We met Rose and her boyfriend, Emmett, at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax as planned — mostly as planned that is, as multiple Air Canada delays resulted in an 18 hour trip from Seattle and a 2 am arrival. We were happy when they finally arrived!
We set off later that morning for Lunenburg and were treated to an excellent sail all the way — it was a 6 hour journey on a beautiful day. Jim and I had been wanting to see Lunenburg, known for its arts community and historical town center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All four of us enjoyed exploring the town, eating delicious seafood and watching the schooners in the harbor. We also visited the maritime museum.
Lunenburg was first settled in 1753, when the British offered each family willing to immigrate a town plot and a garden plot. They recruited not only fellow countrymen but also Germans, Swiss and French Huguenots. The plan was for their farming to supply food to Halifax, and their Protestant presence to limit the influence of the French Catholics. The land was not as fertile as promised, and the primary industry quickly shifted to fishing. From 1920 to 1933, during prohibition in the States, the fishermen made additional cash acting as rum-runners. They would load barrels of liquor at the French port of St. Pierre, a French territory near Newfoundland, or from larger ships offshore and bring them just outside of the 12-mile limit offshore in the States. There, they’d be met by smaller US watercraft to make the “run” to shore.
After a couple of lovely days in Lunenburg, we traveled just a couple of hours north to Chester, a beautiful sailing town. Chester is quieter than Lunenburg, with fewer tourists, so it was a nice change. We enjoyed walking around the town and time relaxing on the boat. We happened upon outdoor music one night; it was fun to see the community together, including line dancing. Emmett and Rose even did some swimming, and of course, Anne enjoyed paddle boarding back and forth to town in the early morning for tea and a walk. We saw Emmett and Rose off early one morning, having organized a car to take them the 1 hour plus journey back to the Halifax airport.
