September 16,17 and Back Home on the 18th, 2013

we took a side trip to see Saint-Jean-Port-Joli again at low tide, last year low tide was at 11 at night and it was hard to take pictures of the marina without any water.  At low tide Modaki's  keel went 1 foot into the mud

the marina has a mud slinger to suck the mud out of the basin and over the wall, we understand it has to be done every third day

our next stop was to see Lily's (my daughter), French Exchange family, Rejean, Eloise and Isabelle

in Portneuf .. we were treated to a fantastic meal and a tour of the area

 we had a tour of Rejean's pine plantation, they are pruning the trees clean of branches to 9 ft from the ground to get  knot free logs for the next generation to harvest.

then we took the VTT (ATV), back to the sugar shack

Isabelle toured us around the area and took us to their summer home, which is on the St. Lawrence River ... it was great to see all the home renovations  and a freighter to boot

a highlight was to see this private house being built, it is a replica of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City... which I saw some 30 years ago  

Quebec is so full of art, this is a bridge that at night coloured lights shine up thru the metal pipes

so after 3 1/2 months Joe and I return home, it is a bitter sweet moment

our first visitors were Lily, and Wyatt Baker

this is the sea glass that we picked up on our road trip back home, golf balls, and old iron too

a few days later we went to Keady Market, for some fresh veggies

some not so happy cattle being auctioned off

September is a great month for fresh veggies in Ontario

this was a good year for apples in our area, so we picked some wild apples and made

Apple Butter for Christmas gifts

we have been busy preserving, getting our house plants back from friends,

putting the house back together, visiting family and friends, Joe has been sailing on other peoples boats

 and woodworking, I have been dog/house sitting.  We are doing more house renovations too.  We have been asked to speak again at the Toronto Boat Show, this January 2014.(exact dates will be posted once we get them) ...... Thank you for following Joe's and my adventure.  ..... we will be going back to Modaki June 2014, to get her back in the water, tour more of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia.  Then head down to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and wait on a weather window to cross the Bay of Fundy to Maine, USA ..... then head down to New York City, and the Intracoastal Waterways to Florida, and cross to the Bahamas after Christmas !!!

our email address is modaki@rogers.com

September 14-15, 2013 Joggins Fossil Beach

we spent a couple of hours experiencing life before dinosaurs, at Joggins,  the fossils are 300 million years old

it was at low tide again when we arrived at Joggins, rocky fossil covered beach and cliffs

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs reveal the world's most complete fossil record of life in the Carboniferous Period, or "Coal Age".

this is the foot prints of a plant eating insect, that was one foot wide and 6 feet long, I can't remember the name of it.

all of the fossils that we saw was plant life

the tide uncovered this tree 4 months old

this is an old wharf, and part of a train track

the pattern is of the bark of a tree

some more plant life fossils

in this area also is 3 closed coal mines, the water here is emptying the mines of water,  the mines were constantly filled with water .. making life for the miners extremely hard

this is another tree trunk fossil, pointy at the top and wider at the bottom

the round fossil in the middle is the root of a tree that is not exposed yet

this is a tree trunk on the beach, the tides move them all around ... so when we had our guided tour on the ocean floor, some of the fossils had moved places .... the animal fossils are found in the tree trunks

not fossils, just periwinkle snails walking across the rocks

clam shells together in this fossil

this is 15 kilometres of coastal cliffs, which are eroded twice a day by the highest tides in the world, rare plant and animal fossils are revealed, preserved where they once lived.  That is Joe in the yellow jacket.

the cliffs have been studied since the 1850's by scientists from around the world.  Fossils of the first reptiles have been found here.  It is prohibited to remove fossils or any other natural material from the beach.  Much of the beach is inaccessible at high tide.

Then we headed off to Riverview to have coffee with our friends Dave, MaryLou, and Nikki Bath. Then spent the night in Moncton with Dave Robertson and Jess Hahling, we sailed with them to the Madeleine Islands ...... 

