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Bay of Fundy - St. John River |
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Fiddlers in Saint John offer up some of their Maritime fiddling magic during a Tall Ships visit to the historic shipping port of Saint John.
Brian Atkinson/Image New Brunswick photo
A long-time shipbuilding port, the waterfront city is filled with shops, restaurants, nightlife and summer festivals.
One of the more popular events is the Salty Jam – Saint John’s Festival of Music, which runs in mid-July.
The festival features award-winning jazz, blues, country and bluegrass musicians. There is also a marina, yacht club and power boat club in the area.
Saint John's Royal Kennebeccasis Yacht Club is a popular spot, and has played host to the Canadian Yachting Association's Sail East and the Canadian 29er Championships.
A 70 nautical mile voyage to the provincial capital of Fredericton will provide popular stopovers and hidden treasures along the way. There are places along the river where you can land the bow of your boat ashore safely, if charts are properly consulted.
The Reversing Falls is the first adventure awaiting explorers headed for the St. John River. Entry and egress are safe at so-called slack tides, when water levels in the bay align with the more stable river levels.
Mariners, with Internet access, can check area water levels online by consulting Fisheries and Oceans Canada site, www.waterlevels.gc.ca.
A number of yacht clubs and marinas are located along the River and are accommodating and friendly to incoming vessels.
The River has been alive with ferries since 1816 when the first steamboat, The General Smyth, made its maiden voyage from Saint John to Fredericton. Cable ferries still provide important local links across the river and one need not pay the ferryman. But a courtesy call to the masters via VHS Channel 16 is in order to advise them of plans to pass behind them in their transit.
A legacy of well-maintained concrete wharves was left by the steamboats. They're available to recreational boaters travelling both by sail and engine and provide easy access points for shopping and sightseeing.
The high performance and fuel efficient ferry Reindeer, launched in 1842 in Fredericton, employed the world's first compound steam engine. Designed by New Brunswicker Benjamin Tibbits, the invention used one high and one low pressure cylinder to power the vessel. This innovator is buried at Scotchtown, on Grand Lake, but no trace of the engine remains despite more than 50 years of faithful service.
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