Lunenburg Winter 2015

We didn’t have a white Christmas here at Lunenburg, but we’ve seen nothing but the white stuff since the New Year.

The Back Harbour is usually frozen over in the winter, but it seems even more so this year, with the covering of snow on top of the ice.

It’s difficult to see what is land and what is sea, although you can clearly see the ocean in the background.

The Polar Prince icebreaker, sits in the ice.

I have never seen the front harbour frozen like this, since we came here in 2007!

It doesn’t look as if the lobster boats are going to get to their traps any time soon.

The snow around the town is loaded onto lorries and cleared away, but there are still some big heaps.

Even more snow is heaped at the roadside at St. John’s Church.

Hanging icicles look very pretty.

Today is another snowy, stormy day, with several more snow days forecast for this week. I really love winter and snow, but it’s so cold that there’s not much we can do outside. It’s even too cold to go skiing!

A Typical Morning in Lunenburg

Lunenburg has a population of just over 2,000, but in the summer months it fills up with visitors.

We enjoy a walk around the town in the morning, before the tourists are on the streets.

This is Monday morning, looking down to the Railway Wharf.

And across to the Bluenose Golf Course.

This is the same view on Wednesday morning.

This is the Martha Seabury schooner, which was built here in Lunenburg.

https://queensincanada.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/the-launch-of-the-martha-seabury-schooner-at-lunenburg/

During the summer months, this old fishing boat, The Cape Rouge, sits at the wharf. It is used in the filming of the TV series, Haven.

The Adams and Knickle building is undergoing renovation work.

The booths are open ready for trips on the ocean.

The nearest boat does harbour tours, the Eastern Points goes  whale watching and the Eastern Star, sailing trips.

https://queensincanada.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/a-sail-on-the-eastern-star-at-lunenburg/

The waterfront restaurants are open for breakfast.

But no one wanted to sit outside on Wednesday.

The horses are ready to take tourists on a tour of the old town.

And the Fisheries Museum will open to educate visitors on the history and past life of Lunenburg.

There is also a cruise ship in the harbour.

The Lagniappe, registered in the Marshall Islands, which you could charter for $110,000 per week!!!

The little shed beside the foundry is crooked and worn.

The latest boat at the foundry wharf. Am I back in Dundee – it is called the Discovery?

Looking across to Lunenburg from the golf course road,

to the colourful town and the Fisheries Museum.

But there was no view on Wednesday.

Even this osprey didn’t seem to see us.

He flew just above our heads.

Then back into the nest with the young.

There’s always something to see, walking around Lunenburg.

Lunenburg, after the Storm

This week-end we were hit by the snowstorm Nemo. The forecasters warned of 50cms of snow, starting on Friday night.

Yesterday, we received this picture from our friends, Susan and Roger, at Corkums Island. We go to this fish shack every Friday, during the summer, for TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) for drinks and a game of boules.

Here we are on one of the Friday nights this past summer. All the dock we are sitting on was washed away, but luckily, when the tide went down, Roger managed to get his kayaks and gear from the shed. It has moved from its location and the floor is very badly damaged, but hopefully it can be moved and rebuilt.

Today, after a wild stormy night, we walked into Lunenburg. The road past our house had been ploughed, and wasn’t too bad.

The footpaths in town had been cleared, which is normally the case.

We passed the dry dock where  the Bluenose II is sitting, waiting for the installation of her rudder.

In town, the ploughs had left heaps of snow at the side of the roads.

Nothing was open – not even a coffee shop.

Few people were around.

Jenny Jib has some snow to clear tomorrow.

Some people hadn’t attempted to clear their paths, others worked with shovels,

or, as is more common, their toys.

Snow blowers are very common.

But Jeff prefers to keep fit with his shovel, so he has some work to do on our 200 yd driveway.

The prediction for the storm was much worse than the storm itself. We had blizzards every winter at Glenshee and Glen Isla, far worse than this storm which kept everyone indoors here.

The Launch of the Martha Seabury Schooner at Lunenburg

In April 2010, I wrote about the building of  two 48′ wooden schooners in Lunenburg.

https://queensincanada.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/shipbuilding-at-lunenburg-nova-scotia

It’s been great watching the progress of these fine boats,

from start to finish.

In January of this year, despite the freezing weather, we went along to watch the final plank being fixed in the hull.

The actor, Billy Campbell, the owner of one of the twin schooners, fastened the final plank and doused it in rum. He named her Martha Seabury after his grandmother.

There was still a lot of work to be done over the next few months.

The bowsprit was added and the hull primed and painted.

Soon the Martha Seabury was ready for her launch.

CTV news was here to record the occasion.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=735445

She floated well and looked great!

It has been 30 years since the building of such a schooner in Lunenburg. There is still the second schooner to be sold and then another exciting launch.

Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a new boat building phase at the Dory shop.