The Adventures of Sunsette -- Nova Scotia yet again, Dec. 25

[Lejays17]

What a fabulous adventure you all went on.

It would be amazing to visit the replica and elore all over it.

My favourites are the ones with the cannons. And I couldn’t imagine trying to steer a ship like that with a joystick rather than a wheel!

[werepuppy]

Oh such a fun adventure!

[davidd]

Do you agree that this is probably a fairly close replica of the original Santa Maria?

[fishy]

Wow, great trip!

I wonder if the cannons are functional... Only one way to find out! Toss a beachball in the air to blow it up in a cloud of flames. For science.

[davidd]

So the whipstaff descends through the decks to where the tiller comes through from the stern? So basically it is a direct push and pull on a huge tiller attached to a huge rudder? In other words, physically difficult and not exactly a refined method of steering with the rudder?

As you noted, the ship looks tall and narrow, so it must roll something fierce in even the most gentle of swells.

I am impressed to read on the website... now that I have time to check it out... that they sailed this ship from Spain to the U.S. with stops in the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico. The website claims the crew used "traditional navigation techniques."

I cannot find any information as to whether this replica includes engines for safely maneuvering in harbors. I do see that the hull was built of fiberglass and covered in wood, so the construction techniques are said to combine the traditional with the most cutting-edge modern. It sounds like they tried to create an aesthetically accurate circa 1490s vessel.

I can scarcely believe that this is Sunsette's first visit to an actual "tall ship."

Was Sunsette actually declared "dangerous goods"? Oh boy, somebody's gonna have a serious attitude issue after that!

If you are "so over it" with the ferry, what are you going to do? Fly? That would get eensive, and you can't take your car. Maybe invest in a vintage Amphicar?

Or just move to the mainland?

Naaah... you could never give up living next to the sea.

Maybe it's time you moved on to a boat of your own.

Anyway, fascinating post, and I invested/wasted/spent a lot of time reading about the original ship, various replicas, and this one.

[Alliecat]

Thanks, everyone  It was really very cool, and by picking the colder crummier day, we avoided crowds.  Sunsette & Scarlett were seriously excited

Do you agree that this is probably a fairly close replica of the original Santa Maria?

I really have no idea.  This is 300 years before my period of interest.  I mean, the differences are fascinating.  My brain went off down the rabbit hole of "you have no buntlines / who invented buntlines and when, and how did that go over..." and away it went
I haven't read the little book I bought yet, but it says there are "no drawings, representations or detailed descriptions" of Columbus's ships.  Apparently not even dimensions or tonnage are specified -- unlike Rose & Bounty where original blueprints were available.  They used other period sources, and several replicas have been built.

I wonder if the cannons are functional...

Nope.  Too bad.  Rose's guns were pretty awesome.  They shook the whole ship.  And wusses that modern-day sailors are, they cleared the whole tween deck when they fired them.  Imagine being right beside a whole battery of them in the middle of a battle...

So the whipstaff descends through the decks to where the tiller comes through from the stern? .... In other words, physically difficult and not exactly a refined method of steering with the rudder?

Yep, pretty much.  They do have engines.

If you are "so over it" with the ferry, what are you going to do? Fly? That would get eensive, and you can't take your car. ...

Yeah... I had 16 1/2 hours in a Cessna 172 & was just short of soloing when the instructor got a better job out west & bailed.  It would be nice to have a plane....  I'd have to start all over.
So maybe move to Hawaii and get a helo license...  

Naaah... you could never give up living next to the sea.
Maybe it's time you moved on to a boat of your own.

a) True.
b) Shhh... don't give Sunsette ideas.

Glad you found it interesting!  

Was Sunsette actually declared "dangerous goods"? Oh boy, somebody's gonna have a serious attitude issue after that!

[TrueFan]

hahaha at the photo with the Ice man....

[davidd]

You are an almost-pilot as well as a tall ship sailor? Wow! You are an all-around adventurer!

[fishy]

You are an almost-pilot as well as a tall ship sailor? Wow! You are an all-around adventurer!

Alliecat is a Jules Verne main character.

[Alliecat]

Bahahaha, I wish. Yay for a few adventures to make things sound a lot more interesting than they really are.

[fishy]

Bahahaha, I wish.  Yay for a few adventures to make things sound a lot more interesting than they really are.

> Canadian sailor

Nice try denying, Ned Land's granddaughter.

[Alliecat]

"Aloha again everybody!  Mahalo for sharing our adventures!
"On the same trip to see the Santa Maria, Mum also took us to the research station aquarium nearby while we waited for the ship to dock.  There was lots to read about the area's fisheries, aquaculture, tides, and marine life."


"This is a sturgeon.  They've been around since the Triassic period, 245-208 million years ago."



"These are lumpfish.  Males turn red-orange during breeding season.  We felt kinda sorry for the one little guy all by himself in the touch pool... guess this is the rest of his family."



"Scarlett saying hello..."




"They have some unique lobsters, that have been donated by fishermen."



"This is Lucky, and he actually came from our home.  Mum wrote an article about him at the time.  He was a little bluer then.  Now he's quite pale."



"This 27-pound lobster was caught by a fish dragger in 1962.  The world record is 42.5 pounds and the Canadian record is 37.2 pounds!  (We thought it was too bad he wasn't put back in the sea to keep breeding...)  Mum saw some pretty big ones when she was fishery-observing, but not quite this big. She wanted us to pose with him but we couldn't fit on the window ledge.  Our heads would be about where his tail is."



"Wolffish?  Where?"



"Yikes!"
..."They're not dangerous (like us)... they eat crustaceans.  And they have natural antifreeze in their blood!"



"There are several blue ones.  Estimates of their rarity vary but some suggest it could be one in 2 million.  The colour is caused by an abundance of a particular protein; it's a genetic defect."



"This was our favourite aquarium resident..."



"Yes, really this blue!  Isn't he(?) gorgeous!"

"Thanks for reading!
"Love, Sunsette"
"(and Scarlett!)"

[neon_jellyfish]

So many lovely creatures! The blue guy is amazing!

[werepuppy]

Oh, wow, so many lovely sea creatures. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

[davidd]

This looks like an extremely interesting marine science center. It reminds me of one we used to visit in Oregon when I was a kid.

I find sturgeons to be absolutely fascinating. I've seen old photos from the early 1900s when there were absolutely enormous sturgeons being caught.

Is this marine center on your island, or do you get to take an exciting ferry ride to reach it?