Portuguese Navy's SAGRES II and Bluenose II

On possibly her first visit since the tall ships festival in 1984 (Shipfax suggests this isn't the case, and she has been here since), the Portuguese Navy's sail training barque SAGRES paid a visit to Halifax today, docking at Pier 24 just at after 10:00 this morning. I decided to put my Father's Day gift, a new fitness tracker, to good use and walked down to the ferry and then to the seaport.

SAGRES was fairly small on the horizon when seen from the ferry, and was carrying minimal sail.

SAGRES is one of a number of near sisterships that include the US Coast Guard's EAGLE, the German Navy's GORCH FOCK II, and Romania's MIRCEA. SAGRES is actually the second or third ship of that name in the Portuguese Navy, though online sources are unclear on whether she should be SAGRES II or SAGRES III - when she was here in 1984, it is my recollection that she was referred to as SAGRES II, and that is how I always think of her. 

On her entry to Halifax Harbour, SAGRES pulled up to the camber containing Pier 24, and two Ville class tugs of the RCN took up lines from bow and stern, and SAGRES was guided in stern first. Around this time, Bluenose II headed out with a load of guests.

Bluenose II heading out while tugs bring SAGRES into Pier 24.

The Navy's Ville class of small tugs often wear aprons over their bumpers to prevent marking the white hulls of certain visiting ships.

The lighting was not in our favour this morning, with the ship backlit for the entire approach.

Standing in the shadow of the ship's ensign yielded this image of the illuminated flag.

Members of what I assume was the Stadacona Band were on hand to greet SAGRES.

Pier 24 is not the most accessible or picturesque pier in the Port of Halifax - I personally would have preferred her to tie up further north in a more accessible portion of the waterfront. EAGLE has used the Cable Wharf in the past, however, the ongoing construction of the Queen's Marque development makes this impossible at the moment, and this may partly explain SAGRES berthing location.

After being securely tied up, the jack is raised on a staff midway along the bowsprit.

After finishing up with SAGRES, I headed north once more to catch the ferry back to Dartmouth. My walk was interrupted when I saw that Bluenose II was headed back to her own temporary berth in front of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Like SAGRES II, it is unclear what number the current Bluenose should be. Although formally called Bluenose II by her owners, the Province of Nova Scotia, the original Bluenose II (launched in 1963 as a mascot for the Oland Brewing Company) ended its life in a wood chipper, and the current Bluenose II is a complete new schooner from the keel up, and to slightly different lines. She should properly be called Bluenose III, and I have sometimes been known to refer to her as Bluenose v2.5. Regardless, she is an attractive sight when sailing the harbour, and without the original Bluenose II to compare her to, she is virtually indistinguishable from her namesake. 

Although "sailing" with the wind, her sails are hauled in tight, and she was making her way past George's Island under engine power when this image was taken. 

I managed this angle of her approach by kneeling on the floating wharf opposite Bluenose II's berth.

This early in the season, the floating wharf is unusually devoid of small boats, allowing this unencumbered viewing angle of Bluenose II and her reflection on the water. I needed a 12mm lens (18mm equivalent on my APS-C camera) to fit everything in.

Last year was the big tall ships festival for Canada's 150th year, so this year I will have to make do with the table scraps thrown my way with the occasional barque and schooner. 

Colombian Navy sail training vessel GLORIA

The Colombian Navy's sail training vessel GLORIA arrived in Halifax earlier this week, and after receiving some repair work at HMC Dockyard, moved to Cable Wharf to allow the general public a closer look. This let me get close-up photos on three separate morning so far, and as well I took advantage of the free public tours on Tuesday afternoon. This post will be lighter on text, and focus mostly on the photos I took.

My first sight of GLORIA this week was of her berthed in HMCS SACKVILLE's normal winter location within HMC Dockyard, from the ferry.

GLORIA in HMC Dockyard.

Tuesday morning - the rising sun breaking through the morning cloud made for a particularly dramatic photo. Vertical panorama taken with an iPhone, processed with Lightroom Mobile. I got right down to the water's surface on a floating dock for this shot, as well as the following one below.

Similar photo taken around the same time, this time with a 12mm lens on a Sony A6000. Can't quite decide which I prefer.

Wednesday morning - clear skies provided a different look. Another vertical panorama taken with an iPhone, processed with Lightroom Mobile.

At 0800 hours each morning, the ship's ensign (a variation of the national flag) is hauled up a halyard from the tip of the gaff on the mizzen mast. The ensign is huge, and requires a number of crew members to deploy.

Raising the large ensign is a lot of work, and requires more than a few crew members.

As large as the ensign is, it doesn't fly very well without a fair bit of wind. The ship also has a much smaller ensign to fly when the larger one shown here isn't practical.

GLORIA is rigged as a barque, which means three masts - the foremast (left), mainmast (middle), and mizzen mast (right). The forward two masts are square-rigged, while the after mast is fore-and-aft rigged. The early morning wind isn't doing much for the ensign, but the lighting from the early morning sun was nice.

OK, that's better, but the lighting isn't as appealing. Guess you can't win!

The ensign also made interesting reflections on the water, and I'm a sucker for reflections. I had to take this photo from onboard, looking straight down from the deck.

GLORIA was also wearing a bunting of Maritime Signalling Flags (alphabetical and numerical flags used for signalling) that ran from the tip of the bowsprit to the stern over the tops of all three masts.

A crewmember stands at the tip of the bowsprit, ready to raise the ship's jack.

On Tuesday afternoon, I was able to take advantage of the free deck tours being offered by the ship. One of my favourite subjects is details and rope-work on deck, and GLORIA didn't disappoint.

The ship's name is engraved on all the stair nosings on the upper decks.

I wouldn't want to have to coil these ropes just so, but I do appreciate the effect.

I also wouldn't want to be responsible for keeping the deck buffed and varnished.

Colombian Independence Day is observed on July 20th, so I had the added opportunity to photograph members of the ship's crew gathered on a nearby wharf for a small ceremony.

The ship's crew recognized Colombian Independance Day on July 20, and gathered on a nearby wharf for the raising of the ship's ensign and the playing of the national anthem. The rising sun and reflections off the harbour made for some nice shadows, and the image just begged to be converted to black and white.

Finally....did I mention I'm a sucker for reflections?

After GLORIA left the Cable Wharf on Thursday morning, she returned to HMC Dockyard, possibly for more repair work although I don't know for sure. She was still in port as of Friday afternoon.

All these, and more photos are available in my Smugmug gallery.