From Bras d’Or Lake to the North Atlantic: Learning (and Splicing) the Ropes

Try Huel with 15% OFF today using my code ACORN15 at http://huel.com/ACORN15. Fuel your best performance with Huel today! Minimum order value of $75. This week, we pick up where we left off in Baddeck, NS. Robin continues learning the ropes, opting to “singlehanded” Arabella from Baddeck to Kelly’s Cove, which is the last anchorage before the open North Atlantic ocean. Robin drops the mooring and runs back to take control of the tiller, navigating the mooring field and safely steering Arabella out to the lake. She raises sail, brings Arabella to her destination for the day, and drops anchor in Kelly’s Cove. Kelly’s Cove is a quiet harbor surrounded by the hills of Cape Breton—including a network of ATV trails weaving through the mountains. With the outdoor ban lifted, we decide to do some exploring. The trails are steep and loose, and it feels so good to hike up, up, up, and up. The next day, we weigh anchor again and head into some strong currents in the narrows, but without a wind-over-current situation, we didn’t experience the wild breakers that many people have noted in this section of Bras d’Or Lake. Once into the North Atlantic, we raise sail and make way for North Sydney, NS. From North Sydney, Robin rides her bike 61-miles back to St. Peters to shuttle the truck, and I take the opportunity to tackle a few boat projects from the to-do list, starting with painting our propane tanks with TotalBoat’s TotalProtect. After the propane tanks are looking spiffy again, I tackle the next project: adding nylon rode to our anchor chain. As we head to Newfoundland, the water gets steep-to-shore in many places, and we may need 200’ or 300’ of rode to anchor safely. I consider using an anchor chain splice to connect the rode to the chain, but the fact that it cannot be removed from the chain makes it a poor fit for our needs. A Spectra soft shackle is a better connection for our set up. I get the new anchor rode system installed in the forepeak, and we’re ready to sail this wooden boat across the Cabot Strait to Newfoundland…which we do next week. See you then! -------------------------- Sign up for our email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hn3Qyv Acorn to Arabella started as a wooden boat building project in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve began the journey as an amateur wooden boat builder crafting a 38' wooden sailboat in his backyard: designer William Atkin's Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel's gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and now sailing the boat—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that traditional wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project continues beyond the boat shop, as Steve and crew travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they've built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva. -------------------------- If you are interested in supporting/helping here are a few ways: https://www.acorntoarabella.com/how-to-help Acorn to Arabella's wishlist: https://www.acorntoarabella.com/wishlistpriority TotalBoat supports A2A! Please consider using our Total Boat referral code. Click here, then shop: https://www.totalboat.com/acorntoarabella They'll kick 10% our way! To offer recurring support via Patreon, CLICK BELOW. Just $5 a month gets you an invite to our monthly patron-only livestream Q&A sessions! https://www.patreon.com/acorntoarabella Original Soundtrack available at benfundis.bandcamp.com FOLLOW US: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acorntoarabella Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acorntoarabella/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acorntoarabella Website: http://www.acorntoarabella.com