Saturday in Lunenburg

Saturday morning, May 25th  

Before seeing the sights of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, it’s time to reconnect with home, meaning Mary Ann. She and I have often taken separate vacations in our 25+ years of marriage,

but these 6+ weeks on the Pride of Baltimore II will be the longest. So far, my trip has been less than a week.

These past five days have been a struggle, a challenge for my body, because of dealing with long term fatigue and pain. These days have also challenged my ability to control my own behavior. (I know; this sounds a little dramatic.) I grew up in the 1950’s working class, Midwestern U.S. - well entrenched in the work ethic of the time and place – meaning, that if you see someone working at something, you don’t just watch, you pitch in and help, guest (crew) or not. Then of course, there’s vanity that says, “I’m as strong as these young pups!” For the past five days I wasn’t able to control my actions, i.e. to not act like I was 30 or 40 or even 50, to accept that I was 65-years old. And I was paying the price. I asked myself, “I really love sailing and the ocean, but why am I doing this?” No obvious answer.

Back to Mary Ann. I call her late Saturday morning. The sound of her voice surprises me – the familiarity of it, the family-ness of it. Too worn out, and in the midst of an ordeal, the sound of my mate moves me to tears. My emotions come rising up from their murky depths. The phone call helps, immensely.

Saturday Afternoon.  

I check out Lunenburg while the crew and most of the guest crew holystones the deck. Except they use oil and brushes, instead of holystones like in the British navy of old. For me, it's a café. After too much coffee and too much internet, I walk through town. Captain Trost was right, Lunenburg is a great place. Great boats in the harbor, great architecture, and no franchise stores.

Saturday night.  

Mark, our cook not only serves plenty of good food, he also makes a birthday cake for whenever a crew member has one. Today is our First Mate Jill’s birthday. After dinner, after the galley is cleaned, it’s movie time aboard the POB2. No black and white 16” screen here, someone brings out a very large flat-screen which was stashed somewhere aboard. Since Jill is the birthday girl, she gets to select the movie. 

“Election” starring Reese Witherspoon and Mathew Broderick, about an election for a high school class president. I expect to not like it and retire to my books and my drawing. (Because, you know, I’m 65, and not close to being a high-schooler.) But I do watch it and like it. An excellent evening. A terrific end to a taxing week.  Here's what I saw in Lunenburg:

Bonus Postscript:

Bluenose was a fishing and racing schooner built in 1921 in Lunenburg. She displaced 258 tons and was 143’ long overall. It had a beam of 27’ and a draft of 16’.  The schooner carried 10,000 sq. ft. of sail and her mast height was 126’ The vessel had a crew of 20 and cost $35,000 to build.

After the 1921 fishing season on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Bluenose competed in the 1921 International Fishermen's Trophy race off of Halifax, where she defeated the American challenger Elsie. The following year, Bluenose defeated the American challenger Henry S. Ford, this time in American waters off Gloucester, Massachusetts. And in 1931 Bluenose defeated another American entry, Gertrude L. Thebaud. All this winning (especially against the Americans) made Bluenose a provincial icon for Nova Scotia and an important Canadian symbol in the 1930s. She served as a working vessel until she was wrecked in 1946.

A replica, Bluenose II, built in 1963, uses Lunenburg as her home port. Alas, she wasn’t there when the POB2 called in May, 2013.                                             (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

The boat on the stamp of the top of this post is the original Bluenose.