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You are welcome to apply any part of this article to your own personal use. Please do NOT publish any part of the article or apply any part of it to any non-personal use without the express written concent of the author.
Our crossing of the Bay of Fundy from Digby, Nova Scotia, to Saint John, New Brunswick, was practically a non-event. We caught the tide perfectly for a very nice lift through Digby Gut, then motored all the way in little to no wind.
Fundy Traffic is a service of the Canadian Coast Guard. Their function is to aid in the safety of vessel traffic moving in, out and through the Bay of Fundy. Canadian charts of the region have a number of extra lines drawn on them, each with a unique designator. Each time your vessel crosses one of those lines you are supposed to call Fundy Traffic and report that you are crossing that particular line. They respond by informing you of any reported traffic in your area plus any radar targets they see in your vicinity. The radar targets are usually local fishermen, who aren't in the habit of reporting in, or the occasional yachtsman who either can't be bothered or doesn't know about the service. We reported in faithfully any time we moved Volant anywhere within the region covered by Fundy Traffic. In this crossing they had nothing to report until we were within the channel leading to the inner harbor, and then there was only a single fishing boat a mile or so away from us working along the shoreline.
We didn't stop in Saint John proper, but continued up the St. John River to the famous Reversing Falls. Note that the town of Saint John is never abbreviated, but it's okay to abbreviate the name of the river. Also note that St. John's is another town, this one located in Newfoundland. Both Saint John and St. John's have international airports. Many a traveler has been dismayed on landing to discover that he had purchased and used a ticket to the wrong town.
We arrived at the famous Reversing Falls about an hour before scheduled slack water. The St. John River empties into the Bay of Fundy through a narrow cut. A rock shelf lies across the cut. The tidal range at Saint John runs about 25 feet and can run even higher. At high tide water in the bay is about 9 feet above the level of the river creating a set of strong and dangerous rapids (falls) over the shelf running inland. At low tide water in the bay is about 15 feet below the river creating an even stronger and more dangerous set of rapids over that same shelf, but this time running out to sea. Between high and low water is a point where the bay and river levels are the same, eliminating the rapids from the Falls. For about 20 minutes on either side of that moment a vessel may safely navigate over the rock shelf.
There's an extensive write-up in one of our cruising guides to advise first-timers going through the Reversing Falls. It points out a cove just down river from the Falls where one could circle while waiting for the proper time to go through. Each circle is supposed to bring the boat slightly into the current enabling the captain to test the current and judge when he/she would be comfortable going through.
We followed the guide's recommendations to the letter, and were very glad we did. While circling in the cove, two local fishermen approached the Falls and went through before the recommended time. Both easily made it, but were pushed around like they were Ping-Pong balls. Exuding confidence for the sake of the crew, but with my heart in my throat, I announced, "Okay, let's do it," straightened the wheel and hit the throttle. Our tiny vessel pushed directly into the great maelstrom, got pushed around only a little bit, and came through magnificently. We were now in the St. John river system.
The St. John River is a wonderful place to cruise. The region is one of low granite hills covered mostly by pines. Large bays, lakes and channels are strategically placed along the way, each providing dozens of anchorages. The shoreline is punctuated with cottages, farms and small towns, and a number of yacht clubs.
Yachtsmen in the St. John river walk on water... but they wait until December to do it. All the coves in the region suitable for docks ice up, some winters by as much as 3 feet thick. All the boats have to be pulled out of the water and winterized, the docks disassembled and stored, all before the end of October. In May the process is reversed. You have to really be a dedicated sailor to go through all that each and every year, just for a sailing season of maybe 4 months if you're lucky.
The locals are wonderfully warm and generous. Even power boaters waved at us as they went by. We had just anchored in a little cove when one fellow, a sailor whose boat was on the hard, rowed out from shore to invite us to go with him and his wife to the local farmer's market the next morning. They then gave us a scenic tour of the area on the way and from to the market, and invited us to supper as well.
We had occasion to stop at the Royal Kennebeccasis Yacht Club (www.rkyc,nb.ca) and had a chance to meet more locals. Instead of continuing as far as Grand Lake as planned, we had to return to civilization two days early. Our alternator had died.
The RKYC was a perfect place for our repair. Besides the well kept 100-year-old clubhouse, a learn-to-sail youth program with 146 active participants, an active racing and cruising program, showers for visitors and floating docks, the club has a do-it-yourself yard. When we asked one of the do-it-yourselfers for advice on local repair, we were given the use of a small pickup truck, directions to the one of the best alternator repair people in the whole provence, suggestions on what the source of the problem might be, directions to a good grocery store and laundry, and directions to a good viewing spot so that we could see the Reversing Falls at their wildest.
The problem turned out to be worn out brushes, the repair taking a mere half hour.
Our trip back down the Reversing Falls, aided by the local knowledge we gleaned at RKYC, was a piece of cake. We're now lying to a mooring in Dipper Harbour, about 20 miles down the coast from Saint John, where we've staged for our next foray into the Bay of Fundy. The weather report calls for light winds and clear skies. We'll head to Grand Manan Island later this morning, our last stop in Canada.
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