Bluenose II on the slip

Bluenose II was undergoing her 10-year American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) inspection on the slip in Lunenburg in December and was still on the slip during the holidays. It was a somewhat rare opportunity to see the schooner out of the water, let alone out of the water in the snow.

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.

Heavy lifts, shipbreaking & camber dives

This will be the blog equivalent of a buffet, covering all of the little nautical things that I have photographed over the last month and a bit.

To start with, there has been the usual shipping traffic including container ships, tankers, and the smaller coastal freighters.

Atlantic Sail escorted by Atlantic Fir.

Torm Carina.

YM Evolution.

Anet.

Halifax was also visited by the semi-submersible heavy lift ship Dockwise Forte carrying the jack-up oil rig Noble Regina Allen. The rig was offloaded, and tied up at Woodside before being towed offshore to start dismantling one of the Sable Offshore natural gas platforms.

Dockwise Forte carrying the jackup rig Noble Regina Allen.

Dockwise Forte carrying the jackup rig Noble Regina Allen.

Atlantic Willow.

I also managed to catch some naval traffic, including HMCS SUMMERSIDE both in and out of the water.

SUMMERSIDE.

SUMMERSIDE with GLACE BAY in the background.

SUMMERSIDE.

SUMMERSIDE on the Syncrolift. To steal a joke from others, the connections to shore services makes her look like a member of the Borg Collective from Star Trek.

HMCS GLACE BAY also made an appearance.

After recently completing a refit and returning to the water, HMCS WINDSOR has been fitting out to return to service, and carried out a camber dive within HMC Dockyard. A camber dive is a controlled test dive, and in this case at least her "fin" (the USN calls it the "sail", and it was known as the "conning tower" during the Second World War) remained out of the water to allow the embarked crew access to the open air.

HMCS WINDSOR performing a camber dive in HMC Dockyard, with only the fin visible above the water.

On the last Sunday of November, I was able to make a short trip down the South Shore, stopping in Lunenburg and Liverpool.

Cape Sable at the Fisheries Museum.

Winter cover framework is assembled onboard the schooner Theresa E. Connor.

Rekord in Lunenburg.

Bluenose II also has the framework for her winter cover assembled.

Both Lunenburg slips were occupied, with Svitzer's Point Chebucto and the Canadian Coast Guard's M. Perley in for maintenance.

Point Chebucto and CCGS M. Perley.

Point Chebucto and CCGS M. Perley.

Further down the South Shore in Liverpool, the scrapping of the former HMCS IROQUOIS continues. The entire superstructure has been removed, and the hull has been partially hauled out onto the shore to continue the work. This leaves only one intact IROQUOIS class destroyer, the former ATHABASKAN - and she lies alongside in Halifax being stripped of weapons before going for scrap herself. I suspect the recent effort to preserve her as a museum will be unsuccessful.

Hull of the former IROQUOIS hauled out at the Port Mersey Industrial Park.

Having recently come across one of my grandfather's slides of the old Government Wharf in Liverpool, despite the rain that started I took a quick shot of the wharf as it appears today to compare to the older image.

Cape Rock and Flying Cloud, with the Judith Suzanne to the far right. This image was taken prior to 1984, probably between 1977 and 1980 based on an adjacent photo of myself or my brother in the same slide tray.

The same view roughly 40 years later in 2017 is rather different.

The old Government Wharf in Liverpool, with Richmond Odyssey, Fortune Lady, and Bickerton Pride alongside.

While Bickerton Pride looks like she might have belonged alongside the wharf in the 1970s or early 1980s, the other two are rather more modern. Back then, though, the vessels were more likely to have been built of wood. Time marches on.

Goodbye to schooner "Sorca"

The Nova Scotia-built wooden schooner Sorca is reported to have sunk today about 287 kilometres southeast of Halifax, while on her way to Bermuda. The CBC is reporting that all four crew members were rescued after the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre received a distress call around 12:30 a.m.

(CBC has an updated story after interviewing the rescued crew.)

Built in Lunenburg in 1978 by Murray Stevens, Sorca was scheduled to participate in the RDV2017 Tall Ships regatta, which will stop in Halifax between July 29 and August 1.

I believe I first managed to photograph Sorca in June 2013.

In the harbour, with the Georges Island (left) and McNab's Island (right) lighthouses in the background.

Alongside at Bishop's Landing.

I'm a sucker for nice reflection.

I think the last time I managed to photograph Sorca was in July 2015, when she was alongside in front of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.

The sky was grey, and conditions for photography weren't quite as nice as in 2013.

These photos will just have to do, because it doesn't look like I will get another opportunity.