Blast from the Past: Petit Passage, Nova Scotia

My family lived Down on the Islands
off Digby Neck, Nova Scotia 
during my senior year in high school
and my freshman year at university.

1857 Colton Map of the Atlantic Provinces, 

Including Nova Scotia

(I find old maps irresistible!)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1857_Colton_Map_

of_New_Brunswick_and_Newfoundland,_Canada_-_Geographicus_-_Newfoundland-colton-1857.jpg

Digby Neck is a long narrow peninsula
in western Nova Scotia 
that sticks out into the Bay of Fundy.

Digby Neck, Long Island, and Brier Island
form the northwestern shore of St. Mary's Bay.
The main body of Nova Scotia
forms the southeastern shore of St. Mary's Bay.

Digby Neck and the Islands

(Uppermost and Leftmost Red on the Map)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_nova_map.png

Digby Neck and the Islands are part
of the North Mountain Range 
that extends from the Annapolis Valley 
to the tip of  Brier Island off Digby Neck.

The North Mountain Range

(Outlined in Red)

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:North_Mountain.jpg 

The mountain range is divided in two by Digby Gut, 
a deep tidal channel connecting 
the Bay of Fundy with the Annapolis Basin.

The North Mountain Range and Digby Gut

The Gut separates the range.  

Bear Island in the Annapolis Basin is in the foreground.

Digby Gut is the site 

of my earliest geological imaginings.

I will tell you more in a future post;

but, first I have to get a photograph of Dinosaur Rock.

Only my brother Roy and I know where 

this immensely significant geological feature is located.

Suffice to say that North Mountain is volcanic in origin. 

Now don't laugh.

We Nova Scotians take our mountains seriously.

The highest elevation on North Mountain Range

is above Granville Ferry,

a whopping 771 feet or 234 meters.

This nosebleed spot is called Mount Rose.

Mount Rose and Granville Ferry

as seen from Annapolis Royal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AnnapolisRoyalNSSkyline.jpg

The small community of East Ferry 

sits at the end of Digby Neck

(population not counted, i.e. tiny).

Across Petit Passage on Long Island

 is the bigger community of Tiverton

(population 300).

Petit Passage

(For a Google Map click on Petit Passage)

We lived in Freeport

at the opposite end of Long Island

(population 291).

Look at the tip of the inlet

right under the "re" in Freeport;

that's where our house was.

Freeport, Long Island, Nova Scotia

https://www.google.com/search?q=Freeport+nova+scotia&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

This would be so much easier 

if I lived in Halifax, Houston, or Hong Kong!

Then I could just say the name Freeport,

and everyone would know where the heck Freeport is!

Actually our house

was what would be called

a shop house in Asia. 

Store on the bottom front, 

home in the rest.

Getting to or from our home in Freeport 

to the mainland on Digby Neck

was always an adventure.

No matter what, 

it involved taking the ferry across Petit Passage 

from Tiverton to East Ferry or vice versa.

My Sisters:  Bertie, Barb, and Donnie

Waiting for the Ferry

From Tiverton to East Ferry

Summer 1968

Long, narrow, and deep,

Petit Passage is known

for its strong tidal currents.

The world's highest tides

occur in the Bay of Fundy.

Because of this,

water levels in the passage

rise and drop 

about 23 feet or 7 meters

with each high and low tide.

High tide and low tide 

occur two times each

in about 24 hours.

During the flood tide,

rising water flows through Petit Passage 

from south to north

with peak currents running at 8 knots/hour

(9.2 mph or 14.8 km/ph).

During the ebb tide,

falling water flows through the passage

in the opposite direction 

from north to south

with peak currents running at 7 knots/hour 

(8.0 mph or 13.0 km/ph).

http://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/SD/Pub145/Pub145bk.pdf p. 44

1 international knot =

1 nautical mile per hour (by definition),

1.852 kilometres per hour (exactly),^[2]

0.514 metres per second.

1.151 miles per hour (approximately).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_%28unit%29

Bottom line ~ those tides ripped 

through Petite Passage 

in reversing directions,
with some of the strongest currents
in North America. 

They required an expert navigator 

to shepherd passengers to and fro 

on a scow pushed by a small tug.

Add wind, waves, ice, fog, and bad weather ~
well things got interesting!

Tug and scow                                 

coming into the slip

at Tiverton

with East Ferry

in the background.

If you were crossing to East Ferry at high tide,

the tug would push the scow up

to the south end of the passage,

drop into the fast north current

and and make a quick dash

for the slip

at  the wharf in East Ferry

as it passed by.

Tiverton, Long Island

from the Scow, 

Summer 1968

If you were crossing to East Ferry at low tide,

the tug would push the scow up 

to the north end of the passage,

drop into the fast south current
and make a quick dash

for the slip 

at the wharf in East Ferry

as it passed by.

Many a tourist has turned back up the Neck

at the sight of that tug pushed scow

at the bottom of the long slip by the wharf

saying, "Forget that!"

You could smoke a pipe 

and check your engine while crossing.

The ferry sort of ran at regular times, 

but if no one was in line

it wouldn't cross.

Sometimes you would have to phone over

to the other side to have it come pick you up.

At those times you could entertain yourself 

by playing photographer.

  The wharves at Tiverton

with Lobster Traps

Summer, 1968

Crossing from Tiverton to East Ferry

with Fog Beginning to Roll In

Summer, 1968

Getting to the Islands is easier now.

The tug and scow were first replaced

by the ferry Joshua Slocum in 1973.

Later the Joshua Slocum was moved

to the crossing between Freeport and Westport,
and the ferry Joe Casey took over the Petit Passage run.

As of 2004, the Petit Princess makes the
Petit Passage crossing.

This video gives you a sense 
of what crossings on the Islands are like.
Here the Joshua Slocum is plying the waters
between Westport and Freeport.

I hope you enjoyed this Blast from the Past!