DIGBY, N.S. - Farmers fretted over their crops, fishermen tied up their boats and bikers at a rally expected to draw 100,000 people continued to party Friday despite warnings that Earl was churning their way.
Earl is weakening faster than forecasters expected as it heads toward. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported Friday night that the once mighty Category 4 hurricane had been downgraded to a tropical storm with maximum wind gusts of 110 kilometres an hour.
Earl's still dangerous winds and heavy rains were forecast to slam the Maritimes on Saturday morning, threatening to topple trees, down power lines and generate heaving swells along the picturesque coastal communities that dot the Bay of Fundy.
On the streets of Digby where the biker rally was being held, thousands of motorcycles lined the main street while scores of others rumbled through the town, still caught under a blanket of steamy weather that has hung over much of Atlantic Canada all week.
Bob Martin of Halifax said the looming storm wasn't a big deal.
"Everything should be good," he said. "We're putting our motorcycles in a buddy's garage. Fifteen bikes are going in. We're just going to party and let the storm go by."
Still, some bikers were worried about the weather.
"I'm totally concerned," said Wendy Walker-Bradley from Cambridge, Ont., sporting a black bandana with a sequined skull and crossbones.
She said her motorcycle and several others would be stored in a storage depot owned by her father, who lives in Digby.
"We don't want them outside in the storm," she said.
Glenn Dunn, chairman of the Wharf Rat Rally, said the safety of riders and spectators was his top concern.
"We're very aware of the potential for problems. My gut feeling is it's going to be downgraded. ... As long as we don't have winds that are going to blow bikes over, then it's just another windy, rainy day."
He said it would be impossible to call off the five-day event on the third day.
In New Brunswick, where a tight election campaign is being waged, Liberal Premier Shawn Graham suspended his door-knocking, urging residents in that province to stay home until the storm passes.
Airlines grounded some flights as a safety precaution ahead of the storm's arrival.
Officials at the Canadian Hurricane Centre said they were most concerned with the storm's winds, warning that gusts of 110 kilometres per hour were possible.
"Normally our waters offshore tend to buffer us and shelter us from the high winds," said forecaster Chris Fogarty. "But it's exceptionally warm waters here, and that's why I want to keep those wind gust potentials on the upper side and into the hurricane force. I think that's the responsible approach."
In Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, farmer Jonathan Fuller stood in his apple orchard under a blazing sun, wondering what would become of the 32 hectares of not-quite-ripe fruit.
"I'm worried. I hate the thought of it," said Fuller, who's been growing apples with Fuller Brothers Farm in Avonport for 20 years.
"It just seems like you get through the summer, you get a good crop and you're just on the verge of picking and the hurricane comes along. It's always a concern. ... We'll keep our fingers crossed."
Fuller said even if Earl doesn't get a good grip on his apples and rip them from the trees, the delicate fruit can knock together in the wind and bruise.
"It can be quite heartbreaking," he said.
Along most of the wharfs on the southwest coast of Nova Scotia, many fishing boats were tethered together.
"It's a waiting game I guess from now on," said Sheldon O'Connell of Clark's Harbour on Cape Sable Island.
O'Connell, a fisherman with 25 years of experience, said the boats at his wharf are reasonably protected because of the shelter offered by the harbour. But what the storm ultimately does to the tides remained a concern.
"The undertow from the (wave) surge coming back out is the biggest danger," he said.
Jim Laracey, 58, planned to ride out the storm onboard his sailboat "Katie Marie," moored on the Saint John waterfront. The wooden boat was built in Sweden in 1933, and Laracey said it had been more than halfway around the world through many storms.
He had hoped to take the boat up river for more protection, but some necessary parts didn't arrive on time.
"Boats are always a worry — wooden boats more so," he said.
Laracey said he had no choice but to secure the boat and hope for the best.
"I'll move it off the dock a ways, and as long as it has some room to move and the dock has room to move, everything should be fine."
Fogarty said the highest winds and waves will hit on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, with the largest waves expected to reach as high as 10 metres coming onshore.
As of 12 a.m. Atlantic time, Earl was 175 kilometres east-southeast of Nantucket. It was moving northeast at 44 km/h with maximum sustained winds estimated at 110 to 120 km/h.
Hurricane watches were in effect across much of Nova Scotia, while tropical storm watches and rainfall warnings were issued for southeastern New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island was also under a tropical storm warning.
Between 40 and 70 millimetres of rain will likely fall Saturday, with southern and central New Brunswick and northwestern P.E.I. expected to receive the most.
— With files from Keith Doucette in Clark's Harbour, N.S., Kevin Bissett in Saint John, N.B., and Melanie Patten and Michael Tutton in Halifax