From YOUR Campobello Sightseeing/Island Discovery Tours

Storm on Campobello

If you have been visiting Campobello Island during summer you most likely have been marveling over peaceful nature and our scenic coast line. As we have pointed out many times the scenery can change dramatically during fall and winter months.

A few days ago a major storm was hitting New Brunswick and Herring Cove was hit by a huge surf. Campobello resident Patti Bent

was there and made a short video. Have a look. (hit the lower right button to let the video fill your screen.)

 

 

 

 

At this time I will also thank all our visitors for coming to Campobello and being on a tour with us. Let your friends and family know about your experience and come again another time.

The Fundy Bay Tides

Each day 160 billion tons of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle — more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers!  The time cycle between a high tide and a low tide is, on average, 6 hours and 13 minutes. As such, you can reasonably expect to see at least one high and one low tide during daylight hours. Tide times move ahead approximately one hour each day, and tide times vary slightly for different locations around the Bay. Are the Bay of Fundy tides a 50-foot wall of water? The Bay’s tides do officially measure 50 feet in height but the tidal bore (just one of several ways to see the tides) is not a 50 foot wall of water twice a day. A tidal bore appears as a backflow of water into a river. A tidal bore can be around 10ft tall and people are rafting (or surfing) it. Here, at the Passamaquoddy Bay, we are seeing an average daily change of about 24ft-27ft (between the tides. So why are tides different in different areas? It's not related to latitude. Tides are caused by the gravity of the moon, which pulls the water away from the surface in what is essentially an extremely long-period wave (the period of a wave is the length of time it takes the entire length of a wave to pass a fixed point) that follows the movement of the moon. I won't get into the more gradual patterns such as spring tides and neap tides, but the differences in the tides that different areas get are actually a function of the geography of the area. As a result, there are two general patterns of tides: diurnal tides, meaning an area that receives only one high tide and one low tide each day, and semidiurnal tides, which are observed in ares that recieve two high and two low tides every day. Also, coastlines that are exposed generally have less difference between high and low tide, while enclosed coastlines like the fjords of Iceland can have up to fifty feet between high and low tides. Factors such as the depth and breadth of the bodies in which tides occur and the configuration of shorelines affect the tides. Tides are also modified by the friction of the water against sea bottoms. Today, on September 30, we have a max. high tide of 26.8ft and a low of just 1.8ft. A local photographer took the pictures below. It illustrates the tidal effects along a building.

SUPER MOON And LUNAR ECLIPSE

Tonight, we are not only going to enjoy a Super Moon  but also a Lunar Eclipse. When the moon had appeared above the Bay of Fundy we were on Herring Cove Beach, ready to take pictures. Moonrise over the Bay of Fundy and a small light on the horizon from the Grand Manan ferry A super moon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth.       Herring Cove Beach A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow). This can occur only when the sun, Earth and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon. Also called a Blood Moon this eclipse will last for about 1 hour and 12 minutes.       And next morning we found the moon over Eastport. Sunrise in the east, moonset in the west.

