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Page 1 of 5 Cape Breton a magnet for boaters
Cape Breton is one of the Maritimes’ most desirable destinations for boaters. With its diverse culture, awesome highlands and idyllic inland lakes there is plenty for visitors to get excited about on the island.
Along with its aboriginal communities, Cape Breton is noted for its Scottish and Acadian heritage. Cape Breton Island was visited by the Vikings around 1,000 A.D., but European settlement began in earnest soon after John Cabot’s voyage of 1497.
The famous Cape Breton Highlands, which tower over the sea coast, include the picturesque Cabot Trail, which runs along the northeastern coastline, from St. Ann’s north to Neil’s Harbour and west across Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
For boaters, the wondrous Bras d’Or Lakes are the centerpiece of Cape Breton, a sparkling 450 square-mile body of brackish water, considered by many as one of the country’s finest areas for recreational boating.
To access the Bras d’Or Lakes from the Northumberland Strait, boaters cross through a set of locks at the Canso Causeway, built in 1955, then continue southeasterly to Lennox Passage through an opening bridge at Burnt Island to the St. Peter’s Canal, and another set of tidal locks, which adjust for the difference between the level of the lake and the tidal sea level. This historic canal was completed in 1869.
Boaters headed to the Bras d’Or Lakes from Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore can cruise north through Chedabucto Bay and around the Acadian island of Isle Madame and into St. Peters Canal.
The Bras d’Or Lakes are separated into the lower “big lake,” entered at St. Peter’s, and the upper “small lake,” entered from the ocean in northern Cape Breton through the Big Bras d’Or, underneath the Seal Island bridge and into St. Andrew’s Channel.
At both entrances, there are some height considerations—the bridge to the north and power lines at St. Peter’s to the south—so navigational charts must be consulted.
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