Tide Hiker Adventures: Roque Island Anchorage

August 15, 2015
44 34 555 N
67 31 043 W

Our port engine had been reluctant to start for some unknown reason but once it started it seemed to be running OK We backed off the Shelbourne dock a few minutes before 9 AM. We had a long way to go but the strong tide currents around Cape Sable and into the Bay of Fundy definitely made plans more complicated. The charts showed a lot of "tidal rips" and "tidal overflows" that just could not be ignored. After a lot of research Don had concluded that we needed to be at the Cape about 4 PM, hence the late start. In theory we would ride the ebb as far as the cape and ride the flood north into the bay. Our objective was Yarmouth, NS about 75 NM away - 10 to 11 hours. From there we planned to cross the bay to Maine on Saturday

Once out into the Atlantic the swells were large but reasonable separated and the wind waves were minimal. We were in and out of dense fog but were making good progress. But about 4 or 5 hours into the day the starboard engine started acting up and then just stopped. The stabilizer hydraulic pump is driven by the starboard engine so we also had no stabilizers and Tide Hiker to roll about. We called Cavara and asked them to slow down as we were only managing 4.5 kts on one engine.

Our engines are pretty basic diesel engines that have a good reputation for reliability - no fancy electronics and not turbo charged. If they get a decent supply of fuel, air and cooling water and there is oil in the sump they tend to run. My first hope was that there was a fuel starvation problem. The fuel from the tanks is filtered twice before it gets to the injectors. I had just changed the primary Racor filters two days ago, so I knew that was OK. But I tend to be a bit cheap with the secondaries, of which there are two per engine. I rotate them every 6 months, so now one was 12 months old and one was 6. Half an hour later I had replaced them with new, bled the system and the engine started immediately - and ran for the rest of the day.

Our little convoy made it around the Cape by about 3 PM. We kept a good three miles off because its a pretty rugged coastline, littered with rocks and reefs and little islands. But after that we seemed to get bogged down into a 5 kt slug against the predominant tidal currents. It soon became apparent that we would be quite late getting to Yarmouth and anchoring well after dark. We were also adding wated miles, going in and out of Yarmouth esquary.

So after a quick radio conference we decided to just turn Northwest and head straight across the mouth of the bay of Fundy to Maine. I had identified a "5 star" anchorage at Roque Island and after cutting between XX and YY islands we were able to draw a pretty straight line to Roque.

The Maine coast line is pretty rugged and surrounded by lobster pots. Running over a lobster pot and wrapping a 1/2" line around the running gear is a big problem. We now had the tide on our side but needed to slow down so we did not reach the Maine coast until morning.

At 9 PM Deidre and I divided into three hour shifts so we could get some sleep. We both seem to sleep well underway. All went well till we started spotting lobster floats about 4:30 AM. It was still dark and so we just had to turn around and head back until there was enough light to proceed to the anchorage. We were anchored in this idyllic place by about 8:30 AM. Once Tide Hiker was settled, we hit the sack till lunchtime.

Roque Island Anchorage

This anchorage is quintessential Maine and is ranked 5 Stars in Active Captain (our bible). It also helps that the sun is out and sky is blue. Another big difference is that there are other boats here - we are not by ourselves! I have added an image from the chart of the island. Its hard to capture the feeling of the place on photos - its too "all around".

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My goodness - company!

Surrounded by islands, cliffs and a crescent beach

The beach

We have not cleared into the USA and so had raised our yellow quarantine flag and we not allowed ashore. But we figured it was OK to tour the anchorage in the dink and so set off. There is a reasonably deep but narrow passage out of the anchorage between the islands called "The Thoroughfare". I would be too chicken to take Tide Hiker through, but in the dinghy seemed a safe bet.

The tide here was about 12' - so about 2' every hour - and so on the beach the water came and went pretty quickly. I anchored the dink in about a foot of water but less than an hour later she was high and dry.

We stayed below the high water mark.

Oops - better hurry back!

During the tour we ventured over to a lobster fishing boat that seemed to be here for fun and not work - and met Dixon and Lisa. They were super friendly and invited us back for a lobster and clam boil. We were back at 6 PM with Don and barb and a bunch of beer and nibbles.

Dixon had a close to 50 live lobsters in a floating live cage and a big pot of boiling water on a barbecue stove. In they went - and no, they did not squeal - and even moved around for a while. When they were red all over the feast began. As we were eating and drinking the fog rolled in - by the time we decided to go home it was cold, damp foggy and dark. We had left on plenty of lights but it was pretty spooky searching for Tide Hiker.