were anywhere to be seen.

WildHorse at anchor in Rogue’s Roost  

Cocktail time with Mark & Elaine

This is no doubt old news to you Canadians, but came somewhat as a surprise to me as an American. There were lots of people who left the American Colonies during the Revolutionary War and came to Nova Scotia.  In school in the US, we only hear about the brave patriots who fought and gained independance from England.  Of course, there were many others who didn’t agree and wanted to stay part of the British Empire.  They are celebrated in Nova Scotia as the Loyalists, and were given land when they came up there as refugees after the revolution.  There are lots of monuments to them everywhere.  There are always at least two sides to every story, and this is definitely one we aren’t taught about in the US!

We spent two nights at Rogue’s Roost. Next day we took the dinghy and went all around the area, looking for some hiking trials that were supposedly there.  We never actualy found the trail but did some bushwhacking on one of the larger islands. It really felt like Alaska or somewhere far north, walking on spongy muskeg.  We went across the channel to a little beach and swam in nippy water.  That afternoon, we went a couple of miles across the larger channel to Prospect, which is yet another quaint fishing village, where there was a coastal trail.  We did a nice afternoon hike there and went back across to the boat in fairly choppy waves and wind.  Exciting dinghy ride! However, once we turned the corner into Rogue’s, no wind and still water again. Surprisingly not only here but in all of Nova Scotia, we had almost no mosquitos or black flies the whole summer.

Ashore on a wild island

Prospect, Nova Scotia

From Rogue’s Roost we had a light-wind sail back to Lunenburg.  We enjoyed it so much the first time we were there that we wanted to share it with our friends.  We spent 2 nights there again, and enjoyed ourselves.  One highlight of this trip to Lunenburg was going to the local distillery, Ironworks.  We tasted pretty much everything they make, including multilpe rums, whiskeys, gins and cordials.  Even though each taste was maybe 1tsp, we probably had 10, so were a little giddy by the time we left!  They have a wood-fired still which was running, making rum while we were there. One of their signature products is Rum Boat Rum, which is aged in barrels on a boat (well, a little barge really) in the harbor which they claim gives it a special flavor.  Our mooring was right next to the barge this time, and we seriously considered a midnight pirate run, but then couldn’t really figure out where to stow a barrel of rum on WildHorse, so the rum was safe for the time being.  The best one was one they called Bluenose, after the schooner.  Even Lucie, not usually much of a rum drinker, loved it!

Aargh, matey!

Next stop was Mosher’s Island, one of the La Have Islands.  It was a lovely and quiet sheltered anchorage.  There are only a few people on the island, and one of them graciously let us use her dock to go ashore and do a small hike the next day.

Mosher’s Island Sunset

Friendly locals

This post is getting a bit long, so we’ll continue in the next one!