Recent ship photos

 I usually only manage to catch ship traffic in the harbour during my morning and evening commute on the ferry, but occasionally catch ships at other times as well. I have managed to catch a bit of traffic over the last few weeks.

British Engineer at anchor in the fog on March 18.

A backlit British Engineer at anchor while discharging water overboard.

NYK Romulus inbound on March 17.

NYK Romulus inbound.

MSC Cornelia coming in alongside at the south-end container terminal.

Vivienne Sheri D.

Vivienne Sheri D.

MSC Brianna.

Atlantic Sun departing from Halifax.

Atlantic Willow heads north as Atlantic Sun (no relation) departs.

Oceanex Sanderling.

Reflection of Oceanex Sanderling 

Onego Bayou in the snow.

Atlantic Sky arriving in Halifax.

Atlantic Sky arriving.

NYK Virgo arriving at dawn.

NYK Virgo arriving at dawn.

The rest of these photos can be seen in my Ships gallery on Smugmug.

Halifax Waterfront at Night - Queens Marque

 I had the change to wander the waterfront around Queens Marque last night and take a few photos. It was a bit windy and I was using long exposures to smooth out the surface of the water. 

Looking south from the foot of the tide clock.

The tide clock tower at Queens Marque. The lights of Dartmouth reflect off the glass at wharf level and seem continuous as a result.

Looking down from the tide clock tower towards the Queens Marque complex itself.

The roofline of one wing of the Queens Marque complex reflecting in the glass of another.

I was playing with both colour and black & white processing of my images, and for this one at least, I couldn't decide on which I preferred. I like both for different reasons.

Long exposure of the water at the foot of the steps into the harbour.

The tide clock tower is surrounded by metal bars with transparent plastic strips attached that spin in the wind. Hard to see in a smaller image, but there is some ghosting where they spun during this exposure.

It was a bit chilly last night, but at least there weren't too many people getting in the way of my camera!

February and March issues of Warships IFR

All four issues of Warships IFR magazine with my story of going north with HMCS Margaret Brooke on Operation Nanook in August 2022 have now been released, in the UK at least. So far only the December and January issues have appeared on the shelf at Atlantic News.

This is the January 2023 issue on the shelf at Atlantic News about two weeks ago. 

 

The magazine to the right in the photo above, of Canadian Naval Review Volume 18 #3, is also quite interesting and includes an article about NORPLOY '74 - a deployment into the same waters Margaret Brooke sailed through in 1974 by HMC Ships Preserver, Assiniboine, and Saguenay. Though Preserver had some ice hardening present in her hull, the other two ships did not, and they had to proceed a little more gingerly than we did in 2022 - but otherwise several of the lessons from 1974 rang true in 2022. 

The February and March issues of Warships IFR should generally appear on Canadian shelves (well, the shelf at Atlantic News anyway) about one month after the issue hits the shelf in the UK. The mail from the UK is apparently slow these days.

The February 2023 issue of Warships IFR with Part 3 of my story.

The March issue of the magazine includes Part 4 of my story, and also features one of my photos on the cover - of three of the ships steaming in line astern behind HMCS Margaret Brooke.

The opportunity to spend three weeks in one of His Majesty's Canadian Ships, and the trip north itself, were in and of themselves the experience of a lifetime, but managing to take up so much real estate across four issues of the magazine was also pretty exciting. Hopefully I will manage to do something similar again one day, but I don't expect it to happen anytime soon!

Polar Circle departs again

I just managed to catch the icebreaking tug Polar Circle departing Halifax for a second time - even though it was through very dirty office windows this time.

Polar Circle following the pilot boat out on 30 January 2023.

Polar Circle.

I wonder if she will make it farther afield this time? Last time she only went to a US port before returning to Halifax.

CCGS G. Peddle S.C.

The Wednesday morning ferry was perfectly timed with the departure of the Canadian Coast Guard inshore patrol vessel CCGS G. Peddle S.C., and I managed to get some good photos in the dawn lighting.

This vessel is tasked with Fisheries Patrol and a secondary mission of Search and Rescue.

Photography in the Snow

 As a Trustee, I went to lunch in HMCS Sackville within the Dockyard on Friday during the first snowstorm of the year, and then decided to walk home after lunch via the bridge before going back to work from home. This provided some interesting photographic opportunities, all of which I decided to convert to high contrast black and white.

Sackville herself looked pretty in the snow.

HMCS Charlottetown alongside MV Asterix for refuelling.

Charlottetown and another frigate alongside in Dockyard during the snow.

The bridge itself similarly caught my eye.

The view from mid-span looking back towards Halifax.

Looking back towards Halifax from the Dartmouth bridge tower.

The views on the Dartmouth side of the bridge were also nice.

Windmill Road.

Shore Drive and the Harbour Pilot base on the Dartmouth shore.

Houses on Windmill Road.

Landscape view of Windmill Road.

It was a long slog across the bridge in the snow, but ultimately worth it for the photos.

Early Morning Ships Passing in the Night

The morning and evening commute is a bit dark at this time of year, especially on overcast days, and I managed to capture some ships coming and going in the pre-dawn on Friday. To start, HMCS Charlottetown arrived in port and later went alongside MV Asterix to refuel. Modern cameras are capable of shooting at higher ISOs, and despite from a bit of grain or noise, the images still look great when shot without a tripod.

HMCS Charlottetown inbound.

As Charlottetown was arriving, ACL's Atlantic Star was departing from the Fairview Container Terminal in Bedford Basin.

Atlantic Star outbound.

As a result, I got a nice photo of the two ships passing in the harbour.

Atlantic Star outbound passing the inbound HMCS Charlottetown.

I don't think I typically see a ship's passing at this particular location in the harbour.