Bras D' Or Lake

The Bras D’ Or lake was not far North of our Whitehead Bay anchorage and are entered into via a small lock system. The lock is fairly small and drops you down about a foot into the lake.  The locks were opened in 1869 and took all of 15 years to blast through the 800 meters of granite so that it could be constructed.

The entrance to the locks.

Waiting for the locks to be opened

The lake was beautiful and there were plenty of sailboats cruising its shores. We anchored outside the small town of Baddeck. The town is a popular stopping point along the Bras D’ Or Lake scenic drive and for being the home of Alexander Graham Bell museum.  We will remember it for two very different things.  The Kissing Cod seafood market and the by now infamous satellite connection.  We spent some time talking with the welcoming owners of the Kissing Cob and after tasting a few of Tom's delicious freshly steamed mussels we took a fresh bag of back to the boat with us to enjoy later.

Lori, Neil, Carol and Howard meet one of the locals

That was the good part, now for a short rant about the satellite. Never could a group of people even try to be as incompetent as the providers of our non-existent satellite. After John and Neil spent several hours on the phone with them late into the night we managed to get connected for a few short hours. This was short lived however the wide array of excuses from the providers sadly do not appear to share the same lifespan. This was more than just a small inconvenience especially when one considers the cost involved and left us with limited communications and weather reports for our entire Atlantic crossing.

The following day we headed North out of the Bras D’ Or lakes in near perfect conditions o begin heading south and east to the Azores. 

The current at the north entrance was pretty strong.

Before doing so we made a shot drive-by of Bird Island at the north entrance to the lake where we spent time viewing the breeding Puffins, Eagles and many many more.  A real treat for the bird nerds onboard!

Next stop the Azores.

Some of the many birds on Bird Island