Bluebloods, black market

Today I am re-publishing this article from Saltscapes Magazine. Adjustments have been made to make the article which first was published in 2014, more up-to-date. Written by by Janet Wallace. Photography by PANB FONDS DU PÈRE JEAN-MARIE COURTOIS, EUDISTE. Franklin D. Roosevelt with a group enjoying a picnic on a Campobello beach in 1906. Campobello is known as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s beloved island. But for centuries, its secluded coast was a favoured destination for other visitors—smugglers and rum runners On Campobello Island, Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, “I had a feeling of remoteness, which I rarely experience anywhere else.” In her “My Day” syndicated newspaper column, she often described how much she enjoyed Campobello Island’s isolation and beauty. Fifty-year friendship During the summer of 2014, the anniversary of North America’s only international park was celebrated.  The Roosevelt Campobello International Park, which was founded by both Canadian and American governments in 1964, marked its 50th anniversary in 2014. The park’s popular history series, Tea with Eleanor, was expanded this season, and guests will receive a Cookies by Eleanor cookbook, compiled by Chandler Roosevelt Lindsley, full of the Roosevelts’ favourite family cookie recipes. The sentiment was shared by many high-society Americans. Each summer for decades, bluebloods like Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor visited the small New Brunswick island, which straddles the Canada-US border. For them, Campobello was a summer vacation spot akin to Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard, but more remote and less populated. The remoteness drew Americans like Eleanor who wanted to escape city life. It also attracted others who travelled to and from the island in the dark, or under the cover of fog. For centuries, smugglers and black-market profiteers valued Campobello’s secrecy, using the island as a way station between Canada and the US. Historians even say that dating back to the 1880s, islanders had a saying about smuggling: “That’s why fogs were made.” According to doctored log books, Eastport schooners were the fastest in the world: some were recorded as travelling to and from “Sweden” twice a day Getting to Campobello Island—which sits in Passamaquoddy Bay between New Brunswick and Maine—isn’t easy for Canadians. For much of the year, the only route to and from Canada to Campobello is via the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Bridge from Lubec, Maine. In the summer, you can catch a Campobello ferry from Deer Island, NB, which is linked by another ferry to mainland New Brunswick year-round. In 1881, much of Campobello was bought by a group of Boston and New York businessmen who invested $1 million to develop the island as a summer resort. They built three luxury hotels, including The Campobello Inn, which advertised its ballroom, billiard parlours, electric or battery-operated servant bells, and horses and carriages for hire. Campobello was described in a souvenir publication from 1908 as “famous for the natural and extraordinary landscape as well as for the health-restoring qualities of its salubrious climate.” Time on Campobello was prescribed as a treatment for weak nerves and hay fever. The cool breezes, clean air and peaceful environment allowed visitors to escape the stress of urban life in the 1880s. It was around this time that President Roosevelt’s father James first visited the island. He fell in love with the place, bought land and built a cottage. Bunny Hodgson, a former Campobello summer resident, who now lives in St. Andrews, NB, played with Eleanor and Franklin’s grandchildren when they stayed at the Roosevelt’s neighbouring 34-room “cottage.” She was best friends with the Roosevelts’ cousin, Laura Delano Adams. “We would play hide-and-seek and drop-the-hanky,” says Hodgson, describing a game similar to tag. “The summer people would hold scavenger hunts for all ages.” “And when FDR was a young man,” adds Hodgson, “he and Daddy used to go sailing and fishing together all the time.” But hiding behind the island’s glossy veneer were secrets: under the cover of fog, smugglers slipped on and off the island with black-market goods. According to Stephen O. Muskie, who wrote a research paper on Campobello Island for the University of Rochester, smuggling on Campobello started around 1807, during the Napoleonic War. Britain had blockaded all of Europe, cutting the US off from trade. The US retaliated with the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships from traveling to foreign ports. Rum running started in the late 1870s during an economic downturn, and warehouses on Campobello were soon stocked with rum, Holland gin, Irish and Scotch whiskies and French wines. Bootlegging resurfaced during American Prohibition of the 1920s. During daylight hours, high-society summer people took their yachts to isolated islands to enjoy picnics and bonfires on the beach. At night, the secluded coves saw other action. Barrels of rum were transferred to local fishing boats, and the fishermen later brought the rum to Maine. “Elderly Campobello fishermen tend to change the subject when asked about the rum running days, when Black Diamond rum could be bought in Jamaica for 17 cents for a five-gallon keg that could be sold in the United States for $40,” Muskie wrote. Eighty-year-old Vera Calder grew up on Campobello, and her grandmother, Anna McGowan, was a housekeeper for the Roosevelts, first at their cottage and later at their house in Hyde Park, NY. Even after Prohibition, she says, “When I was a child there were always police boats in the water checking the boats that were coming and going.” The era of the “summer people,” as wealthy Americans were called, is past. Instead, thousands come to the island to tour the Roosevelt Cottage, explore the beautiful beaches and parks, and discover why FDR called Campobello his “beloved island.”

SHARK!

This morning we were alerted that a big shark had stranded on the beach at Lubec. ME. Naturally, my first thought was getting over there to take pictures. This is not one big people-eating white shark monster, but a 30ft long vegetarian “Basking Shark”.   Marine-Biologists from Eastport were already on site to take samples to see whether the animal had been suffering of any illness. I got there just in time before the first cuts were made into his muscles. And here is some info about the species: The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating sharks besides the whale shark and megamouth shark. It is a cosmopolitan migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow-moving filter feeder and has anatomical adaptations for filter feeding, such as a greatly enlarged mouth and highly developed gill rakers. Its snout is conical and the gill slits extend around the top and bottom of its head. The gill rakers, dark and bristle-like, are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. The basking shark is usually greyish-brown, with mottled skin. The caudal (tail) fin has a strong lateral keel and a crescent shape. The teeth of the basking shark are very small and numerous, and often number one hundred per row. The teeth have a single conical cusp, are curved backwards, and are the same on both the upper and lower jaws. Adults typically reach 6-8 m (20-26 ft.) in length. Basking sharks are believed to overwinter in deep waters. They may be found in either small schools or alone. Small schools in the Bay of Fundy and the Hebrides have been seen swimming nose to tail in circles in what may be a form of mating behaviour. Despite their large size and threatening appearance, basking sharks are not aggressive and are harmless to humans. It has long been a commercially important fish, as a source of food, shark fin, animal feed, and shark liver oil. Overexploitation has reduced its populations to the point where some have disappeared and others need protection.

