Will that be Cabernet or Merlot?

Sleeping in P.E.I.’s floating wine barrels

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DARCY RHYNO

An eavesdropper might think Jen Smith is gauging my preference for a sunset tipple on her patio when she asks, “Will that be Cabernet or Merlot?”

But she’s actually asking which of two giant wine barrels converted into cozy, floating rentals I’d like to bunk in for the next couple of nights. Truth be told, I can’t tell the difference. Each barrel is tipped on its side, mounted on a deck and moored to a floating dock at Nellie’s Landing Marina in Murray Harbour, P.E.I., across a narrow river mouth from half a dozen fishing boats. The barrels make perfect little glamping pods for a single guest or couples seeking snug digs.

Bubble window, The Merlot.

Photo: Darcy Ryno

Keeping with the spirit of glamourous camping, a convex window covers one end of each barrel. From Merlot’s, the view from the bed through the bubble is of the bridge over the river; from Cabernet’s, it’s down the river toward the ocean. The other end of each is fixed with a door that requires a little ducking to pass through into the cozy interior.

A cushy bed billowing with soft pillows takes up almost the entire interior but there is room for a tiny TV, an air conditioner, and luggage. Outside, the deck triples the rental space. Beneath the world’s tiniest tiki bar, a bar is equipped with a mini fridge, accessories, and a couple of wooden bar stools. Beneath a beach umbrella, two patio chairs made of fat bamboo beckon. For such a mini-stay, this place has it all — there’s even a kitchen sink. It’s a tossup. I choose Merlot.

Nellie’s Landing Marina is the love child of the friendly couple in the house on the riverbank overlooking the wine barrels, resting easy next to two equally abbreviated houseboats. Today, an overnight renter and her dog are settled into Little Miss Sunshine, a young couple into the Blue Marlin

Photo: Darcy Ryno

Photo: Darcy Ryno

Smith recently retired from the television industry and her partner, Calvin Fraser, is a fisherman who grew up here. They took over this marina and shipped in the floating rentals in 2021 when they were looking for a way to move permanently to their beloved Murray Harbour.

“It was a perfect fit,” says Fraser. He and Smith personify that old truism about East Coast hospitality. I’ve barely set my belongings into the wine barrel when Fraser is calling from the house for me to join him on his patio for a beer and a yarn.

After settling in, I join Fraser on the patio. He points out the village’s restaurant and Butler’s general store a short walk away. He fills me in on the area’s must-do activities. When he tells me he has e-bikes for rent, my plans for the day are set. He picks one out for me, attaches a fully charged battery, adjusts the seat, hands me a helmet, and offers a few safety tips.

Out on the road, the fat tire bike cruises along easily, the battery cutting in when I need a boost. Just down the road, I arrive at a section of the Trans Canada Trail that runs through the village. Murray Harbour residents have a great deal of pride in their heritage as a historic hub for forestry and fishing. That pride is on full display in Rail Head Park where the railway once stopped and where an open-air shelter now houses a series of interpretative panels with photos and stories of the past.

From here, I follow a road along the Murray River until it turns overland towards Murray Head. Forest opens upon hilltop farmland studded in the late summer with golden bales of hay. Further on, I find lighthouses, museums, lonely beaches, and scenic lookoffs.

Back in Murray Harbour, I linger at a lobster trap pyramid draped with buoys inscribed with the names of lost loved ones. Returning the bike, Fraser invites me to continue that yarn on his patio. A couple of locals show up. One is a fisherman and the other a relative of a local hockey legend. The stories of adventures on the ocean and victories on the ice flow as freely as the beer.

The Cabernet, Nellie’s Landing, Murray Harbour.

Photo: Darcy Ryno

In the morning, I awake to the sounds of fishermen, working on their boats. Sunshine streams through the panoramic bubble onto my cozy bed. A few yawns later, I’m up, ready for a day of adventure. When Fraser delivers a coffee, I take the opportunity to get his road-trip recommendations.

Fraser says new artisan and craft beverage makers have sprung up in the area lately. He provides directions to a few breweries and wineries, plus Double Hill Cidery.

I find the cidery beside a red dirt road on the summit of a hill. Tiny apple tree saplings are planted in a field that slopes down to forest, then stretches to the sea in the distance. Double Hill is so new, the terrace is a temporary arrangement of a giant tent with comfortable patio furniture next to a shipping container attractively converted into a bar and retail shop.

Photo: Darcy Ryno

I order a flight — a trio of Island Side, Nomad, and Oistre, each a shade of golden from the mix of cultivated and foraged wild apples that go into each blend. Some are aged in sherry or calvados barrels. The cidery is working in partnership with Maison Ferre of France to apply traditional European methods. I meet Erin Turcke, a sommelier with experience at various Atlantic Canadian wineries. She tells me Double Hill’s founder, Sebastian Manago, is grafting branches from the best wild apple trees onto the saplings in the orchard.

I sit at a patio table beneath an ancient chestnut tree with my flight of ciders and look out over P.E.I.’s southeastern tip. The wind is warm and strong today with a hint of sea salt. That hint takes me back to Murray Harbour, not quite visible, but there in my mind’s eye, where my little wine barrel bobs gently at the dock.

Photo: Darcy Rhyno

Oh, the places I’ll go on my e-bike

• The Confederation Trail, the 470-kilometre hiking and biking trail.

• Rail Head Park with interpretive signs and a gazebo overlooking the river.

• Sunshine Farm, which operates a small market.

• The Cape Bear Lighthouse and Marconi Station with a museum.

• Murray Head, a scenic harbour-mouth lookoff down a red dirt road.

• Murray Beach, a quiet stretch of sand and pea gravel for swimming.

• Beach Point Light, a scenic lighthouse at the end of Murray Beach.

• Beach Point Processing Company, a working fish plant, and a great place to walk the wharves and check out the boats.

• Murray Harbour Range Rear Light, yet another lighthouse on this small peninsula.

• 5 Cafe, a great place to stop for refreshments, walking distance from the marina.

Beach Point light, Murray Beach.

Photo: Darcy Rhyno