Nova Acotia - Maine

[kim r]

Anyone know about living aboard in Nova Scotia - Newfoundland - Maine ??

[Crimea Cruiser]

yep! It's damn cold a fairly good part of the year!

[midnightmail]

It's done. Those who live aboard over the winter generally have a full enclosure set up and a heater below. We haven't had a solid ice in for many years.

[kim r]

is it expensive ??? -

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by kim r

is it expensive ??? -

Compared to MA, CT and other parts of New England it is very cheap.

[NSboatman]

Don't know if you're canadian, american or other nationality , but there are implications of course for living aboard if you're not canadian, but staying in Canadian waters. as a foreigner, on entry, you get 6 months cruising here. after that you have to leave and re-enter.

Up until last week, there was an 'E99' program, where you can leave your boat in Canadian waters, so long as you are getting some work done on it by a canadian company. you do up a work order, the company quotes it, and it all goes to the border services and voila your boat can stay until next spring, when it gets converted to another 6 month cruising permit.

Last week, that changed slightly - but very significantly. Now, americans wishing to leave their boats in canadian waters after cruising for a summer have to pay a 15% deposit on the market value of the boat. If they take the boat out of canadian waters after this, the deposit is refunded. if not, it's forfeited. No if ands or buts. I just dealt with this on a Nordhavn 46 I look after here. No way is that owner going to drop $80k on a deposit, just so he can have the pleasure of leaving his boat here for 6 months to get work done.

In one fell swoop, our federal government in all their wisdom have eviscerated any winter storage and work options for US boats here. and all the jobs that are associated with that activity. Smart, eh?

But heck - if you can come up here and just stay while you cruise, we'll still gladly have ya! If you're going to sit around Cape Breton/Newfoundland, then you only have to hop over to the french islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon to renew the 6 month thing - but doing that anytime from December - end of March is going to require big balls and a strangely good weather forecast.

I'm not sure if simply going out past the 12 mile limit and returning resets the cruising permit. methinks not.

Yes, it is cold, but not as cold as some might think - warmer than the great lakes for sure, and probably warmer in NS than in Maine - we're stuck way out here into the atlantic, which moderates things a lot. The south shore of NS rarely gets any serious snow accumulation anymore. it's a big deal to get 6" in one drop now. not so on the fundy side or eastern shore - they get walloped frequently. What you wll notice is that spring drags on here forever. it doesn't really warm up decently until June here. Right now, however, is the best time of all - warm water, no more fog, clear skies, warm days and cool nights, good wind, and virtually no one in any anchorage.

Cmon up and give it a try!

bg

[Mike OReilly]

We'll also be looking for winter storage, and possibly winter liveaboard options, in 2016. Any specific marina recommendations NSboatman? (We are Canadian).

[NSboatman]

Hah! by 2016, everything might be different... lots of change around here in terms of marinas and docks. money is tight, govt's are divesting, environmental regs are starting to be enforced, folks are getting serious and more protective about what happens on the shorelines...

You have a 36' boat right? In the Halifax region, the live-aboards tend to be at the Armdale Yacht Club, where there are bubblers and you're very well sheltered, as well as being super close to the city and lots of services and amenities. Still, probably only 4-8 liveaboards a winter there. I'm not sure if the RNSYS allows liveaboards, but I doubt it. most small marinas in this area other than those two tend to pull ALL of their docks, and haul all the boats. pity, since there are lots of good sailing days in March and December, and even one or two in Jan-Feb.

There might be some options in Lunenburg, but that harbor can get pretty stinky in a heavy southerly, which happens lots in the winter. Further east up to Cape Breton and onward, Ice is the issue - heavy pack ice. you have to haul - no choice. From HFX south, there haven't been ice issues for a long time; but it is possible still in a very bad year. Some folks have managed quite well over a winter on their own, up small creeks or on gov't or private docks in several well protected inlets all along the SW coast, but it's a hard way to do it - power is rare and intermittent, usually the docks (if there is one) are in rough shape, and you're hanging it out a bit. if that's ok with you, then it can be done for real cheap and be quite a lovely adventure... but it's not for the feint of heart if you know what I mean. YMMV.

