The cruising life

 

Sunset in the North West Arm of Halifax Harbour

We're really enjoying the wonderful, friendly hospitality here at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.  The Club House is filled with memorabilia dating back to the 1870's.  Stunning models of sailing ships from a bygone era, antique silverware, half models representing the bi-annual Marblehead to Halifax race and gorgeous mahogany and walnut furniture. 

The grand staircase

The map of Nova Scotia above the fireplace is dated 1779

One of the many impressive silver trophies

Days are filled with a combination of boat maintenance and exploring ashore.  Early evenings are spent sitting on the comfortable pastel coloured Adirondack or as they are known here in Canada Muskoka (Cape Cod) chairs in front of the Yacht Squadron sharing sailing exploits with fellow cruisers.  The local accents are a combination of Irish/Scottish and Canadian, with much French and some German, warm, quietly spoken locals with a delightful rolling of the RRR's off their tongue.  "house" is pronounced "hoose" and "out" sounds like "oot".  

Crew is sorted for the return passage, 4-6 days of open ocean sailing direct to Gibson Island, leaving in a couple of week's time.  The hurricane season starts 1 September and we need to be well south of here for insurance reasons.  Jeanie relates the story of sailing Finisterre  the Maine coast in September 1989 onboard Finiste