Historic Lunenburg was settled in 1753 and is home to the Bluenose II, a replica of the famous racing and fishing schooner Bluenose. The town has long had a major wooden-boat-building industry, particularly at the Smith & Rhuland Shipyard where hundreds of ships were launched between 1900 and 1970. The most famous include the Bluenose in 1921, a replica of HMS Bounty built in 1960 for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, the Bluenose II in 1963, and in 1970 the HMS Rose that appeared as the HMS Surprise in the movie Master and Commander. That heritage continues to this day—blocks for the USS Constitution in Boston are sourced from Lunenburg.

Lunenburg also is packed with well-preserved Victoria-era buildings. In 1995, the town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of only two in North America. The designation was for Lunenburg’s fine preservation of Old Town, for having the best surviving example of a British Colonial grid-pattern street layout, and for its authenticity as a working town.

Trip highlights from September 20th and 21st, 2016 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia follow. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps

9/20/2016

Alan Creaser Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 We met Lunenburg resident Alan Creaser when he stopped by to say hello in Melbourne Australia. Alan owns the Old Fish Factory restaurant in Lunenburg and is Director of Operations for the Bluenose II. We let him know that we were on our way to Lunenburg and he came by to welcome us. It was great to see Alan again after all those months and miles.

Atlantic Protector Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 Our slip mate is the 134ft (41m), 1,090-ton scallop dragger Atlantic Protector.

Grace of Tides Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 Nordhavn 68 Grace of Tides on the other side of the pier from where we are.

Paul Johansen Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 When we lived in Seattle we frequently anchored off the Paul Johansen in Port Madison on Bainbridge Island. And here it is, on the other side of the contenent, right beside us. A sailboat, home-ported in Seattle, replaced Grace of Tides beside us, so we had three Seattle boats on the dock in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Chain Bag Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.53 Scallopers drag a chain bag along the bottom to capture scallops. The chain bag is constructed of individual iron rings connected by smaller iron rings. In a building off the foot of our dock they were hand-crimping the iron rings for a new bag. Hand-crimping an entire bag would probably make you strong enough to be able to pick up a truck.

Dockside Position: -64 18.66, 44 22.58 The view across the Lunenburg waterfront from the deck of the Dockside Lobster and Seafood restaurant where we stopped for a light snack.

UNESCO Position: -64 18.74, 44 22.60 Lunenburg is packed with well-preserved Victoria-era buildings. In 1995, the town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of only two in North America. The designation was for Lunenburg’s fine preservation of Old Town, for having the best surviving example of a British Colonial grid-pattern street layout, and for its authenticity as a working town.

Fawlty Towers Position: -64 18.60, 44 22.60 We’re big fans of John Cleese and the British TV comedy Fawlty Towers, so this sign caught our attention. We couldn’t find anything in the area that appeared related to the sign though. Turns out it’s an Airbnb room for rent in the building.

Memorial Position: -64 18.60, 44 22.56 Lunenburg was settled in 1753 by German, French and Swiss farmers who turned to fishing because the land wasn’t suitable for farming. The Lunenburg Fishermans’s memorial is a sobering glimpse into the dangers of this occupation. Over 600 Lunenburg men were lost at on 150 ships, 40 of them with every man on board perishing in the cold North Atlantic. And this is just from 1890 to the present. 1926 and 1927 were particularly bad years, with 130 men lost in the famed August Gales when the fall storms came early and caught the fleet unprepared. Saddest of all are the groups of three, four, and five people with the same last name when brothers, fathers, and sons were all lost together.

Cape Sable Position: -64 18.75, 44 22.56 The Cape Sable at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Built in Holland in 1962, the Cape Sable is a steel-hulled trawler that fished for National Sea Products Limited for twenty years and retired in 1982.

Sunset Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 Lunenburg is famous for its beautiful sunsets that light up the harbor. We caught the sunset view with a traditional dory passing in front while dining at the Old Fish Factory restaurant.

Old Fish Factory Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 We had a delicious meal, with lobster for Jennifer, at the Old Fish Factory restaurant along the Lunenburg waterfront.

9/21/2016

Pearl Mist Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 The pocket cruise ship Pearl Mist anchored off Lunenburg this morning and ferried passengers much of the morning.

30 Amps Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 Our first test of running in 30 amps 60 Hz worked perfectly. Before we left Seattle, running the boat on 30 amps was a real challenge—we’d always be popping the shore breaker with heavier 240V loads such as the dryer or the HVAC system. With the new power system we can run the entire boat, including HVAC, dryer and oven, on a 30-amp 120-volt circuit without problem.

Dory Shop Position: -64 18.43, 44 22.55 Alan Creaser offered to take us on a walking tour of Lunenburg today. Alan was born and raised in Lunenburg and seemed to know pretty much everyone and everything that is happening there. Here we are inside the Dory Shop where classic wooden Grand Banks dories have been built for over a century.