September 13, 2013 - walking on the ocean floor

last night we stayed at Marie and Henry's place out side Wolfville, Nova Scotia.  We had a good dinner and evening together.  We met them in Liscomb Mills, about a month ago, they got us connected with Gold River for haul out ...and thanks guys for keeping a box of goodies that can't freeze for use next year on Modaki ... see you in June  2013 !!!

these grape vines are not covered for the rain that is pouring down on us, but for the birds, there is lots of wineries in this area

then we came across some one that is all ready for Christmas

then off to Burncoat Head, area of the World's highest recorded tides ...

we planned this again for low tide, which works out well this time of the year because it is in the mornings ...

walking down to the ocean floor

the tide was still going out and it was raining a bit, so it was a bit slippery in the red clay

there is one Flower Pot here, it sure is a lot bigger than me

The first lighthouse was built in 1858 on land that later became an island due to the effects of erosion. The light house was dismantled in 1913 and the second one was built on the mainland from the salvaged lumber.  Then it was decommissioned in 1972 and in 1994 a replica of the 1913 lighthouse was erected.

twice every day the Bay of Fundy fills and empties its 100 billion tons of water creating the highest tides in the world.

there is  fossils here too, but we had no luck finding any

further down the road an old wharf

it is pouring rain now and we are looking at the Five Island Lighthouse Park, note a hole in the island rock (Left), and there is one Flower Pot in view (right), there is mud flats and a lighthouse that is 100 years old.

this day's adventures finished with this one of a kind fence, metal ironing board's, and there was one horizontal board  used as a swinging gate ... and an active windmill too (blades are the ironing boards) ... too cool

September 11 and 12, 2013 Annapolis Royal and Halls Harbour, Atlantic Ocean

Annapolis Royal was our next stop, we visited lots of local art galleries and museums, we saw some wonderful folk art ...  and the Sinclair Inn Museum built in 1710- 1781, the museum uses interactive computer technology and de-constructed sections of the building to exhibit almost 300 years of history. Joe loved this part.  You can also,  Meet the Ghosts of the Sinclair Inn ... ten people who lived in the building from the time of its construction in 1710 to its last days as a hotel in the early 1950's. You can watch and listen as these "ghosts" unfold the history of Annapolis Royal through their stories and struggles.

we arrived at low tide which was about around 11am

a neat fence gate, to a children's play ground

 friend's of Joe's mom bought this beautiful 1800 century building down town Annapolis Royal, and we managed to have a visit with them.  Arthur and Lizby, live on the 2nd floor of this beautifully decorated one bedroom loft, with a fireplace, and a covered back room, with  a frog water fountain, and tons of beautiful plants.

Harriet (Joe's Mom) met them many years ago in Antique, Caribbean.

we did a tour of the Annapolis tidal Generating Station, this same system is used in Ireland, when the tide comes in, and the sea level reaches the level of the head pond, as in picture. The gates are opened and the water fills the head pond. When the tide begins to go out and the gates close, the head pond remains higher than the sea.  When this difference, called "the head" is about 1.8 metres or more, water is allowed to flow through the turbine at a rate of 400 cubic metres per second.  This cycle lasts approximately 5 hours.  The predictable 12 hour and 25 min tide cycle allows Annapolis to operate twice a day.

the next day we drove to The Lookoff, (not Look Out), and viewed the Annapolis Valley, below is the rows of vineyards

some other areas are growing peach trees, we just had to buy a some, along with varieties of apples that we have not seen in our area

again the tide is out, and an old wharf is exploded, we think that the ocean is 1/2 mile from shore

picture is not good, it was too foggy, but if you look close you can see the tide going out !!!

next was Hall's Harbour

note the small entrance to this fishing village, and no water

this is outside the harbour and the area that is the deepest to come into the harbour ... the two dots in the centre of the picture are people walking the ocean bottom ... the tides are about 30 feet here

no sea glass here, but lots of fantastic looking stones, I wanted to bring a few home with me !!!