According to "The Charms of St. Andrews," in
Acadiensis, 1908, "Minister’s Island is reached from St. Andrews by a lovely drive out by Mowat’s Grove, and along the Bar road. At low water we may drive across upon the broad sandy bar or walk dry shod to the island. At high tide this bar is covered by twenty feet of water. The drive across it has been compared by a Canadian writer to the journey of the Children of Israel across the Red Sea, where the waters fell back on either side, while the Israelites passed through." This was all well and good for the Israelites, but what about the Egyptians that followed? In fact, glamorous and curious as the bar may be to vistiors, historically it has been a very dangerous place. At least half a dozen drownings have occured there since 1871, and one only just a few years ago. The typical scenario has the tide rising over the bar and someone who just can't wait six hours until it is low again. What many don't realized is that the tide sweeps across the bar at significant speed, in addition to rising fast. As the excerpts below show, the bar has not been kind to the inexperienced, or even the experienced in some instances.
