As we left the harbor ourselves, we found almost all of them tending pots just a few hundred meters from the breakwater. What the hell, guys! Did the twenty seconds you saved in the harbor make any difference to you at all? Ugh! We were glad to put up the spinnaker and put them quickly astern.
Another early start. Cold, rain and fog make it hard to really enjoy the passage
We made good time to the Northumberland Strait, which separates the mainland from Prince Edward Island (PEI). By morning, we were in light tailwinds and thick fog. We passed under the Confederation Bridge, of which we could only see the center, and then switched to working sails for the beat into Charlottetown. As we set anchor, just a fraction of a mile from the yacht club, we could only see the faintest outlines if the buildings lining the nearest part of the shore.
In the morning, as we were getting ready to reposition to the yacht club, a giant cruise ship passed within a tenth of a mile of us. We were safely in shallow water out of the channel, but it was a bit disconcerting to hear it go by without even being able so see a slight thinning of the fog in its direction.
By the time our anchor was actually clunking home, the skies were rapidly parting and the pretty town was coming into view.
The yacht club staff caught our lines, welcomed us to the island, and told us to let them know if there was anything that we needed. We had a rain day coming, so we decided to defer the chores until then. For now, we were keen to see the town.
Charlottetown is also a popular stop on the cruise ship loops; it has a really lovely waterfront vibe.
And some rather nice churches, and pedestrian areas
Government House was not yet open to tourists for the season, but we were able to amble in the gardens
Charlottetown is very tidy and perfectly sized to be fully explored in a day or two of easy strolling. Another cruise ship came in, stayed for ten hours, and then left again. I imagine most of the passengers saw the same stuff that we did, minus the outlying 10% at the edges. The main difference was that we didn't have to keep checking our watches to make sure we didn't get left behind. We had to explain a couple of times that we were from A boat, not THE boat, so we had time to wait.
We partook in a tour of the Beaconsfield Historic House; the original owner made some rather extravagant choices in an attempt to impress, and ended up destitue because of it
We did laundry and provisioning the next day, darting from the bus stop into the grocery store in heavy rain. By the time we emerged a couple hours later, the skies were unexpectedly clearing and a nice, warm afternoon appeared to be in the offing. We dumped our haul back at the boat, assisted by a very understanding taxi driver, and then headed out for another circuit of Charlottetown's sights to see what they are like on Not Cruise Ship Day. We decided it was still very charming, and the people couldn't be friendlier. We topped our visit with a disastrous pub quiz performance (not last, though!) With that done, it was time to make a move and head down (latitude-wise. It's at the same altitude) to Nova Scotia.
Anchor location (before heading for the marina) >> On google maps
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