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If you've read the page about the 2007 Tall Ships festival, you'll have seen some pictures of a wooden tall ship and some wistful comments. The Bounty was headed for England. I did not ask if they had room; I was not prepared for such a trip, so I didn't want to know. But the idea stuck...
Fast forward 2 years. Much in need of a holiday, I went to Halifax again, for Tall Ships 2009. How does one go on a week's holiday and end up across an ocean a month later...? |
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Part 1 Scared Spitless |
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JULY 16 * DAY 0 * HALIFAX |
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... and the bottom dropped out of my stomach. COULD I? SHOULD I?
What if someone had packed a bag just in case, an "If Bag", wondering about last-minute space, & thinking that never in a million years will only 12 spaces not be booked... what should that person do? Back away in fear, quietly leave the suitcase in the car, enjoy the waterfront & go home to safety? And wonder forever after: What If? ...Or jump on the chance, take the challenge & try once & for all to put the sailing fantasy either to rest or to rights?
Once again, the echoes of a couple of previous voyages come back to mind, a little more stridently this time. What possesses me?? Burnt out after a long dry spell and needing an adventure to show me I'm still alive, or a change of perspective, or something... I am running away to sea. This time, my tall ship obsession will either be cured forever, or ingrained for good. |
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The waterfront, on our last evening in port, recalls a day when a forest of masts was not a unique thing. |
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People you probably wouldn't want to sail with... |
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The cause of the panic: HMS Bounty |
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I missed most of what went on on the waterfront over the next 4 days -- spent them running all over Halifax getting last minute extra "stuff", insurance & so on. |
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<< Eagle (U.S. Coast Guard)
Bottom L: Europa (Netherlands) |
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Our sendoff made a lovely backdrop to the Bounty... or the Bounty made a lovely foreground... |
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Music for this story is from Celtic folk, Abba, Air Supply and Enya! You can turn it off by clicking the 'X' on your browser. But that would be less fun. |
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PAGE 2 |
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HOME |
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