June 2008

Before the days of gazillion-dollar racing yachts, back in the 1920s and 30s there was a friendly rivalry between the schooners of the fishing fleets in Nova Scotia and the New England states, which resulted in several races among these authentic working vessels. From 1921 to 1938 Nova Scotia’s “Bluenose” defeated all challengers, while remaining a regular fishing schooner the whole time. During WWII she met a tragic and ignominious end, sinking on a reef off the coast of Haiti. I was too young to see the original “Queen of the North Atlantic fishing fleet”, which has graced the Canadian dime since 1937, but I think you may find information about the history of this storied ship, and its successor, to be interesting. For more information on the original Bluenose, go to www.tourcanada.com/bluenose.htm .

Although I have often been in Halifax during my military career, I was never there when its namesake, the “Bluenose II”, was in port. I never had the chance to go aboard, and was delighted when it stopped recently in Prescott, Ontario for a day, while on its way to Kingston. Here are a few photos from the happy occasion. For more info go to www.bluenose2.ns.ca/Legacy/index.html .

By the way, the name has nothing to do with the colour of the ship. "Bluenoser" is a traditional name for Nova Scotians: as they say, "If you lived by the Atlantic and its wintry gales, your nose would be blue too!"