A Walk, A Monument And Endless Empty Beaches

While there are numerous examples of beaches being totally filled to the brim with sun-hungry people  even just south of us in f.ex. New Hampshire, Campobello is the total opposite. Our beaches are empty and ready to provide solitude for our visitors.   New Hampshire                                                          Campobello But I’m getting ahead of myself. After a long day of rain the sun was out again and made this a memorable beautiful summer day. And that was also the reason that I persuaded Bea to join me and Molly on a walk to the Sunsweep Monument at Ragged Point in the Roosevelt Park. But hold it, what is the Sunsweep Monument?   Sunsweep Campobello                       Right hand print showing It is a three-part art project made by David Barr. Left: Sunsweep Point Roberts                                  All three parts are made out of the same slab of Canadian black granite. As mentioned, part #1 is located right here on Campobello on an eastern promontory right at the Bay of Fundy. Part #2 consisting of 2 wedge-formed stones, is located on American Point Island at the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota and finally Part #3 is placed at Boundary Bluff at Point Roberts,WA.             Above: Ragged Point with Sunsweep on promontory                                   low tide beach Sunsweep was designed and given to the people in these communities as a symbol of international friendship. It portrays the path of the sun rising in the east crossing the entire continent and setting in the Pacific Ocean. It is also symbolic for the long peaceful border between our countries.                                            looking south             40 miles across the Bay of Fundy….NOVA SCOTIA Personal associations lay behind Sunsweep: Barr’s mother is from Canada and his parents met there. And because Barr is a Detroiter, Canada has always been his close neighbour. The 2 stones on American Point Island are roughly 28 degrees from both the eastern-most and the western-most point of Sunsweep.    Liberty Point with Grand Manan in background                White Asters on Ragged Point Each of the two outer points have their geographical ironies. While Campobello is part of Canada but cannot be reached without crossing the American border (except during summer) Point Roberts is an American enclave extending south of the 49th parallel attached to Canada (opposite of Vancouver Island) and not reachable without crossing through Canada. And indeed, most of the needs of this small American community have been met by Canada. And there has even been –more or less serious—to make Point Roberts part of Canada. The survival of both communities is based on the cooperation of both governments. And this cooperation is also evident in the governing of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, where Maine meets New Brunswick just below the 45th parallel. All parts of the monument are showing a “hand print”. The one on Campobello showing the right hand and the one at Point Roberts showing the left. The hand print is also the international sign for “I was here”. It is found in Native American art, both recent and ancient.                        Sunsweep American Point Island The two wedge-shaped stones, facing each other, are oriented north-south pointing to the atypical run of the U.S.-Canada border. The flat sides of the stones are facing each other but are off-set showing hand prints of someone facing Canada.   We started our hike at Liberty Point, from where it is only 0.6 miles to Sunsweep. It is our most scenic hike and the views from the trail are nothing short of stunning. Whenever I am on this trail I feel being part of nature. We met a single couple coming the other way from Sunsweep and like old friends we felt compelled to start quite a conversation rooted in our beautiful surroundings. I wonder whether we would have talked to these people if we had met them in a shopping mall. Most likely we wouldn’t even have “seen” them. Nature brings people together. The markers, each 1.5m (6ft) high are the conceptual ends of an arch, anchored on each coast like a rainbow, being the results of water droplets in the sun’s light.

A Real Quiet Place On Campobello

Maybe except for the border station, there are no loud and noisy areas on Campobello but some places are especially quiet. And co-incidentally I happened to visit one of these exceptionally quiet places. It is at the very end of the Head Harbour Inlet, with only a few fisher homes along a short dead-end road. The peacefulness of this place is highlighted by the old wooden shipwrecks which have found their last resting place  here. Forgotten and abandoned are they lingering towards their complete disappearance, once all wooden parts have rotted away or been eaten by worms. And like nature was trying to make a point of its dominance the beautiful wildflowers were flowing in a slight summer breeze. A lobster fisherman uses the place for storing his lobster traps. Thanks for being along.

North Road Harbour

It’s a place not commonly seen by visitors. North Road Harbour is located on the “Passamaquoddy Bay-side” of the island while Head Harbour is opening up directly into the Bay of Fundy. I re-visited North Road Harbour on this foggy morning when colours had faded into shades of grey. Foggy island days are having the ability to make you turn into yourself, re-thinking life and experiencing a different side of island-life.