| I have been to Roque three times. Yes you can go ashore and walk on the
trails. Some are marked private, but others are open to anyone.
I suggest staying in Watermans or in the thorofare. (Anchoring as there
were no moorings when I was last there). Anchoring off the beach can
result in rolling, unless you are at the west end. Be careful to anchor
in the deep part of Watermans. The cove really gets shallow at low
tide.
Enter through the thorofare, no need to follow the marks around to the
East side. I went between the outside Islands one night, and it was a
bit hairy, read as water was thin.
Go to and from Roque with the current. It is amazing how strong the
Fundy current is. I have tried going against it and it is rather
frustrating.
I once went in a "thick o fog". There was very little wind so there was
a scale up when we turned and headed for the thorofare. Since the shore
is very bold and rocky, I think this will happen as you turn North to
head in from the outside.
I am heading for the St. John River in two more weeks, and hope to
spend a night at Roque, or one of the other harbors in that area.
Have a great time.
Bill Hill
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| I will add these comments concerning a trip to St. John. Allan you
might want to move them if you see fit.
My wife and I made the trip to St. John and return. We made a straight
run from Provincetown to NE. Harbor on Mt. Desert. Next day we went
with the current to Cross island which is about 10 miles further along
than Roque. Cross is where the Atlantic Salmon fish farm is located.
We left from Cross in very thick fog, and went up the Grand Manan
channel to Head Harbor on Campobello Island. I have Radar so the fog
was a little bit less of a problem.
The Grand Manan channel is like Woods Hole. The Current runs at about
3 knots, lots of swirls, but no marks. THe shores on either side are bold
so the theory is you will see them before you hit. My over the bottom
speed was 9.5 and I was motoring at about 6 through the water. There was
no wind so it was a motor trip.
Going in to Headharbor we approached it from the East. THere are no
marks outside, so we had to go into a hook of land which extended out
to the East and find the channel which was inside the hook. When my
wife saw trees through the fog I found the channel marks. (Marks in
Canada have very poor radar reflectors.) We worked around fish traps
and then followed a local fishing boat into the harbor.
Head Harbor has a tide of over 20 feet. There are no moorings so we
rafted to a pile driver used to set the stakes of fish traps. Another
boat had a Cellular phone so we checked in with customs by phone.
The next day was another thick fog motor trip. Again the current in the
open part of the bay is very strong, but now there are cross currents
which make the boat move sideways. I had installed GPS, as Loran is not
working due to the loss of a transmitter in Newfoundland, so we were
able to correct for current impact. Because of lift from the current we
did the forty miles in about five to six hours.
The area around St. John (20 miles from the fairway bouy) is monitored
by Fundy Traffic Control. We called in by radio, gave them position,
course etc. THey advised us of any large vessels expected etc. When we
got to the entrance mark, we called them to let them know we were
coming in and also to determine if there was any traffic in the
fairway. Fortunately there wasn't!!
Beside the entrance bouy is an island with a light and horn. THe fog
was so thich we never saw the island, infact we had to get right up to
the bouy to see it. We went all the way into the harbor, surrounded by
buildings before we could see anything.
The next morning we went over the reversing falls into the river. Fundy
Traffic gave us the slack time and it was very easy. I imagine it would
be tough if you hit it other than slack.
The St. John river is very nice. The first 10 miles up it looks like
the coast of Maine. Beyond that it is all dairy country, cows grazing
on the banks etc. We went 40 miles up the river to Gagetown. A small
community, with a dock, a food store craft shop etc. The current from
a rising tide on Fundy extends to this point and beyond. The yacht club
above the reversing falls is very helpful. Ice, water and fuel is
available at their dock. They also have a bar showers etc.
Logs used to be floated down the river to the paper mill. The logs are
now trucked, but many of the coves still have sunken logs or deadheads
sticking up out of the bottom. One has to be a little careful
anchoring.
The return trip was the same as going, thick fog and strong currents.
A power boat without Radar or GPS followed for three days us from
St. John to Petit Manan. The one interesting part of the trip was
getting back into Cross island from the East. We went passed the island
and then turned North picking up the nun on the West side. I then
went up the side of the island, using Radar to keep off .25 mile,
around the head, where I was sure it would scale up but it didn't, and
then behind the fish pens and into the cove to anchor. We didn't see
the island until we had the anchor down. I had a large scotch after the
anchor was down.
I quess my strongest impression from the trip is the power of the Bay
of Fundy, how cold it is, and how thick and constant the fog was. I
also think the harbor at Cross was fantastic, and would include it as
part of a trip to Roque.
Bill Hill
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