| DAY 8 – LUNENBURG – Wind SW 0-4,
fog,
clearing, becoming fine but overcast.
That night was disturbed. The only spot on our piece of the campsite that was both flat and grassy was directly under a street-lamp, which meant that being in the tent was like being inside an orange luminescent balloon. Add to that the regular blasts from the foghorn in the harbour and you will understand why dawn made a welcome break. The morning showed us the justification for the foghorn. The town was enfolded in a warm, steamy blanket of fog and the forecast was not good. So we programmed the GPS machines again. It worked wonders. Just as the last waypoints went in, the fog lifted once more. Twice could not be a coincidence and I was converted. They do have their uses after all. I went straight up to the chandlers and asked to buy one, but, sadly, they had run out. |
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| As we left the harbour, we were
followed
by Bluenose 2. Bluenose must be one of the most beautiful ships in the
world. The original was a fishing schooner, built right here in
Lunenburg
and intended to bring the fish back to market with the maximum possible
speed. In the annual and regular races, particularly against the
American
schooners from further south, she never lost a race. She became a
legend
in Canadian history and is now the icon of the Province of Nova Scotia.
The original came to a tragic end and was wrecked in the 1950s off
Hawaii.
The ship that followed us out is an exact replica of the original.
Built
in the same Lunenburg shipyard and to the original plans, she now came
out with her decks awash with tourists and their flashing cameras.
The coast to the north of Lunenburg
is riven
by a curious geological fault. The rock formation is split and folded
so
that there are fingers of the sea that run deep inland in channels, and
which are often barely ten yards wide. It was through one of these
channels
that we worked our way out of Lunenburg bay and back to the sea. We
ghosted
through a little settlement of houses by the creekside, one of the most
peaceful and well-founded places I have ever seen. Some deep urge made
me want to land the boat and settle here forever, but we sailed on and
I did not share my unfathomable feelings with the others.
 The geological oddity continues out to sea, with outcrops sinking gradually below the surface and forming an area called ‘The Rackets’. This consists mainly of shallow water and evil rocks which are much beloved of seals and seabirds, who are the sole inhabitants of these islands. It was decided to sail between the islands and the mainland to Sacrifice Island, rather than round the outside. Sailing the shallower, more direct route brought us into contact with things we would never otherwise have seen, for it is in the shallow water that the interest of the sea is so often to be found. |
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