Relaunching Amasonia

Growing up, I spent many summers at the family cottage on the LaHave River below Bridgewater. Apart from my Dad's boat sitting out front, I could gaze upon the boats across the river including an offshore racer or two. Of particular interest were two schooners: Skylark designed and built by David Stevens, and Amasonia - a Tancook schooner. Skylark was renamed Sarah Abbot, and now calls Maryland home. Amasonia stayed closer to home, is still based here in Nova Scotia, and was relaunched this week after a restoration.

Amasonia was built in, and launched from, Big Tancook Island in 1935 by Howard and Tom Mason. A brief history appears on the Nova Scotia Schooner Association website, which I won't repeat here. She has had her share of adventures, including one previous major rebuild in 1963, and was due for another refit. Her owner since 1989, Lorne Leahey, took her to Bill Lutwick at Lutwick's Boat Building and Repair in Indian Point, near Mahone Bay, for some TLC. I only heard a few weeks ago that she was being restored, and dropped by the boat shop last week to see what progress was being made - I arrived just in time, as she was ready to return to the water within the week.

For those interested, there is a book on the Tancook schooners, called - you guessed it - The Tancook Schooners.  

The fine lines of Amasonia.

The interior of Lutwick's Boat Building and Repair.

I asked if I could be notified when she was ready to launch, and Lorne was kind enough to oblige. I was (just) able to make it down in time to see her come off her cradle earlier this week.

Amasonia still sitting on her keel in the cradle.

Still in her cradle.

Amasonia wasn't alone - there were a few other schooners present.

One of the spectators was Wawaloon - another Tancook-built schooner.

A number of years ago, I had an apartment overlooking the narrows of Halifax Harbour, right across from the shipyard. I remember seeing Wawaloon sailing up the harbour on a somewhat blustery day in 2007, and watching her respond to the wind.

Wawaloon making her way up the harbour.

Wawaloon heeling over after catching a gust.

High tide was scheduled for 1700h, but Amasonia wasn't quite ready to budge, so she received some help backing out of her cradle.

Spectators haul on Amasonia's lines to coax her from her cradle.

Efforts to haul her out were successful, and Amasonia was returned to her native element.

Amasonia is framed by another wooden boat in her cradle.

Amasonia's pleased-looking owner, Lorne Leahey, with Bill Lutwick standing behind.

Someone did the math, and there is a combined 252 years of Nova Scotia schooner history in this photo, with (from left to right) Wawaloon (built 1946), Pegasus (1971), Amasonia (1935), and Mary David (1968).

Amasonia is riding a bit high in the water at the moment, as she still needs to have her masts fitted and fuel tanks filled, among other things.

Bill has worked on many boats, and one of his recent projects - an International One Design (IOD) named Ghost - was sitting out front of the shop.

Ghost.

Bill is also working on a boat that is near and dear to my own heart - an International 18 One Design by the name of Bratt. My father owned her from 1966 to 1973, and she will be a sight to behold when completed. But that is a subject for another blog post.

Back in 2009, a sailing trip from LaHave to Chester provided a couple of chance encounters relevant to this post. First of all, off Indian Point and Bill's shop, we encountered one of his Robin L 24s (or RL24), a 24-foot adaptation of a Tancook Sloop.

An RL24 sailing off Indian Point, with the red shed of Lutwick Boat Building and Repair in the background.

RL24.

RL24.

We also encountered Amasonia herself off the shore of Nova Scotia. She's so pretty that I just had to go back and edit a few more photos just for this blog post.

Amasonia sailing along on what I assume is a beam reach.

Amasonia sails off towards the horizon.

With any luck, I will be able to catch Amasonia under sail once more this summer when she is rigged.

Harbour Fog and HMCS ST. JOHN's return from NATO

Warm temperatures and high humidity over the last week have joined to create some impressive mists and fogs, and the view on this morning's commute to work on the ferry was accordingly somewhat obscured. There were a number of fog horns at work in the harbour, including those of the harbour ferries. (A drive down Highway 103 late this afternoon was also suitably impressive.)

Ferry Viola Desmond heading for Woodside.

This complicated my aim this morning of photographing the return of HMCS ST. JOHN'S, which was arriving in Halifax for the first time after a six-month NATO tour. Although I could see her approach on the Marine Traffic app, the ship herself was completely obscured. 

I had hoped that ST. JOHN'S would pass west of George's Island, as I had clear sight out through that channel, whereas the fog was mostly concentrated on the east side of the harbour. However, she stubbornly stuck to the eastern channel. In the end, I was rewarded with an imposing view of ST. JOHN'S in the fog, but for a while I was worried I would miss her entirely.

For instance, I could see Holland America Line's Veendam just fine out through the western channel.

I even got my obligatory shot of Veendam with the George's Island lighthouse.

Even when the fog thickened up again, I could still see Veendam just fine.

I also got to capture this cormorant taking off.

Admittedly, despite being able to see Veendam, the image quality suffered - heat coming off the water on hot days tends to play havoc with the optical qualities of the air when using telephoto lenses, and if you zoom in on the ship you can plainly see the degradation. But the images look fine here, at least.

Just when I was about to give up on ST. JOHN'S, a shadow started to appear out of the fog behind the Vincent Coleman, itself returning from the Woodside terminal.

HMCS ST. JOHN'S finally makes an appearance.

Although the fog is obscuring the ship, it is also obscuring Dartmouth, so there's that. (Nothing against Dartmouth, but the former refinery area is not exactly picturesque, and I prefer to have mostly blank backgrounds for my ship images, when possible, to avoid confusing the outline of the ship.)

If you look closely, you can make out the crew lined up on the foc'st'le.

ST. JOHN'S proceeded up the harbour and alongside her jetty in HMC Dockyard, where her crew and their families were reunited. Welcome back, 340!

Lunenburg Waterfront

I had heard that a schooner was being launched this past Sunday, and figuring that they would launch on the high tide, I headed over to see if I could photograph the launch. Unfortunately, I was too late, but there were still some picturesque scenes for me to capture.

David Westergard continues to build schooners in the historic Smith & Rhuland shed on the Lunenburg waterfront.

The launching ways lead into the water from the old Smith & Rhuland shed.

A more modern version of the traditional fishing dory.

The schooner whose launch I missed on Sunday, already tied up at a nearby wharf.

Further along the waterfront, other boats prepare to take to the water. Wooden boats often need to allow their planking to swell up at the beginning of a season, and to prevent them from sinking, they often need to sit on the shore while this occurs. This may be what was happening here. 

Not all the boats in Lunenburg were sitting alongside or on the shore - the tour boat in the background was taking passengers around the harbour.

It started out overcast, but the sky cleared and provided some beautiful light on the waterfront.