Greenland Passage

Once ashore in Halifax Monday I sought in vain to replenish my cigar supply, and pick up a Cuban or two to enjoy at sea. But it was Canadian Thanksgiving, and all stores selling decent stogies shut. Still, I wanted to enjoy a relaxing cigar after walking up and down the Spring Garden Road shopping district. I found as bench in the sun in front of the Halifax Memorial Library and lit up. Then I turned around to find Winston Churchill gazing upon me, undoubtedly as upset as when Yousef Karsh took away the PM's  cigar to make his iconic photograph. I did my best to imitate the Churchillian scowl. A traveling companion from Glasgow thinks I nailed it. Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting account of the story behind the photo. The downtown shopping district of this city of about 400,000 was filled with people -- most of them tourists off the four cruise ships tied up a 15-minute walk away in the harbor, though some locals were taking advantage of the warm if overcast weath...

God damn them all! I was told We'd cruise the seas for American gold We'd fire no guns, shed no tears But I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier The last of Barrett's Privateers I, too, found myself on a Halifax pier, but not in the same manner as described in Stan Roger's now-classic sea shanty . We were even greeted by a piper. Approaching Halifax we slowed for the pilot to board the Fram and lead us into what is billed as the world's second largest natural harbor behind Sydney. But we were just one of three or four vessels waiting to be guided to the quay: Mein Schiff 6, with berths for more than 2,500 passengers; Holland-America's Rotterdam, just over 1,400; and Ocean's Insignia can carry more than 800. By comparison the MV Fram's maximum capacity is about 250, but only 84 passengers are aboard for this trip. We squeezed our way into the narrow channel between Pier 24 and the adjacent grain pier, seemingly inches away from the Insignia, and ...

The captain invited passengers to the bridge Sunday evening before dinner, the day before we arrived in Halifax. Here are a few photos, taken after we departed Louisbourg. There is a wheel on the bridge, but the joystick controller is preferred. Harbor pilots sometimes use the wheel, the captain explained. I skipped visiting the famous French fortress at Louisbourg near the northeast corner of Nova Scotia. After having well exceeded my usual walking quota on previous days, I decided to rest my tired feet. I also learned that the locals, of English stock, pronounce the town's name like the Pennsylvania community famed for its federal prison, Lewisburg. No French-Canadian accents in either Louisbourg or Lewisburg.