Inspiration at 23

 With two small cruise ships in port today, October 25, either one could have docked at Pier 23, but it was the smaller of the two that got the "inside" berth.  The larger Seabourn Sojourn, which had tied up at Pier 23 on previous visits ( see September 19 ) got the outside berth at Pier 22 while the Hanseatic Inspiration took the more sheltered inner berth of Pier 23.

Not that much shelter was required, but a brief rain and wind squall did pass over the area in the early afternoon. With a trace of rain still in the air, a faint rainbow appeared briefly over the Dartmouth shore in the background.

The Hanseatic Inspiration (the first word is capitalized on the ships' bow) dates from 2019 when it was built by Fincantieri's Norwegian subsidiary Vard. The hull/shell came from the Tulcea yard in Romania, and was completed and fitted out at the Langsten Slip in Norway.

The 15,651 gt ship can carry 230 guests in 120 state rooms and has a crew of 175. It was built to Polar 6 standards for cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic. For the latter, passenger numbers are limited to 199.

This year the ship made a Northwest Passage, west to east, August 21 to September 3. After calls in Greenland, it made its way to the Great Lakes and reached as far inland as Milwaukee visiting half a dozen Great Lakes sites en route. It then retraced its steps via most of the same ports. After calls in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City it stopped in Tadoussac, Gaspé, the Magdalen Islands, and Charlottetown.

After some "bruisin' in the cruisin' " through the locks it was time for a little touchup work, and Pier 23 was an ideal location.

A modern day equivalent of a bosun's chair was suspended over side, allowing a lucky crew member to apply some fresh paint. The ship is equipped with a traveling window washing gantry on each side, that runs on a recessed rail above the bridge deck. The bosun's chair was suspended from that unit, with another crew member attending from above.

 After Halifax, the Hanseatic Inspiration will make a fourteen day trip to Panama then some local cruising. It departs Colon November 19 for Valparaiso and on December 5 leaves for Ushuaia where it will be based for three trips of 22 to 23 days duration, to Antarctica. On February 23, 2026 it is due to sail from Puerto Montt for Tahiti. After cruising in the Pacific it is due to sail again from Singapore in August for Halifax via the Northwest Passage, Greenland and the Great Lakes. By which time it should be due for some more paint touch up.

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