After hearing that there was a "tall ship" in town for the weekend and that it was open for free tours, I headed into Halifax this morning.
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| Photo credit - Jeff Harper, Metro news |
The Halifax Waterfront Development Corporation invited such ships to come here as part of a Visiting Ship Program. The ships get free berthing in exchange for opening to the public and doing tours. A real win-win situation.
When I arrived at 10:20 there was no line up to speak of; we just had to wait while some folk exited the ship before we had our chance to "walk the plank" onto the ship.
The wood trim was burnished to a high polish.
The brass fittings shone.
Even the ropes on the deck were laid down in a perfect pattern.
Many members of the crew stood ready to proudly welcome us to their ship, while others scrambled up the ropes to the very top of the masts.
Tomorrow morning they head out across the Atlantic to visit their next port of call -- London, England.
What a wonderful experience for the cadet trainees who are going to be future officers in the Mexican navy.
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| At the bottom of the sign is their list of ports of call on this 8 month voyage. |
The ‘Cuauhtémoc' served as a backdrop for the official announcement that the Rendez-vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta will be visiting Halifax next year and will serve as the start of the final leg of the tall ships race next year.
WOOT !
I was in Halifax for the tale end of a tall ship visit once. They are such spectacular ships and the skills needed to operate them are incredible. Glad you got to visit one.
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful an the crew were very skilled and proud of their ship.
DeleteThanks for stopping by ...
So cool! I love how the sailors stand on the yardarms as they sail in!
ReplyDeleteDebra, I wish I'd been there to see it sail in. It must have been so impressive with them all standing on the yard arms. Even during our Sunday morning tour we were able to see some of the crew climbing high up the masts ... the view of the city must have been marvellous.
DeleteI saw a few pictures of the ship at night with all the lights on. It was beautiful. Glad you had the opportunity to get on board.
ReplyDeleteSo cool! I've seen a few pictures of this shop in my FB feed over the last few days. It looks spectacular! Lucky you for getting an up-close look :-) Wishing the crew a safe voyage to London....
ReplyDeleteHow exciting, Sybil! It's a small world, the "Cuauhtémoc" was here in New London earlier this month but we had other plans and didn't get to visit it, although we did get a peek of it across the river. Wonderful that you were able to "walk the plank."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theday.com/article/20160502/NWS01/160509879
All hail! I'm glad we haven't built a wall to keep the ships out! (Ooops, did not intent to get you riled up politically. lol)
ReplyDeleteI took one of my favorite photos of all time as crew members of the Cuauhtémoc were waiting on the pier to welcome guests. They were all in their perfect uniforms, looking just like they stepped off the pages of a tourism brochure.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! I have no idea why it should be so, but tall ships bring tears to my eyes.
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