The Colombian Navy's sail training vessel GLORIA arrived in Halifax earlier this week, and after receiving some repair work at HMC Dockyard, moved to Cable Wharf to allow the general public a closer look. This let me get close-up photos on three separate morning so far, and as well I took advantage of the free public tours on Tuesday afternoon. This post will be lighter on text, and focus mostly on the photos I took.
My first sight of GLORIA this week was of her berthed in HMCS SACKVILLE's normal winter location within HMC Dockyard, from the ferry.
 |
| GLORIA in HMC Dockyard. |
 |
| Tuesday morning - the rising sun breaking through the morning cloud made for a particularly dramatic photo. Vertical panorama taken with an iPhone, processed with Lightroom Mobile. I got right down to the water's surface on a floating dock for this shot, as well as the following one below. |
 |
| Similar photo taken around the same time, this time with a 12mm lens on a Sony A6000. Can't quite decide which I prefer. |
 |
| Wednesday morning - clear skies provided a different look. Another vertical panorama taken with an iPhone, processed with Lightroom Mobile. |
At 0800 hours each morning, the ship's ensign (a variation of the national flag) is hauled up a halyard from the tip of the gaff on the mizzen mast. The ensign is huge, and requires a number of crew members to deploy.
 |
| Raising the large ensign is a lot of work, and requires more than a few crew members. |
 |
| As large as the ensign is, it doesn't fly very well without a fair bit of wind. The ship also has a much smaller ensign to fly when the larger one shown here isn't practical. |
 |
| GLORIA is rigged as a barque, which means three masts - the foremast (left), mainmast (middle), and mizzen mast (right). The forward two masts are square-rigged, while the after mast is fore-and-aft rigged. The early morning wind isn't doing much for the ensign, but the lighting from the early morning sun was nice. |
 |
| OK, that's better, but the lighting isn't as appealing. Guess you can't win! |
 |
| The ensign also made interesting reflections on the water, and I'm a sucker for reflections. I had to take this photo from onboard, looking straight down from the deck. |
GLORIA was also wearing a bunting of Maritime Signalling Flags (alphabetical and numerical flags used for signalling) that ran from the tip of the bowsprit to the stern over the tops of all three masts.
 |
| A crewmember stands at the tip of the bowsprit, ready to raise the ship's jack. |
On Tuesday afternoon, I was able to take advantage of the free deck tours being offered by the ship. One of my favourite subjects is details and rope-work on deck, and GLORIA didn't disappoint.
 |
| The ship's name is engraved on all the stair nosings on the upper decks. |
 |
| I wouldn't want to have to coil these ropes just so, but I do appreciate the effect. |
 |
| I also wouldn't want to be responsible for keeping the deck buffed and varnished. |
Colombian Independence Day is observed on July 20th, so I had the added opportunity to photograph members of the ship's crew gathered on a nearby wharf for a small ceremony.
 |
| The ship's crew recognized Colombian Independance Day on July 20, and gathered on a nearby wharf for the raising of the ship's ensign and the playing of the national anthem. The rising sun and reflections off the harbour made for some nice shadows, and the image just begged to be converted to black and white. |
Finally....did I mention I'm a sucker for reflections?
After GLORIA left the Cable Wharf on Thursday morning, she returned to HMC Dockyard, possibly for more repair work although I don't know for sure. She was still in port as of Friday afternoon.
