The Bluenose II (or is it III?)

The big news in town,
at least the town of Lunenburg,
is The Bluenose.

Now what exactly is a
bluenose?


 Nova Scotian's are proudly called 
"Bluenoses" or "Bluenosers" 
Reason: Planting and exporting of Irish Bluenose Potatoes,
 blue marks on the noses of fishermen left by blue mitts, 
and the nickname given to the Nova Scotia 
British troops which occupied New York City 
and Boston during the American Revolution.
http://www.twrsoft.com/trivia/hist03.htm

Gee, no-one seems to mention frigid winters
where your nose turns blue before it
falls off.

We may be living in the land of bluenosers
but the real news of the day is
The Bluenose II  .

Apparently, in the early
1900's  there was some friendly
rivalry between  United States
and Canadian fishing schooners,
racing to win the International
Fisherman's Trophy.

The Esperanto, American

The Delawana, Canadian

In 1920   the Esperanto from Gloucester, Mass  
defeated the Delewana Of Lunenburg and took the
trophy to New England.
http://www.bluenose2.ns.ca/Legacy/HistoryoftheBluenose.html

Now my loyalties are a wee bit challenged.
I do love New England, after all Jeff
is from Massachusetts, however
I AM CANADIAN with Nova Scotian
roots.

Lunenburg Harbour

The Bluenose

 In her 18-year racing career Bluenose did not give up the trophy.  

You gotta love those Canadians.

Unfortunately, though she was lucky in  races,

she was not so lucky as a a freight carrier;

the Bluenose sank off the coast of Haiti in 1942.

Fast forward to the 1960's when The Bluenose II

was built after the original plans.   This schooner

did not race but sailed the oceans as Nova Scotia's

ambassador.  

http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/discovernovascotia/history/bluenose.aspx  

Finally, this Saturday, September 29th,

The Bluenose II,

or III, as some folk like to call her 

(she has practically been completely

rebuilt) , all 258 tonnes of her, will

be launched at Snyder's Shipyard 

in the Lunenburg harbour.

We will be joining thousands of people

on the banks of the Atlantic

to watch this historic event.

Here's to the Bluenose II. 

Champagne, anyone?

It took only one loss to the States
for the Bluenosers to say, enough!
In March of 1921,the
Bluenose Schooner was launched
in Lunenburg Harbour.