April 1^st

Good day,

Wow, that was a quick winter. At least on the calendar, I suspect we have more winter weather to come before we all put shorts on. Today, as has been the case for many years, on April 1^st the crew report to Bluenose II and begin the process to train and rig up for the season. I always wonder what it was like in the 1920s and 30s when Capt Angus and his crew were getting ready. Old friendships renewed, new crew staring wide-eyed not really understanding the language being spoken, the small inside jokes, or even the layout of the ship. This first week we will watch the crew go to the wrong hatch and stop in confusion as all of a sudden they are looking at an unrecognized space. All in good time they will sort it out.

The first day is never wasted and every hour becomes precious in our rush to get the ship ready. In the fall we stuff our rigging shed full of equipment where it is kept safe from freezing and ice or snow damage throughout the winter. The first day the job is to unpack the shed and make it into a work space. As soon as this is done the sandpaper is passed out and the work begins. We will start with the fore boom and gaff and the jumbo boom. These are the smallest of the wooden timbers that support our sails and the only ones that will fit in our shed.

Just before coffee break this afternoon we had another milestone event and the first grocery delivery of the year occurred. The cook visited our local supplier last week to pre order and finished his shopping after lunch here. The call of “stores” rang out as the van backed down the wharf. With fourteen of us onboard you can imagine this is not a small order. What you do not want to imagine is feeding a family of fourteen these days!

One of our big projects this year is a ten-year inspection of the vessel by our regulatory body, The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). In the past, there has been some misleading information about ABS and Bluenose II published in the media. They are not an insurance agency, and we do not require their OK to go into American waters — they are a Classification Society. According to the European Maritime Safety Agency, “Classification societies are organizations which develop and apply technical standards for the design, construction and survey of ships and which carry out surveys and inspections on board ships.” Transport Canada still has oversight and audit responsibilities but ABS is our main reporting body. I will write more about our inspection in the following logs. It’s a very interesting process and hugely helpful in our caretaker duties of the ship.

So, welcome back ship followers. Our harbour tour tickets are online and ready for purchase. The online store is open for business, and our physical store opens on May 1st. Our social media is ramping up with some videos online. As in the past several years the South Shore Breaker will be carrying a bi-weekly catch up for those who like to read the newspaper. Hope you all had a good winter.