Bluenose II – In the Water Soon?

On 3rd February, 2011,  I wrote about the restoration of the Bluenose II.

Last year, I took this photo once it was out of its shed and was hopeful that we’d see the Bluenose II sailing out of the bay this summer.

But yesterday, I took these photos in the Lunenburg fog, as the Bluenose still sits in the dry dock!

Definite progress has been made.

The masts are in place.

So why the delays?

On June 13th, the news was that they were working on the rudder.

That the refit was well over a year behind schedule and  no surprise – the $16-million pricetag for the work was expected to go up!

Then the news this week -July 22nd

The much-delayed Bluenose II rebuild has suffered another setback.

The schooner was to start sea trials this month, but Communities, Culture and Heritage spokesperson Michael Noonan told CBC News that plan has been delayed.

Noonan said a machinist suffered a serious injury this weekend and he will need to be replaced. The man’s injury has nothing to do with work, it occurred off-site.

Noonan said the machinist is one of the key members of the rebuild’s staff as builders prepare to install a steel rudder, the last step before the sea trials begin.

However, the injury means the sea trials won’t start on schedule, but will be delayed by a week or two as the builders try to find a replacement for the injured man.

We can only hope that there will be no more delays and that we will soon see the Bluenose II back in the water.

Like this photo of the old Bluenose II, I took from our window, in 2009.

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.

Reconstruction of the Bluenose II at Lunenburg

The Bluenose II is a replica of the famous fishing schooner depicted on the Canadian dime. The original Bluenose was launched in Lunenburg in March 1921 and won sailing races throughout the 1920s and 1930s. It was sold and converted into a coastal freighter for work in the Caribbean Sea. Laden with bananas, she struck a coral reef off Haiti in 1946. Wrecked beyond repair, she was abandoned and broke apart on the reef.

Nova Scotia owns the Bluenose II, which is used to promote tourism and trade in the province.

It was found that the hull of the Bluenose II was warped and that massive restoration work was required, at a price tag of $15 million, paid for by both Federal and Provincial Governments.

Seemingly restoration was a better option than building a new ship.

So the Bluenose II was towed to the foundry to be ‘deconstructed’ and I watched with interest as this shed was built for the reconstruction.

A strong steel frame was built and covered, to keep out the weather.

A visitor’s information centre was opened opposite the shed to keep the public informed of the work in progress.

But the  restoration is not without controversy. Seemingly, it is not intended to create an authentic replica of the original Bluenose and the builders will not be using the original plans.

Also, 80% of the ship has been put through a wood chipper, leaving only the masts, sails, rigging, ironwork and railings as original.

Many people, probably the majority, feel that parts of the old Bluenose II should have been sold in the Bluenose shop and that the public would have been very happy to buy a piece of history.

No one was aware of how much of the ship was going to be discarded.

So, is this a ‘restoration’ project or a ‘new build’?

Would it not have been possible to keep the Bluenose II as a museum, either on the waterfront, or at the Academy building (whose future is also uncertain)?

Too late for that now!