Good afternoon,

I feel like I am stuck in an old black and white movie where they show the passage of time by ripping pages from a calendar. Here we are about to start the fourth week of refit and I am certainly beginning to feel the pressure of time and schedule. “Time and tide wait for no man,” as Chaucer once wrote. I’m sure the feeling of this proverb is spread across the cultures of the globe, this version seems apt for rigging a schooner in the east coast spring.

The crew seem to be bonding well. I often hear laughter emanating from the foc'sle which always comes with the ring of ghostly memories for me as I think back on my time before the mast and all the crews that came before and have since. With all the changes in crew, it's amazing to think that only three men have fed the foc’sle in over forty years. Nobel Gignac, Reg Barkhouse, and Dale Robarts. Each has brought their own flavour to the galley and influenced each crew with their sense of humour and personal idiosyncrasies. Cooking for a crew is not easy, cooking at sea is not easy, meeting the recent demands of diet modifications and preferences is just plain difficult, yet the meals arrive on the table three times a day. Cabbage rolls and salad were on the main menu today. Good food for a cold day on the waterfront!

We have knocked off a couple of big projects this week. The blocks are all but done, cleaned and inspected, fresh grease and three coats of varnish. They will shine in the morning light! We have also had a good go at the bulwarks which is the rail that surrounds the deck of the ship. Scraped, sanded, primed and a coat of finish paint have them shining. As we still have the cover on, there are lots of spots we couldn’t reach, but the bulk is done and ready for a finish coat. We have also done more than one half of the hull. The hull is scraped and sanded and then two coats of primer are applied. Today, the mates and crew managed to get the first coat of black on the hull so the old girl is starting to look spiffy. Again, with the winter cover still on the ship there are lots of places that are hidden and will need work but we have covered a big area and it helps me sleep at night to know we are making progress.

This coming week is a big inspection and service week for us. There will be three or four companies aboard looking at the mechanical and electrical systems of the vessel. Most of this work is regulatory in nature but there is a good mix of preventative maintenance spread in the mix as well. It will be a busy week and I suspect that next week's log will be a bit longer.

If you would like more Bluenose content (and who wouldn’t!), we have been posting video logs on our social media pages and there will be a biweekly written log in one of the local papers. We also post photos fairly regularly on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and the usual places. The Bluenose II Company Store is aiming to open on May 1^st for all your Bluenose clothing and branded merchandise.