Photos this week: October 1-7

I will start with the weekend, during which I managed to pop over to Lunenburg to see the sights there. This sailboat was sitting in her cradle next to the old Smith & Rhuland shed, which appears in the background.

I also caught up with the Blue Dream Project schooner, now named Mahayana, which was launched this summer and is being completed alongside a wharf in front of the old Smith & Rhuland shed where she was built.

Mahayana alongside a Lunenburg Wharf, with the Smith & Rhuland shed in the background.

The work week started out a bit rainy, and Monday was a bit of a loss for photos, however Tuesday was sunny again and made up for it with HMCS ST. JOHN'S getting her feet wet again after a maintenance period on the Syncrolift. The speed of the process took me by surprise a bit, in that I took too long getting my camera out to capture her with the keel blocks still showing.

HMCS ST. JOHN'S being lowered back into the water.

HMCS ST. JOHN'S being lowered back into the water.

By the end of the day when I returned to Dartmouth on the ferry, ST. JOHN'S was once again alongside one of the jetties.

Speaking of frigates on the Syncrolift, I should share a view of VILLE DE QUEBEC on the lift some years ago, from a slightly different (and more impressive) viewing angle.

VILLE DE QUEBEC on the Syncrolift. I don't remember how I got close enough to get this angle.

Wednesday brought with it a terrific fog that replicated the sea smoke that one normally expects in the dead of winter with temperatures of -17 Celsius or so. I turned around just at the right time to see HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC sneaking out of the fog bank.

HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC.

HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC. Look carefully for the RHIB to the left of the photo.

Silhouetted against the rising sun and casting shadows in the fog, VILLE DE QUEBEC continued up the harbour and went to anchor.

VILLE DE QUEBEC at anchor.

Around the same time that morning, I captured an image I am calling "Last of the Old Guard": ATHABASKAN and PRESERVER are the only two HMC warships remaining to have been commissioned into the RCN before 1992 (I am being careful to specify warships here, because sail training vessel HMCS ORIOLE was commissioned in the 1950s), when the namesake ships of the HALIFAX class commissioned.

Last of the Old Guard: HMC Ships ATHABASKAN and PRESERVER. Despite the fog hiding the background, the sun is cutting through and illuminating both ships - a lucky catch!

Although a jetty queen and unable to go to sea due to corrosion issues in the hull, PRESERVER is nevertheless still in commission, but is due to be paid off on October 21, 2016. She has been used for alongside refueling in recent years. ATHABASKAN is scheduled to follow her in Spring 2017, the last of the IROQUOIS class destroyers to leave service.

From Cable Wharf I managed to get this shot of the Woodside Ferry heading to Dartmouth with the sun burning its way through the fog and cloud.

Sun, ferry, & fog. The sun is reminding me of the moon in this shot for some reason.

A day or two later, the sun cooperated for me and I caught it shining through the gun shield on HMCS SACKVILLE. 

HMCS SACKVILLE.

Cruise ship traffic continued unabated this week, with a total of five visiting on Friday, of which I only managed to photograph three.

Seven Seas Mariner appearing from behind George's Island.

Serenade of the Seas, Seven Seas Mariner, and Caribbean Princess.

Serenade of the Seas and Seven Seas Mariner.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend, everyone!