We were lucky enough to be asked to the Halifax Boat Show to present “Down East Circle” and while we were there had time to do a short driving tour of the South Shore, as far as La Have, where we sailed this past summer.
We had presented Down East Circle at the Toronto Boat Show in January and another long weekend in Halifax was just what we needed to break up midwinter in Ontario. The Halifax show alltough on a smaller scale than the Toronto show is every bit as interesting. Boat builders and companies involved with design, manufacturing and repair from throughout the Maritimes and Newfoundland were in attendance, and the smaller size, more relaxed attitude of the show allowed us to stop and talk with more vendors.
Norseboat who are based in Lunenburg offer a complete kit to build the 19 foot sail and rowing “longboat” pictured in the foreground. This may be our next boat.
Tern Boatworks of La Have had one of their beautiful 32′ foot IOD sloops on display, interestingly enough we had been moored beside one, “Mighty Moe”, in Chester Basin, summer 2010.
The staff from Master Promotions were all very helpful and Jayne and I appreciated the friendly and efficeint way the presentations were organized. Our three shows went off without a hitch (well almost) and it was fun to see our names “up in lights”. We decided to include more information and photographs for the Halifax show, about “Great Lakes Sailing”. We featured information about sailing in and around Toronto, Thousand Islands and the “North Channel”, from trips we had made during the ten years we’ve owned Phantasia.
We hope the East Coast audience found it interesting and perhaps are considering sailing a reverse “Down East Circle”, up to the Great Lakes. A highlight for us was meeting and having Captain Cheryl Barr and her family in the audience for our presentation. Cheryl’s excellent book, “Down East Circle Route”, available from http://www.nauticalmind.com, is one of our primary reference sources sailing this route.
With our presentation over early in the afternoon and having browsed as many booths as we could for one day we decided to take the long way back to our hotel, along Peggy’s Cove Road, stopping at that famous village. The snowy solitude with waves crashing on the reefs beyond the lighthouse made this one of our favorite stops of “Down East Circle”. Hard to believe we had sailed past only a few months ago in shorts and shirtsleeves.
We had plans to visit Phantasia at St. Margarets Bay and look in to see if everything was dry and nothing had been left on or un-latched. Upon arrival we realized a foot of ice & snow built up on the deck made that impossible. We had to settle for clambering, coffee in hand, around for a few minutes and then slid back to the car across a very icy parking lot.
We have become so fond of Nova Scotia that we’re considering moving (retiring) out here from Ontario and so had arranged to look at a couple of houses, one in Mahone Bay and another on the La Have River. Driving around frozen St. Margarets Bay and then to Mahone Bay was the perfect way to spend the last day of our winter holiday.
The houses we viewed both proved to be interesting, in need of some updating but both in good locations near the water.
I final experience to round out the trip, we stopped for a late lunch in Lunenburg and discovered the schooner Bluenose shrouded at the dry dock and receiving new “ribs”.
We’re back home in Ontario now planning for Down East Circle – Part 6 … that may take us back up to Lake Ontario or maybe not …
Mike