Retracing our steps.
Sailing west again, into the setting sun.
The journey back to Canada from St Pierre was 2 nights. We had good weather and managed to sail most of the way. We landed in eastern Nova Scotia, Canso, an official port of entry. It is unclear why there are only 4 or 5 official ports of entry where we have to land, and physically tie up before checking in. Both times the checking in process has involved a phone call to a customs officer in Toronoto or Quebec. No eye contact at all. Canso was not much. A fishing port and RV park summed it up. We did score Lobster though, in retrospect, not sure how legal. The guy said, as he departed, “you never saw me”!!
We left Canso the following day and wove our way through rocky pine tree covered islands in sheltered waters to the unfortunately named Louse Bay, it was quite lovely.
We spent a few days there, in the company of sv Flying Fish and crew, watching eagles, kingfishers and seals and searching, unsuccessfully, for the mussels promised in the guide. The wind then blew from the north and we were off, an overnight passage down the coast to Halifax.
In Halifax we had a new set of AGM batteries waiting for us. Our old batteries were still functioning, but their ability to hold a charge overnight, especially when underway and using the autopilot, was getting noticeably less efficient. Additionally this summer had been challenging, the frequent fog and lack of sunny skies to benefit from solar charging put more hours than we would have liked on the generator. Brian had been going back and forth on what batteries to purchase. Should we join the crowd and switch our system over to the very efficient and safe but complex lithium batteries now available, or should we stick with the more conventional lead acid chemistry? The final decision came down to safety at sea. The lithium systems involve many BMS (battery management system) and charging regulators as it is critical that lithium batteries are not overcharged. However these same regulators could in theory turn off the bank if they discovered a problem, and you would be left with no batteries and no way of resolving the problem. Far offshore in a boat that is heavily dependent on electricity for navigation, this would be an issue. Additionally for the cost of making the switch and rewiring systems, we could purchase new AGM batteries three times over. Our new batteries, 5 of the Victron Super Cycle AGM 170Ah, gave us 50% greater capacity for the same footprint. Now it may be time to buy another solar panel to charge them!
New batteries installed. A good mornings work.
The next stop was Lunenburg where we had a date with a master electrician. Since Brian had built the boat we had never actually had anyone look at the electrical system. However there were a couple of new items we had purchased and installed while in Europe that did not appear to be working correctly, or at all. This was the first opportunity to have a recommended expert come and take a look and tell us if they were installed incorrectly, or were we just unlucky and had purchased faulty units. We booked a berth on the wharf at the Fisheries museum and they ran shore power cable out to us to help us test the first item, a Victron isolation transformer. This box is what allows us to charge our batteries and run our systems while plugged in to shore power. It is more complicated in that it does this via induction, keeping the boat physically unconnected -an important safety feature for our metal boat as we do not want stray unexpected currents. The new isolation transformer was supposed to recognize European and American electrical systems and adapt accordingly. We installed it as we left for Norway, but we were never able to use it. Dave came onboard and repeated many of the tests Brian had done, he confirmed it was installed correctly and concluded it was a bad unit. On to the second item, a secondary battery charger which we had bought to boost the efficiency of charging while using the generator. Again, he looked at the installation and tested the unit. Another duff. Our faith in Victron products has taken a hit. Hopefully with Dave’s report we will be able to get both units replaced as we travel down through the US before we leave again for foreign shores.
The Bluenose, Canada’s favorite boat.
As we were leaving Lunenburg we passed a Dory being rowed in the bay. These are popular in the area. They are faithful replicas of the small whaling boats that were launched to actually go out and harpoon the whales. The high sides and ability to be stacked on the deck of the main ship made them the perfect seaworthy vessel for the job. They looked really heavy to row.
We spent one night anchored off Carters beach,. We had a chat to the two other boats in the anchorage, exchanging plans and opinions as to the safety of heading offshore right after hurricane Franklin had passed by. The issue was not so much the wind, but residual swell from the storm. We decided Helacious is a strong and heavy boat, we would head offshore to escape the Bay of Fundy currents that could complicate the seas, and hopefully find some wind to sail to Cape Cod.
With a nice red sunset to encourage us, we set off the next morning, USA bound.
