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Halifax Current Location: Armdale Yacht Club Date: August 1 to 4 Mile: 1651 Locate: Ramble On Locate: Finnish Line 2.0 Google Photo Albums: Halifax |
Arriving in Halifax is a significant point in out exploration of Nova Scotia. We have just come off 5 days of mostly foggy traversal of the eastern shore, and this is certainly the biggest port/harbour we have been in since Montreal and Quebec City. The fog lifted as we entered and we had clear sailing down the "Northwest Arm" which is where most recreational boat are. Ships and other deep draft boats go down the main channel between Halifax and Dartmouth (which continues on to Bedford Basin).
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| AYC clubhouse once warden's residence (1808) |
Linda had sailed here before. She and Debbie, who will meet us here and crew the next leg, raced Solings here in the Sail Canada 2003 Women's Keelboat Championships, hosted by Armdale Yacht Club. Great memories!
Day 1
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| Northwest Arm, a very busy place |
The temperature went from a cool 20C out in the fog to high 20s and very high humidity in the evening. Once tied up and checked in, we made for the bar to get a cold beer and relax before a delicious dinner at the YC. Linda particularly enjoyed her pan-fried Haddock.
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| light show! |
Day 2
While some of us had been to Halifax before, we all wanted to take in the major museums and historic sites. First on our list was the Immigration Museum. This was located in building on Pier 21, which was one the major landing points for people arriving in Canada (others being Quebec, Montreal and St John). This port operated until 1971 after which people arriving by ship was no longer a major factor in immigration. About 1.5 million people arrived in Canada through pier 21, though the vast majority did not remain in Halifax or Nova Scotia.
While the museum walked you through what it would be like to be an immigrant, it also touched on the various forms of discrimination to which immigrants might be subjected. This was a well put together museum and worth a visit if you are nearby.
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| "Bluenose" ... the smaller version |
While we found ourselves along the waterfront, we had to drop in to see the Marine Museum as well. The exhibits were very good and covered topics such as Halifax Explosion the Bluenose (big and small) and many aspects of local and regional shipbuilding. I recommend this for any history or sailing buff.
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| Theodore - he's real!!! |
We went to see a matinee showing of Once Upon a Time On Hollywood. A little slow to get going, but yet another move driven by both music and an exacting re-creation of late 60's everything. It very much felt true to the time period. Pretty good movie too!
Following the movie, we had a few minutes to spare, and wouldn't you know it, Linda found a shoe store! It turns out they had an entire table of summer shoes on sale just her size (who does that!). It's a miracle she got out of there with only two pair.
We capped the evening off with a delicious dinner at La Frasca Cibi & Vini. Great pasta and seafood, and it was right across the street from the theater!
Day 3
Having a extra day or so in any one destination usually involves some provisioning, a load or two of laundry and we also decided to deal with some lesser boat issues. The Binnacle was on our list of places to spend some time (read .. "money").
For me, I had been having some very erratic wind speed reading from my wind instrument. It was dramatically under-reading wind speed. It has also had a long standing problem that when you were using the VHF, the wind direction and speed would go all wacky. I had tried changing some calibration settings, but I wasn't able to compensate for the discrepancy. Anyway ... they had a new transducer in stock and they are compatible with the old wiring and masthead connector, so it should be a easy swap!
The other projects involved replacing some hoses and fittings for the vent and fill hosts for my forward fresh water tank. The thru-hull fitting had been lose, and I has suspected I had a small leak there when we were in big seas.
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| Old prison building, now sailor's lockers |
Armdale did not have onsite laundry facilities, but Linda discovered the Bluenose Laundry. They offer a wash and fold service for $11/load! When your dropping coins in machines and praying the dryer does its job in one cycle, $11 is a steal!!
Once we got back to the boat after provisions, I decided that that now would be as good a time as any to install the new wind transducer. Poor Bob and Linda .... I'm not the lightest to be hauled up the mast. It was a slow ascent (local sailors were cheering on Bob and Linda as they hoisted), but once at the top, I was able to exchange the old transducer for the new and have Bob and Linda check the instruments below to verify basic functionality (it would need calibration later). I also gave the windex a slight bend to straighten it out, though once back on deck, I don't think I improved the situation. Very hard to get a good visual perspective from so close to it while at the masthead.
Later that evening, we enjoyed another dinner at the club. Debbie, her brother Bill and wife Leslie (who were kind enough to deliver our clean laundry) joined us afterwards on the clubhouse deck for drinks (they snuck in some locally-made rum cream drink to enjoy once the staff has left ... yum).
Day 4
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| The Citadel |
Today Bob and I went to the citadel while Linda went to listen to music in The Halifax Common: the African Nova Scotia Music Association Festival. It was a hot day in Halifax and it's hard not to feel bad for the Citadel reenactors and other staff in their wool cloths and feather bonnet. Always good to refresh your knowledge of Canadian history from other corners of the country. Very good guides and informative displays.Later we joined Linda and Debbie at her brother's place (not too far from the citadel). We were treated to a fantastic BBQ salmon dinner by Bill and Leslie in their beautiful, lush garden. Afterward walked to The Commons to continue listening to more of the African music festival.
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| McNabs Island, Halifax Harbour |
Day 5
Today we depart Halifax to continue south-west along the shore of Nova Scotia. This section of shoreline is about 120 nm long. Unlike the route from Cape Breton to Halifax, there are many harbours, historic towns, places to visit and explore. Peggy's Cove, Chester, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg, Shelburne and more.
After a handful of boat tasks to complete, we pushed off, direction Sambro Harbour. A quick stop at the RNSYS to use their outrageously expensive (barely functioning) pump out facilities, and we were on our way. BTW ... the most expensive pump out I've ever had. Hopefully it stays that way.
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