The lighthouse near Covehead Bridge marks the entrance to Covehead Harbour on P.E.I.’s north shore. In the spring and summer especially, this harbour is busy with lobster boats heading in and out daily during May and June checking traps in the shallower waters within a few kilometers of the shore. The summer season is busy with many locals and tourists heading out for a few hours of deep sea fishing. During the summer and early fall there are a number of recreational boaters who use the harbour as well. Due to the constant shifting of the sand, the Island’s north shore harbors are not very often ports of call for sailboats because of the risks of running aground on sand bars.
Due to reasonably mild winter temperatures so far this winter the water is open in the Gulf of St Lawrence unlike the sheltered rivers inland. Below, there are a few brave souls out for a Sunday morning walk with their pets or as author David Weale describes it, in his poem with the same name, Chasin’ the Shore:
Chasin’ the Shore
the shore, the shore forever more
the shore is where I’m bound
’cause its the closest place to feeling free
that I have ever found
those troubles great will have to wait
right now I’m doing fine
in a place that is no place at all
and a moment out of time
Below, sea plants cling to sand stone while others torn up from where they were rooted are frozen to chunks of ice on the beach. It is a hostile environment where the water meets the land.
The slushy waves boil up on the beach creating dunes of ice and snow. The spray freezes in the cold air while bigger waves crash right through making channels here and there along the beach as the water recedes.
Below left, ice chunks line the beach along the high tide mark and a sand dune is visible across the harbour entrance where in summer many fishing boats enter under the bridge. Facing east toward Ross’ Beach in Stanhope, the interface between the shoreline and the water appears much cleaner.
Below, the water calms as it passes from the Gulf of St Lawrence on the left, under the Covehead Bridge into the Harbour on the right, while most of Covehead bay which is sheltered from the north shore remains frozen over. A rock wall on the north side of the bridge protects the shoreline from pounding surf.
Below right, as we leave the water there is evidence of shifting sand which has blown over the stairs and the walkway at the entrance and exit to the beach.
Sea Fever
By John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
Shore Times 