EAST TO EDEN

There’s a unique cruising ground that combines access to urban locations with easy escapes to wilderness and nature. Its native people may be the friendliest on the east coast of North America. Its coastline runs 250 nautical miles in a straight line, but that should be multiplied several times after factoring in its many indentations—enough for a lifetime of cruising. Called Nova Scotia, it seems close enough to reach from Maine in a sea kayak—on a chart, at least. In real life, though, the currents that slosh back and forth with the mighty tides in the Bay of Fundy can make life miserable, especially when the wind picks up. Off Cape Sable, the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, the going can turn into a true slog if the 3-plus knot current ever runs against you.

My wife, Nancy, and I made an easy crossing aboard our Mason 44, , from Gloucester, Massachusetts, to south of Seal Island, Cape Sable, 150 miles away. Midway across, the southwest breeze diminished and backed first to a ghostly southerly, then southeasterly. Fog swept in with it, dense. Trusting our plotter and