In order to arrive in Canada while the weather was still ok, we had to get a move on. So, for the next week we ploughed on up to Canada.
Along the coast of Maine we were getting into whale territory. It was calm seas and very little wind. We saw two whale watching boats, so we kept an eye on where they were going and followed. We didn’t see anything where they were so continued on and what luck we suddenly saw the spray from the whale’s blowhole. Maggie on Serafina got a fantastic picture of the whale flipping his tail in the air which she kindly let me have a copy of. We also saw a seal bobbing along without a care in the world.
On our way we stopped at various places overnight. The further north we got the more lobster pots we came across. It was difficult going through them as there’s no channel. It was a case of weaving in and out around them. Even entrances to harbours and where mooring buoys were placed there were lobster pots. It was a complete free for all.
We arrived in Canada and made our way to St Andrews, New Brunswick. We were a bit early to go under the bridge, strong currents so we anchored up for a short while. Half the sea bed came up with the anchor. We used St Andrews as our base leaving the boat on a mooring buoy for our stay here. We hired a car and did some travelling around. St Andrews is a beautiful coastal town with everything you need, bars, restaurants, supermarket and a laundry.
Our first trip was to Fredericton, which is the capital of New Brunswick. We had a wander around and came across the Legislative Assembly Building, the sign outside said you could go in and have a look around. We actually got a guided tour which was unexpected but interesting. The original building, Province Hall, burned down in 1880 and was replaced by the current building, which opened in 1882
Being more than 5000 miles from home, you wouldn’t expect to know anyone in this part of the world. Well, as it turns out, Colin and Maggie (our boat buddies) had some friends who had a home near to Liverpool on Nova Scotia who invited us to stay with them. Not only that, much to Colin’s delight, the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival was being held about an hour from where they lived near to Liverpool. We got tickets to the festival for Sunday afternoon. It was held in a lovely church. The first band that come on was the “Young Uns” who were actually from Teeside in England. One of the band members, David Eagle, is also a standup comedian so it was quite comical too.
It was quite a long drive there so we stayed overnight the night before in Truro. We stayed in one of the typical motels you see on the films, as this was the only thing we could find, everything else was booked. Casually eating the grass on the way to dinner were deer. We managed to get a full English breakfast here in the Great British Grub Cafe to set us up for the day which as you would guess by the name was owned by Brits from, if i remember rightly, Blackpool and Staffordshire.
The house we stayed in was absolutely stunning and the views looking out onto the ocean were incredible. We watched a humming bird coming for water. We had a trip to Liverpool and stood by the River Mersey. It’s strange all the towns named after English ones. We visited Halifax, Liverpool and Truro in a couple of days.
The Bay of Fundy has big tidal ranges, up to 16m (52ft). We drove up to Hopewell Rocks which has over 20 free-standing sea stacks (also known as flower pots) scattered along two kms of shoreline. When the tide is out you can walk along the rock formations. Some have been given namesof Elephant, Bear, Dinosaur, ET, and even Mother-in-Law. The water here was chocolate brown!
We also went to watch the Moncton tidal bore which is a strong tide that pushes up a river, against the current. It forms a single giant wave that rolls up the river. Moncton’s tidal bore is caused by the Bay of Fundy tides as they push more than 100 billion tons of water in and out of the bay, up the Petitcodiac River. It happens twice a day and the tide ranges from 0.5 to 1metre. It was quite a sight to see. Two guys waited for it to come around the corner and then surfed all the way along it.
We also went to the reversing falls at St Johns, not once, not twice but three times!! We had to witness the three stages of the tide. The falls are created by the collision of the Bay of Fundy and the Saint John River. At low tide the river empties into the bay causing a series of rapids and whirlpools. As the tide rises, they slow the river current for a brief period called slack tide. There is a 20 minute slot where boats can leave or enter the river safely. The Bay tide rises and gradually reversing the flow of the river; rapids form again, peaking at high tide.
Whilst in Canada we had to try a popular dish called Poutine. It is French fries, cheese curds, and a hot gravy, I had mine with pulled pork. It was very calorific.
In St Andrews there are plenty of bars and restaurants but our favourite was the Kennedy House, a hotel with restaurant and bar, which we visited a number of times to take advantage of their happy hour, well you have to don’t you and listen to the live music. It was the first summer hotel in Canada built in early 1881 by Angus Kennedy after moving from Ontario in 1857. Angus was a railway contractor who wanted to participate in the development of the Canada Railway in New Brunswick. Eventually he decided to become an innkeeper. After some initial struggles and fires, he purchased the land upon which he built the Kennedy’s, which opened on May 24, 1881.
We had a great time in Canada and had been blessed with really good weather. It was in the mid-20s for most of the time, with one spot of rain and one spell of fog.
August 2025