Ocean Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Nova Scotia Photo Album Blog

May 16, 2009July 4, 2009

Songs and poems about the ocean

My husband has just posted a video list of his favourite music and poetry about the sea on his French sailing blog, “Voile pour tous”. The videos are in both French and English, but his introduction is in French. Here’s my translation:

Sea, winds and boats weave a symphony of poems, music and popular song

Here is a collection of videos in French and English about the ocean, the winds and boats. I welcome you to suggest others in different genres.

I am very grateful to YouTube for enabling me to post this modest collection.

Isn’t our planet amazing? A big “thank you” to the artists, poets, composers and singers who have found ways to express their sense of wonder.

He has included a favourite of mine, “Je voudrais voir la mer” by Michel Rivard which Linda Morrison arranged for us in the Yellow Door Tabernacle Choir when I lived in Montreal. Even if you don’t understand the words, you can feel the rhythm of the ocean in the music.

Here’s the link to his blog post. Enjoy!

MERS, VENTS ET BATEAUX s’entrelacent dans une symphonie de poèmes, musique et chansons populaires

May 1, 2009January 11, 2013

Video: Frosty Morning – Winter Ice on Mahone Bay

Hot off the press: our first Nova Scotia Photo Album video. It won’t be the last!

This one shows how tide and temperature create an ever-changing landscape on Mahone Bay’s shoreline, from first frost to spring breakup.

The music is an Appalachian tune called Frosty Morning, played by Dennis Robinson on fiddle and Heather Holm (that’s me) on accordion.

April 29, 2009

The boater’s spring ritual

It’s a laborious but joyful spring chore for boaters in Nova Scotia: taking off the winter cover, cleaning her, fixing her up, painting her bottom, waxing her sides perhaps, and getting her ready to launch.

Owning a boat means using a lot of elbow grease, unless you’re wealthy enough to hire someone to do it all for you. And contrary to what you may think, boat owners aren’t all wealthy – partly because their boats keep them so. But the ability to get out on the water provides richness to their lives, whatever their bank balance may be.

Imagine being a sailboat and spending the winter looking at this view. Wouldn't you be saying, "Let's go already!" come spring?

April 6, 2009

Sailing from Halifax to Canso in a dinghy!

Rob Dunbar about to leave Shearwater Yacht Club on tiny Celtic Kiss.

Here’s a lovely account of Rob Dunbar’s adventure, in 2006, of sailing solo along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia in a sailing dinghy. Took him 8 days. He was going in the right direction; coming the other way you could expect it to be harder with prevailing winds against you. The story is well illustrated and described. I’ve sailed there in a larger keelboat and paddled near Tangier in a canoe, and look forward to going back. Recommended for hardcore sailors, armchair adventurers and sea kayakers!

April 5, 2009April 5, 2009

First time in a canoe this year

We did it because we could. The ice is gone, the tide was high. My son and I dipped the canoe in the ocean and paddled out to a nearby island. He hiked around it and then we paddled back again.

March 29, 2009March 29, 2009

Ice leaves, buffleheads take over

The ice that yesterday filled the cove has floated out to sea. The Oak Island Inn (which is not on Oak Island, but overlooks it) is in the distance.

2009-03-28-buffleheads — As soon as the ice had melted, the bufflehead ducks that had all winter occupied the other side of the causeway, the side that didn't freeze, gleefully (I imagine) took possession of the newly open water.

March 27, 2009March 27, 2009

Watching the sea ice float away

Great sheets of ice have broken away and are ready to float out of the cove with the wind and tide.

The powerful north winds of the storm earlier in the week pinned the ice to the shore, even while driving cracks into it. Now there is no wind, and much of the ice that we walked on in January seems poised to float out to sea. What will it take for it to leave? A south wind? Repeated tides?

The sea ice nearby is keeping the temperature down in our yard. Much of it is still covered with snow and ice, while up the road, further away from the water, the ground is bare. It has been a hard, icy winter. So I’ll be glad to see the sea ice go.

March 22, 2009

Spring breakup

Spring is coming – we know it from watching the ice disappear. Martins River down the road is completely clear now, but outside our sheltered inlet there is a large, solid sheet of ice that goes up and down with the tide but hasn’t yet broken up, except around the edges. When it does, the tide will carry it away. It’s preventing the ice pans in our inlet from leaving for the open sea. So they’re melting, and leaving a large open space of water.

2009-03-20-view — Melting ice in the inlet, blocked by a large sheet of ice from the open sea beyond.

Thinning ice pans that we were walking on a month ago

March 2, 2009March 4, 2009

Derek Hatfield sails again

Derek Hatfield and Spirit of Canada, with some mutual friends, in Halifax Harbour. Photo by Ed Sulis.

Canada’s Derek Hatfield (who makes his home in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia), was forced to retire from the Vendée Globe round the world, non-stop solo sailing race in December, due to damage to his boat. He nursed his Algimouss Spirit of Canada to Hobart, Tasmania, where he fixed the damage, and on February 27, he left Hobart, determined to complete the course of the race, even if he is no longer officially in it. Thus he will gain valuable solo experience and the knowledge of his Open 60 equal to that of anyone who completes such a race. He will not get the support from the race organizers that he would have had were he still in the race. However, he will be sailing along parts of the route in the company of some other major offshore races.

The Vendée Globe is gradually wrapping up with the final three boats now in the North Atlantic and due to reach France in the next couple of weeks.

Fair winds, Derek. Hope to see you back home safe and sound in a couple of months!

February 2, 2009

Pretty snowfall

It was nice to have a snowfall that didn’t come with a storm. Just 2 or 3 inches and sunshine to welcome February. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?