This boat doesn't stop on a dime

Striking the sails on the Bluenose II

Day 10: Lunenburg ~ Halifax (211km)

From now on, every time I look at a dime, it'll be in a slightly different way. The boat depicted will seem less mythical, more familiar. I say this because this morning in Lunenburg, Andrew and went for a sail on the Bluenose II. As far as sailing experiences go, it wasn't anything dramatic: there was no sea spray, no rising up on crests and crashing into troughs, no heavy list that required leaning out to one side. The Bluenose II is quite a large and heavy ship, and it takes more than Lunenburg Bay on a calm day to get her to move much.

We were lucky enough just to get tickets, I think, since we arrived in town last night just after the ticket office closed and so had to be down at the window when it opened at 8AM this morning. The friendly woman was organizing the waiting people into those on the reserved list and those on the waitng list, and we weren't on any list. But when we finally inched up to the glass, she said that we were lucky - she still had a few spots left.

The Bluenose II, a perfect replica of the Bluenose that you see on the dime, is a beautiful ship, painted black with gold lettering and having nicely varnished wood decks and brass fittings. She has two masts and eight sails, though we only used four on our trip. At 9:30 precisely we shoved off from dockside and slowly made our way out of the harbour under diesel power. The sky was overcast and it was a little cool, but everyone was just excited to be sailing on the dime boat. Clearing the harbour, the order went up to hoist the sails, which the crew did promptly. There's definitely a little bit of physical work involved, but the real muscle to get the sails up is handled by an onboard motor.

And just who crews this fine vessel? Well, it's a mix of seasoned officers and green deck hands. Getting the six and a half month job as a deck hand is as simple as applying and interviewing - as long as you're a Nova Scotia resident. While some clearly have experience, others are definitely doing this for the first time, as we found out early on in the sailing. I was up near the bow looking around when one of the young girls on watch leaned over and spoke into a communication system under a ledge, "Three tack on the port side," she said, referring to 3 boats off the left side of the ship, where in fact there was nothing but 50 metres of empty harbour between us and the shore. There was a long pause before a voice from the speaker was heard.

"Did you say three to port?" it queried.

After a couple of seconds the girl winced, and with a half-smile leaned over once again and said, "Um...I may have meant two, and to starboard." Oops. Straightening up, she turned to a crewmate and chuckled, "I have a little problem with the sides." Given that the sailing season is nearing its end, you'd hope she'd have this kind of thing down by now! While the crew do work a lot of hours, you'd be mistaken to picture it as a sailor's life of old, up at dawn scrubbing the decks and ruled by an iron-fisted captain. Au contraire. When I asked, expecting "dawn" as an answer, one of the crew told me that they got up at 7:30 and had to be on deck by 8:00. That's better than a lot of people who sail their cubicles in the tall ships of downtown Toronto. I didn't ask the pay, though.

Back in port, we hopped in our own steel-wheeled schooner and made way for Halifax via Peggy's Cove. Whereas Lunenburg didn't seem all that busy, Peggy's Cove was crawling with the tour bus throngs, and the effect was magnified by the tiny size of the village itself. Walking around the town, you have to wonder who decided to start a village on land that is little more than a few tracts of dirt between a lot of smoothly-rounded mounds of rock. But they did, and according to the information plaques that are spread throughout the little hamlet, the population peaked long ago at about 300, but is now much less, if you don't count the thousands of cruiseboat tourists on excursion from Halifax running around taking photos and snapping up souvenirs. While there is definitely a certain quaint charm to it, I don't think I'll ever feel the need to go back...especially not to the loud, crowded restaurant.

So here we are in Halifax, grand capital of Nova Scotia, and while it's true that it's the first time since Quebec that we've seen any tall buildings, there doesn't honestly seem to be a whole lot to see or do here. That fits in not too badly with our schedule, since we spent so much time enjoying the west coast of Nova Scotia that we're left with just an overnight here in Halifax...and we have to get laundry done in there somewhere, too. Tonight we did a little walk around the lower downtown area, which has a very nice waterfront where it seems a fair number of low-rise condos are opening up. Cable Wharf, however, is overrated with its one shop and restaurant (compared to the "shops and restaurants" in the guide).

If I could drink, you'd probably find me running a loop of the Alexander Keith's brewery tour, but as it is, it'll probably be a quick dinner and a few extra Zzzs.