Makina Sea Log : Aug 19, 2026
Published on HivePostify by @novacadian · Wed Aug 19 2026
Right on cue, the Admiral arrived on Aug 6th ready for his tour of the East Coast. We did some provisioning that afternoon and spent the night on mooring in Mahone Bay Civic Marina. The next morning we were off for a passage down the south shore with another visit to Shelburne in store.
The winds were not favorable blowing from the south east and we decided to try taking large tacks. One to take us out of sight of land and another to, then, bring us back to shore; with the hope of bringing us near to Liverpool; barring currents and tides
The tack out was a good one on a nice solid breeze. Just as the sun set we were out of sight of land. It was the first time for me to see the sun setting into the Atlantic. Many a sunrises had been borne witness by me; yet never sunset.
We came about with our intended tack to Liverpool just as the darkness fell. To our dismay we realized that the wind had been slowly shifting on our previous tack. Makina now heading almost directly back to Mahone Bay keeping as close to the wind as we could manage!
We relented to the fact that we would probably make Lunenburg at best; which could have been made in two hours under power instead of all night venturing out of sight of land.
One boon of the night's passage was the star filled sky before the crescent moon rose red on the southern horizon brightening the night. The Milky Way was out for the short time before the moon lighted the darkness.
Early morning had us dropping anchor in Lunenburg Harbor. It was then to the bunks to rest up from our misguided night's passage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmxD-PW2EJI
Foggy Lunenburg
We remained that full day in port and went to town for a meal and tour of the harbor area. The next morning had us again underway which care this time to not go too far from the coast on each tack. Even so, with the added distance of the tacks we made it as far as Lahave Island before dropping anchor, in what Navionics reported to be a sheltered anchorage.
How wrong they were. We slept to a battering from the ocean swell. Although the untouched scenery was captivating. However we were glad to be rid of the rocking swell as we set out to continue our passage south.
Little Port L'Hebert was the next anchorage. Its scenary was stunning! Not only beautiful but, also, well sheltered. As gentle a sleep as one could ever ask for, with an ocean swell just outside the inlet.
We finally made Liverpool the next day. It was another day spent battling the strong headwinds, yet the weather was fair. We took a mooring ball in the Brooklyn Marina. With a brief visit ashore the next morning for showers we were off again to complete the final leg of the passage to Shelburne.
A nasty storm cell met us on our last leg into Shelburne. Not only thunder but some lightning with it. It was a bit unsettling with a 40 foot lightning rod stick up from our deck. We made it through unscathed and found a mooring ball as the Shelburne Yacht Club.
Thunder Cell off Shelburne
Shelburne was a bit like coming home, having spent three weeks there last season. The first night we connected with Liv. She had invited me to sail with her last year on Canada Day to Lockport for the firework display there.
The Admiral had made plans for us to connect with an acquaintance he knew through a mutual friend in Ottawa. He took us the next day to the Exhibition which was in town. It took me back to time spent in Bridgewater in my youth. It had been a very big event for the town. My cub pack even had a float in the town's parade.
The fellow was kind enough to lend us his truck to pick up more provisions. Once back on Makina it felt hard to leave so the Admiral went off to return the truck. He ended up being enticed by comfortable double bed and stayed the night.
With good winds heading back up the coast, once the Admiral was onboard, we took on more water and diesel and took the wind to our back for most of the day. With such favorable winds we decided to make another all night passage. We took shifts to allow the Admiral some sleep. Early morning found us arriving at my mooring in the town of Mahone Bay. Once Tender Service started we saw the Admiral to shore and off to Ottawa.
May the wind be at your back! A listing of my sailing posts
https://hive.blog/blog/@novacadian/categories-of-novacadian-s-sailing-seasons
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Tags: #sailing#makina#shelburne#mahone#bay