Harbourville N.S. at high & low tide

[Morden2004]

Here are some pictures I took this morning in Harbourville, Nova Scotia (pop: 400), a working fishing village.

The interesting part about harbours on the Bay of Fundy are the tides. As you can see from the pictures in the next two messages taken today at high tide (7:52 AM ADT) the harbour has water. I will return later today at low tide (14:00 PM ADT) to let you see what this harbour look like 6 hours later.

Most of the boats that set out this morning will still be out at 14:00 if the fishing is good because - well, you'll see why they don't return at low tide in the next series of pictures.

Pictures to follow in the next message.

Paul


2005-09-13

05:50 ADT Twilight begins
06:55 ADT Sunrise
19:33 ADT Sunset
20:38 ADT Twilight ends

00:33 ADT Moonset
17:31 ADT Moonrise

01:32 ADT 1.96m. Low Tide
07:52 ADT 9.13m. High Tide
14:00 ADT 2.43m. Low Tide
20:18 ADT 9.74m. High Tide

[Morden2004]

In these first pictures taken at high tide this morning you can see a variety of Cape Islander boats - none very pretty. These are working boats. The seas in the bay can be harsh so these boats show the effects of hundreds of sailings and countless hours of hauling in lines and traps.

But there is a beauty to the dreary look that only the critical eye can see.

Picture {01}: High Tide in Harbourville harbour
Picture {02}: The crew busy baiting the lines (these will be dragged)
Picture {03}: Lobster traps & a dragger boat
Picture {04}: Putting bait in the hooks
Picture {05}: The harbour from the light (the small red Cape Island boat is a 1/2 size built and launched in July)

[Morden2004]

Picture {06}: A Cape Islander boat turning in the channel
Picture {07}: Lobster traps stacked on the wharf ready for the next season opener
Picture {08}: A boat heading out to sea in the channel
Picture {09}: These boats come in all sizes!
Picture {10}: Off the harbour entrance setting the lines

[Morden2004]

As promised, here are shots in the harbour at low tide. Where possible, I took matching pictures to those in the High Tide shots 1-5.

Picture {11}: Low Tide in the Harbourville harbour
Picture {12}: Working on a boat
Picture {13}: Lobster traps & a dragger boat - view at low tide
Picture {15}: The harbour at low tide from the light

[Morden2004]

And finally two more matching shots at low tide.

[Morden2004]

I shot a few more pictures that may be of interest.

The first and second pictures are a comparison of the beach at Harbourville at high and low tides. Here you can get a sense of how the landscape changes when 30 plus feet of sea water disappear!

The third picture shows you what they do when the harbour is devoid of water - they do repairs to the sea walls and (in this case) to the cribs that hold the boats upright on the bottom of the harbour at low tide.

[Morden2004]

In photo 1 and 2 I have attempted to show the two principal resources of Nova Scotia: agriculture and aquaculture.

In the third picture take in Victoria Harbour 20 minutes after low tide, I am standing "on the bottom of the ocean". From this vantage you can get a sense of how immense the body of water is that will fill this space - at this point at high tide there would be more than 30 feet of water over my head!

And finally, the small sea creatures that cling to the rocks; barnacles and snails.

[opt80]

Amazing part of the country where Paul lives! great photos

Alan

[radioactive]

Amazing part of the country where Paul lives! great photos
your part of canada is not too bad either alan :thmbsp:

[Sandy G]

Truly remarkable ! That's amazing to this ol' hillbilly...-Sandy G.

[Morden2004]

Truly remarkable ! That's amazing to this ol' hillbilly...-Sandy G.

Even more unusual is to see ocean vessels (mostly ore carriers) heading up the Bay of Fundy into Port Williams (in the Minas basin) to load up with gypsum. They come in on the tide and they have less that 8 hours to load the whole boat and skedaddle down the bay into deep water otherwise - well, let's just say that they've never had to right an ore carrier lying on the mud in that harbour :no: . Not yet :rofl: .

The other interesting thing to watch is an ore carrier that's missed the tide. They will be steaming up the bay but going backwards or making zero headway as the tide receeds at around 4-5 knots. Often they will set their speed to offset the tide and sit placidly awaiting the next tide.

Paul