Capt. Phil Watson

It’s a quiet day on the ship here today. We are in Terence Bay, a small fishing village near the famed Peggy’s Cove. The crew are either engaged on deck, hosting visitors to the ship, or ashore in the local museum. Tonight is our last planned night at sea and I’m hoping it will be clear and calm. Being at sea at night is always different and sometimes special. With no outside source of light to interfere, it seems that you can see every star in the universe. The milky way stretches across the sky and if we are lucky will be reflected in the water around the ship. For some of our crew this will be a first to see such a sky, for others it will be a memory packed away with the rest of the stories gathered through the season. 

These past couple of days we have had some great sailing around Peggy's Cove lighthouse. First under our lower sails and later with topsails set, we placed two icons side by side. Lots of people watched live or on Nova Scotia Webcams. One of the beautiful things about Bluenose II is her portability. Having the ability to move the ship to the Cape Breton Highlands, Peggy’s Cove or the Bay of Fundy, we can help draw attention to stories around Nova Scotia. Here in Terence Bay, we have met all kinds of visitors who have come here specifically to see the ship.  We sometimes forget how famous Capt. Angus, his crew and ship were in their time. We were recently reminded as a friend of the ship sent a note from Tasmania with photos from a museum showing a Bluenose display. Our friend reinforced this history with a school visit and dimes given to the children. 

Most of our sailing this year has been done out of Lunenburg or Halifax with guests aboard. They often ask what it’s like to be at sea when we “really let her go”. All are pleased to know there is little difference between the experience they have and our passage-making. More often than not, the sailing is better on a two hour cruise than having to meet a schedule, or beat the weather, or maneuver through the fog which happens at sea. This year during the early part of the season we were plagued with fog, often with visibility of less than 300 feet. It's hard to plough along at full speed when you can see little or nothing around you. As the season progresses, we are seeing more tropical storm activity and wondering if we will see a proper hurricane along our “sea bound coast”.

We will be doing public harbour cruises until the end of September if you would like to sail with us in Lunenburg, and the Company Store remains open if you would like to ‘sale’ with them. We will begin down rigging and preparing for the winter season on the first of October.