Maine to Nova Scotia recommended depart /arrive ports

[NVR II Nauti]

Hello All,
Planning a trip up the USA east coast to PEI and continuing west on the St. Lawrence River.
Starting from Deltaville, Va in mid-April, spending time at DC, the Chesapeake, and then heading north along the coast.

Recommended place in Maine to get the covid test and push off ?

Recommended place on Nova Scotia to clear in ?

The boat is a twin engine (LH120s) Grand Banks 36. 2 souls on board.
All help will be welcome.

Thanks,
Don

 

[AnsleyS]

Rockland to Yarmouth is a nice run with good sized towns on both sides but it means an overnight passage. If you want to do only day trips you have to go farther up the bay, maybe as far as Lubec or Eastport to Grand Manan and then to Digby.

 

[CaptTom]

Northeast Harbor to Yarmouth is about 100NM. 12.5 hours at 8 knots, easy to do in daylight in the summer. The big factor is weather. It can get pretty snotty out there. @AnsleyS's suggestion to head up to Eastport and cross from there may work better than waiting on weather.


From Grand Manan, Yarmouth is also an option at around 50-60NM. Only 15-20 miles more than Digby (I'd actually hit Tiverton, at the tip of the Neck, or even Brier Island.)

 

[AnsleyS]

Capt Tom has good points except that Digby is known for it's scallops so it is worth a stop. You can also see their high water only fuel dock.

 

[CaptTom]

Somewhere I have a photo looking down that brow at low tide. But you make a good point that there are so many great places to visit along the route, it's not always best to go as far as possible each day.

 

[AnsleyS]

Here you go Tom.

 

[CaptTom]

You made me look for that pic. Wow. It was 2007...