Preview of Tall Ships 2017

Timed with Canada's 150th year, the 2017 Tall Ships Regatta has seen increased traffic of large sailing vessels in Halifax. The main festival in Halifax will occur between July 29 and August 1st.

The first of the season to visit was Italy's Amerigo Vespucci, which put in at Pier 20.

Amerigo Vespucci.

Amerigo Vespucci.

Next came Wylde Swan around June 15.

Wylde Swan.

Wylde Swan.

Wylde Swan.

On June 27th, The Chilean Navy's sail training vessel Esmeralda arrived, and initially went to anchor across from HMC Dockyard.

Esmeralda.

Esmeralda.

Esmeralda.

Four-masted Esmeralda in front of the four buildings at King's Wharf.

Rigging on Esmeralda.

Esmeralda at dusk.

Esmeralda at dawn.

Esmeralda with Maasdam to the left and USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER to the right.

Black and white image of Esmeralda silhouetted by the sun.

On Thursday Esmeralda moved to Pier 20, and was open for tours on Friday, at which time I took the kids over for a look.

I look forward to seeing more classic sailing vessels visit Halifax over the next month or so.

June's Naval Harbour Traffic

With an exercise in the North Atlantic, and visitors for Canada's 150th birthday, naval traffic has picked up over the past few weeks.

HNLMS ZEELEEUW (S803) departing HMC Dockyard.

Royal Netherlands Navy submarine ZEELEEUW spent a short time in port on June 19.

HNLMS ZEELEEUW (S803) departing for sea.

The next major visitor was USNS Robert E. Peary, on June 27.

USNS Robert. E. Peary.

Unlike ships bearing the "USS" prefix, USNS (United Stated Naval Ship) ships are unarmed auxiliary vessels that are not commissioned vessels, and are operated by Military Sealift Command. They are usually crewed by civilians, sometimes with small military contingents.

USNS Robert E. Peary.

She is a part of the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER carrier battle group, and was followed in on June 28 by Ticonderoga class cruiser USS SAN JACINTO (CG 56) and USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81).

USS SAN JACINTO (CG 56).

USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer.

USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81).

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69), also known as "Ike", followed the two latter ships in later in the afternoon on June 28.

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69).

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69).

Ike is the second of the NIMITZ class nuclear aircraft carriers, and this makes her the second oldest aircraft carrier in the US fleet, now that ENTERPRISE has been decommissioned. She was commissioned in 1977.

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69).

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69).

"Ike" dressed overall with signal flags.

We typically go months between foreign naval visits, so it is always nice to see a few new faces in port. In particular, aircraft carriers are infrequent visitors, with the last visit being perhaps 20 years ago.