2023 Schooner Bowdoin

Slight Deviation to Lunenburg

Posted on: June 8, 2023

June 8

After making a slight deviation from our original plan to make port at Shelburne harbor Nova Scotia, we continued up the Nova Scotia coastline to the lovely seafaring town of Lunenburg. The decision was made for Bowdoin as the port of Shelburne was being used as the staging area for the forest fire fighting relief efforts. This is where the tanker planes were scooping the water to drop on the fires. However, this was not a hard decision proceeding on to Lunenburg for this town has been a favorite port of mine for many years. As Bowdoin made her approach into the harbor, locals and tourists lined the dock to greet the ship. Bowdoin being familiar to many and others, of course, naturally drawn to her. The bluenose crew, who had been tracking us all along, were waiting to catch our dock lines.  Amongst the crew were some old shipmates, a warming feeling for sure. After clearing customs, it was not long until the crew of the Bowdoin and Bluenose became aquatinted and in short order ship tours and sea stories were exchanged. This is when our young mariner’s world starts to get smaller as their maritime network starts to grow. It also shows the important lesson in how small the maritime community is, and you may need a helping hand or friendly port in the future. This is the mariner’s code.

Our time in Lunenburg was also work as routine inspections, ship maintenance and lessons continued. The main lesson was chart work and covering the finer details of voyage planning including an introduction to more nautical publications/resources used when planning a large voyage. After the last bits of pine tar were spread and the day’s work was completed, the crew found ice cream, some good eats and made a visit to the fisheries museum of the Atlantic, free of charge for the Bowdoin crew.

Sincerely,
Capt Alex Peacock

Lunenburg