New Ports added for Tallships '07

[Gary Bergman]

Well, we've just added a few new ports for this summer. Summerside, P.E.I., and Miramichi, N.B. Looks like a lot of Canada this time, eh?....Portsmouth, Va., Hampton Roads, Va. Norfolk, Va, Newport, RI, Essex, Ct., Halifax N.S., Sydney, Lunnenburg, and the two new ones. Possibly doing Lake Champlain and Vt., but that's scetchy at this point, as the labor is almost too much for one event...If anyone knows of any ports offering safe harbor for our little ship between these stops, please let us know...

[Hughman]

Rockland Maine? :)

It's not far from the best brewery in all the land.....

[S.V. Airlie]

Gary.. dates yet or still in the works? I know Lunenburg is in Augist..The gears are working here, the 11th?

pss.. I am only allowed a certain number of days in Essex ( about 20 total during the season ).. being a nonresident at the club but...

[sawcutmill]

Newport , ri , is accepting only class A tall Ships. The funding has yet to be approved by the State, as they are fiscally challenged, and the City of Newport wont take them unless there is a substantial $ amount forthcoming to cover the Security, parking, etc.... with that said any smaller Tall Ship will not have any access to dockage or other acutrements that the big ships get. The ASTA org is poorly run round here, with $ being the major problem, infighting, embezzlement, etc, not to mention, that none of the organizers are actually boat people.Which leads to mismanagement, and poor performance .
The few tall ships that actually call Rhode Island home, like the flagship, sloop of war "Providence", based here in RI, will not be participating due to political , economic, and event planning conundrums, as well as being in the midst of a maintainence haul out, due to the above mentioned, seems a bit odd to me. The State of RI has not funded the ship, nor has there been a drive to fund it, due to RI Politics and nepotism, which is based on greed by constiuents who rather line their pockets.
The last time the Tall Ships were here, it was not a success, as again , there was very little dockage or support, except by those who were to gain monetarily by it.The Economic Development Corp of RI(quasi public/private) has been running adverts for the event like it was the biggest Tall Ship event in the country.Yet they dont even have the backing to actually pull it off.And they are flooding the airwaves with this promotion of a event that cant be seen by the general public properly, like the 1976 event was.
I have participated in several Tall Ship events, as Crew on board, in different locations around the US, like NY, Boston, etc,as well as bringing my own vessel(not a tall ship to the events) and feel that the momentum and funding has changed, or maybe it is peoples' perception of the event too , but i think it has yet to capture the grandness of the past.We will see what happens in the next few months.......sorry for the rant. stephen

[S.V. Airlie]

Thanks Sawcut..
No matter what people do, it always comes down to politics and money.
I do hope that Gary does, when everything else calms down, will either give us an intinerary or gives us a wbsite with date.

[Bruce Hooke]

I can't speak to the political side, but some of what sawcutmill said is contradicted by the website for the event (note that I make no claim that the website is correct!) : http://www.tallshipsrhodeisland.org/

It lists a number of smaller vessels that will be attending, including Sloop Providence (and Royaliste), and gives the impression that most of the vessels will be at wharfs accessible to the public. It is true that they will be scattered around town a bit -- Newport is not like some cities where there is enough wharf space in one area for all the vessels.

The website also certainly gives the impression that this is a done deal, not something that might or might not happen.

I have not seen anything in the news about this event (I have in past years), and I certainly do not have any inside sources, so I am just going on what is on the website, which could, of course, be leaving out or glossing over any unpleasant information.

[S.V. Airlie]

Thanks for the info on Newport..
Essex is kinda a small burg... Not big at all.
Hence, my curiosity.. Not covered on the wbsite..
So, anyway, being a member of the Essex Yacht Club.. thought that there might be someting I can do.. meals for the crew etc...
But as I posted, I'm a nonresident member.:eek:

[pcford]

Does the term "tallship" bother you as much as it does me? When did it become a word?

[mmd]

Gary, on the trip up the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia from Halifax to Sydney, there are a few small towns (villages) that could provide shelter and rest for a ship the size of yours. Actually, there are lots, but many are surrounded by shoals and ledges that really need local knowledge aboard to lower the navigator's blood pressure. A few that have good access and are not far from open water are:

Sheet Harbour (N 44 deg 55 min, W 62 deg 32 min) http://www.sheetharbour.ca/ Very protected harbour, about ten nautical miles from open ocean to town. Population around 850.

Country Harbour (N 45 deg 10 min, W 61 deg 42 min) Country Harbour is located in Guysborough County on the north-eastern tip of the Nova Scotian mainland. It is divided into several sub-sections but remains bonded as a community. They are in order when driving south on Nova Scotia Route 316: Country Harbour Lake, Cross Roads Country Harbour, Middle Country Harbour and Country Harbour Mines. The entire population of the area is less than 1000 permanent residents. Country Harbour boasts one of North America's deepest natural harbours and was considered for early settlement before Halifax was chosen as a permanent location. There are several sites dedicated to preserving the heritage of the early settlers, including a restoration of a small village (probably home to less than 20 families) and Mount Misery. Mount Misery was the site where the first European settlers who came to Nova Scotia chose to establish their early agricultural efforts. They were not prepared for the harsh Canadian winter and almost all of the original settlers died during their first year. Mount Misery is connected to Country Harbour Mines via a cable ferry which also provides easy access to the neighbouring community of Port Bickerton.

