Snowbirds Of A Different Kind

 This afternoon we walked one of our favorite coastal trails when we discovered 2 marine vessels on the horizon. One was the known Grand Manan ferry, the other was a big sailing yacht under full sail. We were wondering where this yacht might be heading at this time of the year. Afterall it does get chilly at night.

Well fast forward, we were preparing for dinner, when Bea discovered the boat, now on the way down the west side of our island. She found it on Marinetraffic.com where all vessels around the globe are registered with their last positions.

Being the harbour master at Welshpool Landing, I threw myself into the car and drove down to the water, and sure enough, there she was. 

A full-blown catamaran of respectable size. I followed her along the shore, and when I got to the harbour she had taken course towards another sailing yacht which had been there all day long, anchored in Friar's Bay. The name of the catamaran is ARIA and it is registered in SWITZERLAND. The other yacht, MIRABELLA, is registered in GREAT BRITAIN. 

MIRABELLA

Obviously, they have had radio contact with each other, as they have now anchored close together. 

Now, tomorrow is Monday the 8th and tonight 1minute after 12am the US is opening the border for non-essential travel. I would bet my house on it that these two yachts are going over to Eastport customs tomorrow morning to check into the US, for there after sailing down the coast with destination Florida or Caribbean. These guys are snowbirds of a different kind.

And that fits the picture I already got a few days ago, when I was contacted by a yacht owner from Shelbourne, Nova Scotia who was wondering whether they could stay in our harbour until Monday, November 8. They called me later and told me that they were allowed to go directly to Massachusetts for a customs check-in.

So, it looks like snowbirds will be arriving both on marine vessels and land-based RVs.