Bay of Fundy

Wow! The Bay of Fundy looked just like your 8^th grade science book pictures. (Bet Mr. Haggrup would have loved to see this). It was awesome. The information centers scattered throughout Nova Scotia (and all the Canadian provinces) have very informative brochures. Every time we go in and ask for something, they come up with a brochure concerning it. We used the brochure listing the times of the tides so we could arrive at low tide. Of course, with John driving, we arrived within 2 minutes of the low tide. The twice daily tides rise and fall between 39 and 49 ft. in the Parrsboro harbor. Parrsboro is located on the north shore of the Minas Basin on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. We walked out onto the mud flats and saw the boats that had been stranded by the low tide. The mud flats that were uncovered by the low tide extended out approximately a mile. We figure you really have to plan your time as to when to go out fishing.

The boats are tied up to allow them to just touch bottom at the low tide, as the photo shows. There are large planks laid on the sea floor to allow them to rest on their keels when the water is out.

The photo of Pris next to the dock shows a water depth measure (above her arm). The top mark, above the high water mark, is 14 meters! I assume that is above mean low tide.

We had lunch at a small seafood restaurant right on the harbor and had a great selection of clams, scallops (which they are known for) and other seafood. We did not stay the 6 hours for the high tide but enjoyed a beautiful drive along the Glooscap Trail that followed the coast line along Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay. The countryside consisted of rolling hills and flatlands with very small quaint towns along the way.

There is another phenomenon on the Bay of Fundy called the tidal bore. The incoming high tide creates a wave that goes up the river very rapidly. This tidal bore (or wave) can be anywhere from a ripple to several feet in height. There are many businesses located along the mouth of these rivers that take you out to surf the bore. It lends new meaning to the words “surfs up”.