For no-fuss, no-muss winter liveaboard in NS, so far I think AYC is your best bet. And you'll still want to put a full winter cover on. Makes for a nice porch.

best-

bg

[hpeer]

I just bought my boat to the US after 8 years in NS and Newfoundland. Summer only, not live aboard.

If you want some good advice I would call the Lewisporte Yacht Club and ask for Peter Watkins. He is very accessible and will give you the straight scoop on Newfoundland.

I would start here to get the lay of the land:
Cruising Guide to the Nova Scotia Coast,
Cruising Guide to Newfoundland,
Cruising Guide to The Labrador,
and the Cruising Guide to the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Pilot Press - Cruising Guides to Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

You will really, really need at least TWO good reliable sources of on board heat. Think some form of diesel heater and/or wood stove. Even if you have shore power it can go out for too long. I have an Espar, and it might be reasonable to carry a spare heater. Parts, even if available in Canada, can take 10 days to arrive. Airports can easily be shut down for a few days running. For an Espar it is pretty easy to change out the entire heater and then fix the spare.

BTW, we DO over winter, in Delaware. On each of our boats we use the Espar, but have a kero buldhead mount back up.

NEWFOUNDLAND - up there you really talk about "bays" as the region. The North and West coasts are not really amenable to in-water over wintering. They get hard freezes. The South coast coast harbors are pretty much ice free, but there are fewer amenities, no marinas. Also you are much closer to St. Pierre if you have to scoot across.

I watch the weather up there (Bonavista/Gander) and it seems that for the past few years it is pretty decent until Christmas, then gets ugly until mid-June. I agree, probably no worse, or maybe a little better than the Northern Main coast.


There are a couple of pretty good marinas on Conception Bay, which backs up to St. Johns, the only real "city" in Newfoundland. I don't know these marinas but you could look into the Royal Newfoundland for a start. The one time I checked they required you to take your mast down for winter storage.

I know of no marinas on either Trinity or Bonavista Bay. I did keep my boat on the hard at Bonavista for two or three years. Never, ever, ever again.

On Notre Dame Bay there is Lewisporte Marina which is a first class facility with a travel lift, floating docks, nice club house, and an international community in the summer. I do believe that they have had a very few boats over winter in the water. But at least one of them sank leaving them a problem so that may not be allowed there anymore.

I know of nothing else remotely suitable on the North or West coast.

On the South coast you have Burgeo, which had a somewhat working marine lift 6 years ago. Burgeo has a road that connects to the Trans Canadian Highway. Then there are no highways until you get to Harbor Breton.

The Bruin pennisula may be a good option for you. On the Fortune Bay side Fortune has the St Pierre ferry, and thus is an all weather harbor. Not a clue about dockage. Grand Bank is also an all weather harbor. My experience there was that it has very meager amenities but at least you are in town and there are food stores.

On the Placentia Bay side you have Bruin and Marystown. Never been to Bruin, and to Marystown only by car. I would check out Marystown pretty hard. There is a big industrial dock there that may or may not be active depending upon contracts. Can't speak to lifts in either. I would be shocked to find anything on the South coast with water and/or electricity to the boat.

If you are really and truly adventurous you could try either Francious or Grey River. Both have some dockage, one has a small floating dock and may be your best bet to liveaboard with power and water available nearby. But, they are each landlocked communities of about 200 folks. They have semi-daily ferry service to Burgeo.

In Cape Brenton, Nova Scotia I am familiar with:
North Sydney Yacht club...small old lift, no live aboard
Dobbins(sp?) in Sydney, across the harbor from town. Not obvious they allow liveaboard and no local stores anyway.
Baddeck - don't know, but it is a nice small town and marina is in the center of town
St. Peters - no winter liveaboard
Dundee - closed about a year ago
That's it for there.

Others here know more about Halifax

[Mike OReilly]

Thank you both Hpeer and NSboatman. That's the kind of detail we need. We are beginning our journey next season, heading south from Lake Superior and wintering in Lake Ontario the first season. From there we plan to head out the St. Lawrence and spend as much time as we can afford in the Maritimes/NFLD. Necessity may force us to be "adventurous," so I'll definitely be researching Francious and Grey Rivers.

[hpeer]

Glad to be of help.