Wood Islands to Charlottetown

We’ve been exploring the Northumberland Strait for a few days now with our first stop in Wood Islands PEI, a rather remote location, but home of the ferry between PEI and Nova Scotia. We had a long 11 hour day-sail from Havre Boucher and in the end had to motor sail for a couple of hours to make our arrival before dusk. Next to the ferry terminal is a fishing wharf where visiting boats can tie up. The first night was $15, the second $10, the most affordable dockage we’ve had in our travels. These were also the largest tides we’ve encountered on a fixed wharf, so we were a little extra cautious tying up. The last thing we wanted was to wake up to the sound of deck cleats being ripped off the boat as the tide fell.

The fishing wharf and ferry terminal is really all that is here. I walked a mile up the road to find the tourist office, an ice cream shop and a liquor store.

The Crab Shack on the wharf recently changed ownership, but they are trying to open soon.

Here is Magnus after a swim heading for the red-brown soil to make a best effort to make his white parts match the rest of his fur.

When we left Wood Islands the winds were forecast to be strong for a couple of days from the south which reportedly funnels the waves into Charlottetown Harbour. So instead we sailed back to Nova Scotia for a night in Barachois Harbour. We anchored out in the harbour as the entrance is only a couple of feet deep at low tide, but launched the dinghy and found a cute little marina with a few rental cottages inside. I thought I would ask about getting a lift out for some maintenance when the tide was up, but when I checked out the liftout well I realized it was about the same width as Altera, so figured it best to pass.

Prior to leaving Cape Breton, I had emailed the Charlottetown Yacht club to get a slip for our visit but had yet to receive a response so we tried phoning. No answer and nobody returned our voicemail, but we had to depart as it was mid-morning and would take several hours to cross the Northumberland Strait. Overcast skies turned to rain and I was thankful for my foul weather gear. Seeing as I didn’t need any assistance Chrissy and Magnus stayed dry down below. The rain started to clear as we made the approach to the harbour.

Once inside we phoned the Charlottetown Marina as we had yet to hear from the yacht club. The marina said they had one slip left so we thanked them and let them know we would be there in 20 minutes. We dropped the sail once we crossed the path of the cruise ship that was starting to cast his lines off and motored in. If you look closely you’ll see a little laser sailboat heading out right in front of the ship. When the ship blasted his horn I blinked and then the laser was sailing back towards shore again. I didn’t even see him tack. Wonder if he had to change his shorts when he got back?

There was a bit of confusion as we pulled in thinking that we were going to the last finger before the restaurant such that restaurant would be to starboard. Just as I started to sweep the turn we finally got a good glimse to realize there was no way we would fit there. I put the boat hard in reverse which stopped us quickly, but the prop walk was also kicking the stern to starboard in a hurry. A quick shot of forward with the rudder hard over and we straightened out before we hit anything and then we backed down the lane way while Chrissy called the marina again. A minute later everything was resolved we headed back in to tie alongside the restaurant.

So with the rain clouds having parted and the sun trying to make a faint appearance we had dinner at the restaurant.

Today we did a walking tour of the town to see the sights.

The buildings reminded me of Martha’s Vineyard, but instead of grey with white trim, they have made use of colour. We also go the impression that you don’t need to be in the top 1% to live here.

Cows PEI ice cream is rated #1 in the world, at least according to the poster in the shop, so we couldn’t not find out for ourselves. We have a few holes our world travels before we can substantiate the claim it is the best in the world, but it certainly was good, and as you can see the sun was out and we were T-shirts!