Blue Rocks in Winter

Winter is hanging on here in Nova Scotia.

We get a warm-ish day, of + 8 degrees, followed by a day of snow and freezing conditions. This week we will have a high of 0 and a low of – 12.

I usually take my photos of Blue Rocks in the summer, but thought I’d show you how it looks just now.

The little fish houses sit amongst the blocks of ice.

And the sea moves like a bowl of thick porrage.

The lobstermen work when they can, in the open sea, and in the bays.

In the summer we launch our kayak from this little bay.

From the beach or down the ramps.

I think we’re ready for a melt and some warmer weather.

I’m looking forward to another hot, hot summer, like last year.

More Wildlife in our Garden

We haven’t seen a great deal of the deer in our garden while the grass has been hidden under the snow.  Last week we did see three, one of them swinging a broken leg along behind it. It had obviously suffered the same fate on the ice as many Nova Scotians. At this time of the year the hospitals are full of people who have fallen on the ice, as I did last year. An 81 year old neighbour fell on her driveway a couple of weeks ago, breaking an ankle and a wrist and lay for an hour till she was found.

But now that the snow is going (although as I write this, it is snowing heavily and the grass is completely covered again) the deer are desperate for a little bit of food and today came right up to the house to eat.

These are white tailed deer or whitetails because of their white tails which they wave as they run away. This must make them an easy target for the hunter. I let them eat for a while then tried to get their attention at the window. They posed nicely for the camera.

Then ran away into the woods, waving their white tails behind them.

One was a bit slower than the others and stayed for an extra snapshot.

I was  wakened a couple of nights ago by a strange barking noise. I thought it was a fox, but not like any fox we had heard at Glenshee. It was coming from just at the side of our garage but I couldn’t see anything even in the moonlight. I opened the window and the noise stopped. Of course, I just got back to bed and it started again. I wakened Jeff to ask him what it was and he, (very happy to hear it) also thought it was a fox.

Ice Sailing in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is surrounded by sea and has a vast number of Lakes, making  all water sports a major part of life here. Sailing, kayaking, canoeing, speed boating, wind surfing, surfing, kite surfing, water skiing, jet skiing, wake boarding, parasailing, rafting and fishing are just some of the activities you can participate in here.

However, once the sea and the lakes freeze, it becomes impossible to move in the water and so you have to consider moving on the water.

Ice sailing, or ice yachting is the sport where your boat becomes a sledge and is propelled by the wind in the sails, just as a yacht moves in the water.

Ice sailing began in Holland in the 18th century as a means to transport goods over frozen lakes and spread as a sport to America and Canada.

We were just on a trip around Rose Bay here near Lunenburg, when we caught sight of these two yachters. Rose Bay is part of the sea, but in winter it freezes over and obviously the ice muat be thick enough here for these lads.

It looked very exciting!

The yachts were moving quickly and the runners made plenty of noise on the ice. I have read that ice yachts can travel at 85 to 90 miles an hour.

I found this article from Nova Scotia Ice Yacht Club  ………

Iceboating In Nova Scotia

Welcome to the Nova Ice Yacht Club. Our iceboat members are distributed all over the province of Nova Scotia, some even come from Prince Edward Island. Ice conditions in this area of the world are great.  We have a constant weather change from snow to rain and mild to cold which gives us exceptional ice. The province is littered with both large and small lakes, giving us a variety of sailing seasons.  The small lakes freeze early but are also covered by early season snow while the larger lakes freeze later and generally receive less snow and last until late in the spring sailing season.

This article even had one of the yachts I photographed at Rose Bay!

 

Ice Fishing in Canada

Ice fishing is a completely new experience for us coming to Canada from the UK.  But for those who live by lakes or rivers it is a real winter sport. The river estuary of the La Have that runs to Bridgewater is very like the River Tay at Dundee as it goes upstream to Perth. Once the temperature goes to freezing the La Have freezes over completely. This is quite amazing as it is salt water. We saw our first ice fishers last year and then a couple of weeks ago they were out in force again.

There are various forms of shelter used by the fishermen. Some seem to have portable huts that look like garden sheds that they drag out onto the ice. These come complete with a stove for warmth and probably to cook the fish. Others have sort of tent like structures that are built on site.

The first rule of ice fishing is to be certain that the ice you are fishing on is safe. I have been reading that, a general rule, you should wait until there is a minimum of 6 inches of solid ice on a river or lake before attempting to fish on it. There are also different types of ice, and it is wise to familiarize yourself with all of them before beginning.

“Black ice,” is the name given to patches of ice that are mostly clear, and containing only air bubbles. Black ice is considered safer than the deceptively-named, “white ice,” which is not clear, and contains melted snow that has re-frozen. In general, ice fishing beginners should avoid white ice altogether.

I think I’ll avoid all ice!

Holes are cut in the ice with some form of auger and then the fisherman is ready to start. Some fishermen have  sonar units to show where the fish are, otherwise they miss out on the true joys of ice fishing!! Really?

But ice fishing is not a solitary sport. In fact all the books say that you must not do it alone, for safety reasons. Normally where you find one fishing hut you find several. It seems to be a real social event, with many groups totally engrossed in the sport.

I really enjoyed fishing for mackerel off the piers in the summer and always enjoyed sea fishing, but I can’t really see myself getting into this ice fishing. Maybe I’m just too old for this unfamiliar activity.