With but a little over a month set aside, we skirted the lower section of Penobscot Bay, sailing from Rockland to Frenchboro, Long Island via Merchant Row. From here, we moved smartly up the coast, entering Canadian waters via Grand Manan. As we proceeded along the coast, we were acutely aware of the decreasing number of lobster buoys.
It was in the Bay of Fundy we started to feel the effects of "the highest tides in the world", which we had long read about. The Micmac Indians of long ago attributed the twice daily rise and tidal fall to Glooscap, the giant Indian God. Tradition relates Beaver built Glooscap a dam across the mouth of a great river to provide water for a bath. Whale became angry and destroyed the dam with a great stroke of her mighty tail, sending salt water flooding back into her domain. As she swam back to sea, she created a great movement of water, which continues to flow back and forth to this day.
On the day we set sail for St. John from Grand Manan, Whale's tail gave us a two-knot current assist, for which we were thankful in a fluctuating breeze. With a very alert captain at the helm and mate sketching madly, Panacea successfully traversed the much-talked about Reversing Falls at the mouth of the St. John River without incident. If one's timing is off, this passage can be a memorable one. The high tides described above, forcefully gush through a narrow rock gorge at the river mouth, an area that must be transited before accessing the upper reaches of the river.
After many engine hours and little sailing up the river, we reached Grand Lake, our turnaround point. Other than a visit to the village of Gagetown, our evening anchorages along the river were in remote coves, shared with the romantic call of trilling loons.
Before departing the river, we availed ourselves of a mooring, leased by the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club, a short distance from the city of St. John, and took bus rides in to experience the sights and sensations of a thriving and bustling city seaport. Much to see and do before turning Panacea's bow back along the coast and into the Passamaquoddy Bay and surrounds. St. Andrew's and Campobello Island were enjoyed before re-entering US coastal waters and the now familiar homeland waters (and lobster buoys) of down east Maine.