Primary industries traditionally included mining, forestry and fishing. Many residents establish their fishing businesses in Port Bickerton due to the geographic advantages provided. Many deep-sea fishing vessels also transfer their cargo to land-based transport in Country Harbour. - Wikipedia

Canso (N 45 deg 20 min, W 61 deg 03 min) http://canso.clientview.ca/index.php The Town of Canso is a small coastal community located on the eastern tip of Mainland Nova Scotia. This web site will allow you to learn all about historical Canso, from the Town’s founding in 1604, to current development projects such as the new call centre, Stan Rogers Folk Festival and the upcoming wind energy project. - website

http://canso.clientview.ca/images/now04.jpg

Arichat (N 45 deg 30 min, W 61 deg 00 min) http://www.arichat.com/ Located on the southern most tip of Cape Breton Island, Isle Madame is a cluster of islands 42.5 km square. It offers some of the most captivating scenery along the Fleur-de-Lis trail (see maps) which loops around the main island.

The village of Arichat is one of the oldest communities in Nova Scotia, dating back to the 1700's when tall ships ruled the seas. It was known as the most important shiretown of Richmond County.
As you visit the islands you will constantly change vistas of the rocky coastline, inlets, coves and islands of Arichat harbour along the very edge of the shores. - website

Then you have to make a choice - do you travel up the Atlantic shore of Cape Breton or enter the Bras D'Or lake via the canal at St. Peters and sail in one of the best unspoilt cruising grounds in eastern North America? If you go east...

Louisbourg (N 45 deg 55 min, W 59 deg 58 min) http://louisbourg.com/ The community of Louisbourg with a population of 1265 is located on the southeast coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It is easily accessible by road and air. Louisbourg is located beside the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. - website Also, more about Fortress Louisbourg at http://www.louisbourg.ca/fort/. I bet they's love to have a real pirate ship tied up at the fortress wharf!
http://www.louisbourg.ca/fort/images/fortress3a.jpg
http://www.louisbourg.ca/fort/images/fortress5a.jpg

If you go north into the Bras D'Or lake...

Baddeck (N 46 deg 05 min, W 60 deg 45 min) http://baddeck.com/ The first successful airplane flight in Canada took place here in 1909, when J.A.D. McCurdy flew a plane called the "Silver Dart." Well-known residents have included Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (summer resident). Nearby parks & recreation: Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Kidston Island. Historic sites and museums: Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site - ePodunk

http://www.visitbaddeck.com/photos/7.jpg


OK, OK... I'll stop. If you would like, I can do the same type of post for the shore from Yarmouth up to Halifax. (I figured with a stop in Shelburne an Lunenburg prior to Halifax you'd have enough coastwise stops along there.) While you are in my area (Shelburne through to Halifax), if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.

I'd reccommend getting a copy of :

Yachting Guide to the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia by Art Dechman

and

Cruising Guide to the Nova Scotia Coast, Including the Magdalens, Prince Edward Island, & Sable Island by Charles Bartlett, Cruising Club of America and Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Club

[shark_ef]

yeah, that website thing, seems to me that it is an optimistic interpretation of what is going on. i've been involved w a few tsc as crew, and only the canadian ports ever seemes organized or thankful that we were there...we had many folks from asta come by and try to schedule events that couldn't happen or complain about things that couldn't change...it seems that many there have no concept of what it is like to sail, and that if it doesn't clear up asta may actually be detrimental to traditional ships recieving warm welcomes in harbor

(sorry long winded)

[S.V. Airlie]

Just got an e-mail from the Nova Scotia Schooner Assoc. Looks as though the tall ships are gonna be in Halifax on July 13th.

Am still wondering about the dates for Essex though...

[Gary Bergman]

we're going to try for the week bfore Newport, nothing firm yet

[S.V. Airlie]

Thanks Gary.. When you know, perhaps you can post...
jamj

[Gary Bergman]

WOOOOO-HOOOOO!!!!............ROYALISTE relaunch!..We're back in the water again!...After a long month on the hard repairing the bottom and all else critical, and a hard recovery and even harder work since January, ROYALISTE is afloat and feeling frisky, and docked at the Old Beaufort Seaport. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of work above the waterline and on deck getting things workwise for the season. We're here livin' up to our accord with the North Carolina Maritime Museum, open to the public four days a week from 10 to 5..A pile of school groups bent on learnin' more about piracy this week, and the Wooden Boat Show next week. As far as the Tallship events, we've decided to cancel everything north of the Chesapeake..Canada is devastated, they were really looking forward to 'pirates',but we figure it best to do Hampton, and Norfolk, then head back south to make changes and more repairs instead of beating the ship for a hard season after the grounding. We're really sorry to have to make this decision, but sometimes you have to regroup, and then expand once again...I'm personally bummed, but it's a bear supporting something like this on a small retirement...

[S.V. Airlie]

Sorry to hear that Gary.. Understand but I was hoping to see you all further east... But, your change in plans makes sense...