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NOVA
SCOTIA
Nova Scotia
is across the Bay of Fundy from New Brunswick. It is a place of
scenic beauty, a peninsular thrust into the Atlantic Ocean where,
when on land, you are never more than 30 minutes away from the
seacoast by car.
 Acadian
fishing villages, Ship building towns, historical fortresses and
Scottish settlement towns are all here, so are the deep sea ports
of Halifax, Canso and Sydney. Samuel de Champlain established his
first settlement at Port Royal, Annapolis County on the Bay of
Fundy in 1605
Information
about cruising in Nova Scotia is published in several cruising
guides and videos including Cruise Nova Scotia published by
Diversity Publishing in Halifax and available at an AMTA chart
dealer. Cruising videos are available from the Nova Scotia
Boatbuilders Association.
 SOUTHERN
SHORE OF NOVA SCOTIA
Crossing
the Bay of Fundy from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, one often
heads for Tiverton, a fishing village on a long narrow strait
known as Digby Neck. Further down Digby Neck is Brier Island where
famed solo sailor Joshua Slocum lived as a boy in the town of
Westport. The Neck protects St Mary's Bay and the fishing towns of
Church Point and Meteghan on the Acadian Shore. Further East is
Yarmouth where the car and passenger ferries coming from Portland
Maine and Bar Harbour make landfall. The fishing
villages of Wedgeport, the Pubnicos, around the Southern tip of
Cape Sable Island, and Clarke's harbour are home to a large Nova
Scotian fishing fleet and to the builders of these fishing boats.
The Cape Islander, the type of fishing boat used in Nova Scotia
comes from here.
SOUTH
SHORE
 The
South Shore is considered a cruising heaven by many and its
numerous bays, rivers and islands were hideouts for privateers,
naval ships and pirates. Liverpool, named after the Liverpool in
England on the same named Mersey River was the home port for many
successful Privateers until the war of 1860, The LaHave River and
the town of Bridgewater is a great place for boating, hosting a
power boat poker run every year. Lunenburg is possibly the best
known cruising destination in Nova Scotia where many ships and
boats including the famed the Nova Scotian schooner Bluenose were
built.
Today,
Marine Trades continue to flourish in Lunenburg, and just about
every Marine service is available. Mahone Bay, a bay of islands is
home to Oak Island where the infamous Captain Kidd may have buried
his treasure, to the town of Mahone Bay where the Mahone Bay
Wooden Boat festival takes place every summer, to the Tancook
Islands where noted marine historian Howard Chapelle found the
Tancook schooner and the town of Chester and Chester Race week. St
Margaret's Bay is another large bay ringed by pretty towns
including Hubbards where the television series Black Harbour was
filmed. The Northern side of the bay is where the most
photographed area of Nova Scotia is located, the fishing village
of Peggy's Cove
 HALIFAX
HARBOUR
Founded
in 1749, Halifax Harbour has always been a significant port on the
Eastern Seaboard of North America. On the busy historical
waterfront is the Maritime Museum of the
Atlantic.
There are many busy yacht
clubs in Halifax Harbour; in the North West Arm are the Royal Nova
Scotia Yacht Squadron, and the Armdale Yacht Club. The Dartmouth
Yacht club is on the Dartmouth Side of the Harbour and the Bedford
Basin yacht Club is at the top of the Bedford basin.
All Marine
Services are available in Halifax and Dartmouth.
THE
EASTERN SHORE
 En route
from Halifax to Canso and the island of Cape Breton is the Eastern
Shore of Nova Scotia. Here is the town of Sherbrook where the
famous hero of the Stan Roger's song Barrett's Privateers was
from.
The Nova Scotia Provincial resort at Liscomb Mills is a
haven for yachts sailing this shore. There are Marinas in Canso
and Guysborough. Canso is home to the annual Stan Rogers Festival
THE
CANSO STRAIT, CHEDABUCTO BAY, ISLE MADAME
AND CAPE BRETON ISLAND
 It's
not far across Chedabucto bay to the Acadian Island of Isle Madame
just south of Cape Breton Island, and from there is just a hop to
the historic St Peter's canal, the entrance to the Bras d'Or
Lakes. The town of St Peter's is one of the oldest settlements in
North America having been a trading post since the early
seventeenth century.
The canal
was completed in 1869 and is now maintained by Parks Canada. The
Bras d'Or Lake is 450 square miles of pristine salt water inland
sea. Used as a transportation system in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, the lakes are now a haven for recreational
boaters. There are several Marinas on the lake including St Peters
Marina.
The coast
of Cape Breton is incredibly scenic, with fishing ports,
Louisbourg Harbour, where the re- construction of the Fortress of
Louisburg is located and Sydney Harbour. Information about
Louisbourg is at http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca/louisbourg
Boats can
go through the Canso Strait to the Northumberland Strait through a
passage in the Canso Causeway.
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