Reflections of HMCS SACKVILLE

I have probably mentioned here before that I like to take photos of reflections, especially ship reflections on the water. One day last week there was a nice imposing sky in the background, and nice smooth water to show off SACKVILLE's reflection.

In this particular photo, I faked a graduated neutral density filter in Adobe Camera Raw to make the reflection balance a bit better with the rest of the image, then played with the contrast and colours to make the image pop. The filter, plus some vignetting, helped to darken the sky a bit to make it slightly more imposing than it was in the base image.

RCAF CH-148 Cyclone

During my ferry crossing this afternoon, one of the new Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclones made a flypast of the waterfront. 

Ordered in 2004 to replace the CH-124 Sea King, with an expected in-service date of 2008, only some interim CH-148 models are currently flying in 2016 and Sea Kings still make up the backbone of the RCAF's maritime helicopter fleet. I'm not sure how many have actually been delivered to date. It has been some months since I last saw a Cyclone in the air, and I do not believe any of the new helicopters have deployed with an RCN ship in an operational capacity yet.

Hopefully the replacement program can be successfully completed at some point in the near future.

Revisiting Hebridee II

About a year ago, I was given the opportunity to tour the boat shed at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, where the schooner Hebridee II is being rebuilt from the keel up. Last week I had the chance to revisit her and see how the reconstruction is progressing. While the hull itself doesn't appear to have changed much, the cabin and interior are progressing nicely and it is easy to see the difference a year has made.

Hebridee's cockpit.

A coaming has been built around the cockpit, and floorboards have been added inside the cockpit itself. The space under the deck on either side of the cockpit is unfinished, with the engine compartment in between right under the cockpit.

Belowdeck area starboard of the cockpit.

The cabin roof has been added and painted, and the cabin interior it being fleshed in as well. The galley is at the foot of the companionway on the port side, and will have a small stove top as well as a sink with a hand pumped tap.

Starboard deck looking forward.

Looking aft at the foremast step, cabin, and foremast boom (or gaff?).

I then headed to inspect below deck.

Companionway and galley.

Galley and sink.

Opposite the galley is often a small Forward of the galley is a midships dining and berthing cabin - I assume this will receive some sort of dining table at some point.

Hinged chart table on the left, to starboard of the companionway ladder coming down from the cockpit.

Midships cabin and looking forward into the cuddy (forward) cabin..Unseen at the moment is the step for the main mast which is in the middle of the cabin. Presumably a floorboard has to be cut up to make room for the mast.

Midship berth.

I didn't pull out the hinged shelf in the middle of the image all the way, so I didn't think to check if there are meant to be one or two sleeping berths on each side of this cabin.

Underside of the cabin roof.

Between the miships cabin and the cuddy is the head.

Head.

Forward of the head is the cuddy cabin, where two bunks and storage are arranged on either side of the step for the foremast.

Cuddy cabin.

Up on deck, the bowsprit is made, but can't be installed yet due to the small size of the shed.

Bowsprit.

I can only imagine Hebridee II looks longingly out the windows of the boat shed at the other museum boats in the water, anticipating her own launch which is currently scheduled for 2017.

The view out of the boat shed.

The full gallery of these images, plus the images from 2015, are on my Smugmug site.

HMCS TORONTO leaves Halifax Shipyard graving dock

As of Friday morning, HMCS TORONTO was still in the Halifax Shipyard graving dock undergoing her FELEX refit. 

TORONTO in the graving dock just prior to being floated out.

As of Tuesday morning, I noticed that she had left the graving dock and had been moved to the machine shop wharf as part of the next stage of the refit. 

TORONTO at the machine shop wharf.

As can be told by the amount of staging surrounding the superstructure, she has a ways to go before the refit is complete. TORONTO is the last ship on the east coast in the FELEX refit process. The previous ship, VILLE DE QUEBEC, appears to have just begun sea trials after the completion of her own refit. In February 2015, TORONTO was still alongside in the Dockyard, beginning the disassembly process prior to entering the shipyard. 

These refits are modernizing the weapons and sensor systems of the RCN's HALIFAX class frigates.