Dories Position: -64 18.45, 44 22.52 Grand Banks dories are strong, durable, and seaworthy. Another advantage is they can be stacked to save space on the decks of the fishing schooners where they originally were used.

Picton Castle Position: -64 18.44, 44 22.48 The barque Picton Castle is a three-masted tall ship based in Lunenburg. The 179ft steel-hulled ship does deep-ocean sail training and long-distance education around the world and completed a sixth circumnavigation in 2015. The ship is incredibly self-sufficient to the point of carrying raw timber for the crew to rebuild the mast if necessary.

Arele Position: -64 18.22, 44 22.48 We’re pretty sure this yacht was with us at Charlestown Marina in Boston for a few days. It’s hauled out in Lunenburg for bottom paint and other work. The name appears to be Arele, but we can’t find mention of it anywhere.

Bluenose Shed Position: -64 18.19, 44 22.50 Inside the Bluenose Shed, part of the historic Smith & Rhuland Shipyard building. Between 1900 and 1970, the yard built hundreds of ships. The most famous include the Bluenose in 1921, a replica of HMS Bounty built in 1960 for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, the Bluenose II in 1963, and in 1970 the HMS Rose that appeared as the HMS Surprise in the movie Master and Commander. At it’s height of production, Smith & Rhuland employed fifty full-time shipwrights and produced eight schooners a year. The Bluenose Shed is where the Bluenose II was built, and the ship later was rebuilt at this site in 2011 and 2012.

Knot Pub Position: -64 19.02, 44 22.70 We had an excellent lunch, continuing the craft beer trend, at the Knot Pub just outside downtown Lunenburg.

Hillcrest Cemetery Position: -64 18.80, 44 22.72 After lunch, we walked through the upper Old Town north of the waterfront. This is the historic Hillcrest Cemetery, with graves dating from the early 1800s

Lunenburg Academy Position: -64 18.79, 44 22.80 The Lunenburg Academy, built in 1895, served as a public school for 117 years and is a National Historic Site.

House Position: -64 18.59, 44 22.77 Brightly-painted and well-maintained traditional homes fill the streets of Lunenburg.

Settler’s Memorial Position: -64 18.26, 44 22.66 One of two memorials at the top of Blockhouse Hill Road dedicated to the memory of those who settled Lunenburg in 1753.

Reciprocal Tour Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 The crew of a 134-ft scalloper in Lunenburg for maintenance work gave us a tour of their factory ship. Here the two shift captains, the cook and the shoreside production manager have come over to see Dirona. We were asked not to include boat and crew names.

Ironworks Distillery Position: -64 18.35, 44 22.56 The local Ironworks distillery equipment looked similar to that in the St. Helena Distillery. Both were made in Germany.

Berlin Wall Position: -64 19.15, 44 22.58 A piece of the Berlin Wall at the head of Lunenburg Harbour.

ABB Turbocharging Position: -64 19.16, 44 22.58 We walked past the ABB Turbocharging shop near the head of the harbor. This facility services ABB turbochargers for all of Canada. The manager saw us peering in the door and kindly invited us in to see some of what they are working on. These are truly enormous turbochargers, with their smallest parts being considerably bigger than the turbocharger on Dirona.

Fire Engine Position: -64 18.98, 44 22.66 As we walked past the Lunenburg Fire Department, we could see a 1200° fire equipment service truck parked in front on an E-One Pumper (1200° is the temperature at which a building is fully engulged by fire). We’ve never seen a modern pump truck open for service, so we stuck our heads in to have a look. They invited us in to watch final testing of the pump and water distribution system control panel. It’s a very well-engineered design. One idea that we thought was really smart, but we’re sure is standard on most fire trucks, is to have a power plug-in and air plug-in on the side of the truck. One of the problems with air-brake-equipped trucks is they won’t move until they’ve pumped air, wasting 60 seconds where the truck could have been underway to save lives. With this approach they’ve instantly got air and can drive away with the air and power cords automatically releasing as they move.

Magnolia’s Grill Position: -64 18.56, 44 22.57 We had an excellent dinner on the back deck of Magnolia’s Grill. In the distance, the shadow of Dirona‘s mast is visible on the blue hull of the Atlantic Protector moored beside us.

Paul Johansen Position: -64 18.52, 44 22.51 Farley Blackman, the owner of the Paul Johansen, stopped by to chat, tour Dirona and he later brought us aboard his boat for a tour. It was great to finally get aboard the boat after having anchored nearby it in Port Madison near Seattle for years. The steel vessel was launched in 1970 for the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue and looks incredibly strong. Farley is doing an extensive and very well throught-through interior and exterior refit of the vessel. This is one of the two Detroit Diesels that power the Paul Johansen

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps.