Slow Day in port - time for road trip

Slow Day

 Today, Monday, October 13, was Thanksgiving Day, a statutory holiday. Most businesses were closed, along with schools. There was very little activity in the port - no container ships, and only one tanker arriving (the Algoma Acadian for Irving Oil), the departure of the CMA CGM Silverstone from Autoport (see yesterday's post) and only one cruise ship - but that one was big enough. 

The Majestic Princess arrived shortly after sunrise and tied up at Pier 22.

 Even at 144,216 gt with 19 decks and a capacity of 3500 passengers and 1346 crew, it is still only number 55 on the list of largest cruise ships. It was built in 2017 by Fincantieri, Monfalcone.

[The present largest ship position is occupied by the 248,663 sister ships Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas, which can pack in 5610 passengers (double occupancy) and 7600 maximum passengers each.

 

Outport 

When there is not enough shipping activity in Halifax it is time to try an outport. The closest and usually the most rewarding is Lunenburg - about 100 km (60 land miles) away. The home of the Bluenose II (it is in port, but invisible) and the Picton Castle (ditto) it also has the last of the Grand Banks salt fish schooners in Canadian captivity - the Theresa E. Connor.

Now under the care and keeping of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, it is undergoing a drydocking Its hull appears to be hogged, but that is typical of wooden vessels of its age. It was built by Smith and Rhuland, in Lunenburg, in 1938. Unlike its more famous yard mates, it was built as an engine powered vessel and was "bald headed" - that is no top masts and no bowsprit and was intended to use sail as a cost saving measure, or for steadying or in case of an engine failure.

Also visiting for repairs is the United States flag exploration / research vessel the Robert Gray. Built in Seattle in 1936, and a veteran or World War II service in Alaska, it has been owned since 2004 by the Voyagers Club of Charleston, SC and has been well preserved. Despite some tarps to protect ongoing work, the Gray's fine lines are still apparent.

Read more about the Robert Gray at the Voyagers Club website as: The Ship. A riveted steel hulled vessel (wooden hulled tugs along the same lines were typical on the West Coast) it will certainly last through the century mark.

Back to modernity, the contemporary scallop dragging ship the Maude Adams was also alongside.

With the masts of the sailing vessel Picton Castle in the background, the Maude Adams is a reminder that Lunenburg is still a fishing port. Built by Astilleros Armon in Navia, Spain in 2003, the 1160 gt, 750 dwt usually makes 10 day duration trips to the George's Bank scallop grounds. It drags the bottom (the large drag basket is the rusty object amidships). Its crew processes the catch on board, freezing the individual scallops in the midships factory, and storing them in the hold. The shells are ejected back to the sea bottom.

There's always more going on in Lunenburg than meets the eyes, but that is all for this time.
 

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