Lunenburg in 1939

This wonderful old footage of the Lunenburg waterfront in 1939 shows wooden sailboats, working dorys, and the fishermen of the time – grandfathers of today’s grandfathers. And fish. Lots of salt fish.

I’d Rather Be – Mike Aubé

How nice it is to live a simpler life in the Nova Scotia countryside. That’s the jist of Mike Aubé’s song, I’d Rather Be.

Annapolis Valley video guru Kim Smith filmed Mike walking through the autumn woods to make the video. Here it is:

The eye of Hurricane Earl? Video

Around noon, it brightened up, the wind died down and then shifted, and blue sky started to move in.  We weren’t expecting a well-defined eye, but when we saw blue sky, we got excited.

Was it really the eye? Perhaps it was just the sky just clearing after the brunt of the rain had passed, because according to the storm’s dynamics, most of the rain was ahead of the eye.

In any case, it was a nice moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvZ_4k5l_Cs

Chester Race Week Video

My husband just spotted this video about Chester Race Week.  We sail but we don’t race, so this video gives me a feeling about what it’s like to be involved in this event.  It’s Canada’s largest keelboat regatta!

Hurricane Bill passes Mahone Bay

High tide at Western Shore public wharf, on Mahone Bay, around noon today, as Hurricane Bill passes us about 100 miles offshore. The tide is as high as I’ve ever seen it, but I’ve seen bigger waves when the wind had been sustained and in another direction. We’re morbidly keeping a watch on high tides, knowing that if the sea rises a metre as the ice caps melt, we’re in trouble.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazqFt9aow0

Fast and Furious Sea Trials at the Classic Boat Festival

It’s our favourite event of the annual Mahone Bay Classic Boat Festival.  Teams of contestants are given 4 hours and limited materials to construct a boat of their own design.  The construction takes place in full view of festival-goers.  On the last day of the Festival, a crowd gathers for the “sea trials”, in which the contestants must row, then sail, then row and/or sail the boat around a course.  There are prizes for best costume, best boat (not necessarily the most seaworthy), and best “water event” – usually a spectacular sinking – as well as for speed.

I made a little video of this year’s Fast and Furious Sea Trials.  It’s in two parts.

Part 1

Part 2