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In 2003, we took Chaos all the way into the Bay of Fundy and up the St. John River system in New Brunswick, Canada. It was a challenge to deal with the strong currents and extraordinarily high tides in the area. The tide level varied by about 24 feet at the time we were in St. John Harbor. We left from Jonesport with my Steve Wraith, my dad, and Captain Michael and stopped in Cutler, Campobello Island, Dipper Harbor, and finally the Royal Kennebecassis Yacht Club in the St. John River. Michael then took the boat up to Fredericksburg, where son Matt and I boarded two weeks later for a river trip back down to St. John. To get the the Royal Kennebecassis yacht Club, we had to traverse the reversing falls at the entrance to the St. John River. The river system itself is at 12.5 feet plus or minus about a foot, but the harbor tide runs from 0 to 25 feet. The opening is not very wide, and there is a shallow ledge at the entrance. The result is that the river flows out into the harbor in a torrent when the water level is low out in the harbor and flows in in a torrent when the water level is high in the harbor. The entrance can only be negotiated by a sailboat for about 20 minutes on either side of slack water. At any other time, eddies, whirlpools, and overall current are far too strong for a slow, deep keeled boat. |