It's one of those strange misconceptions I've carried with me through most of my life, like the supposed billiard table flatness of the Red Sea and the Caribbean. I've always thought of Halifax, Nova Scotia as dull and damp, with lifeless grey concrete buildings. The kind of place you needed to be paid to visit. The truth of course is hugely different.
Halifax is a beautifully green city, with many lovely houses and delightful waterfronts. And whilst locals admit it does tend towards the dull and damp quite a lot, today we've brought blue skies and sunshine with us. Something of a change for us, to be sure.
We're tied up at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, the oldest established yacht club in North America. The location is nothing short of spectacular, situated on the historic north-west arm of Halifax Harbour, overlooked on the other side of the water by a shallow wooded slope and some splendid and doubtless very expensive houses.
While Alan and Steve set to stripping out the radar ready for the friendly local radar repair man, I jump (or hobble, to be more precise) into a taxi for a quick appointment to get my back injury checked out by a physiotherapist. An hour later, I emerge slightly better equipped to deal with the rigours of the next few days, and I even get a lift back to the boat in the deal. Physiotherapist Linda Langley is a keen boater herself, and like everyone else, can't believe that our tiny powerboat has come most of the way around the world.
We also meet up with Hugh Vincent. We'd been given a small gift to pass on to him by friends in Panama. Yes, it really is a small world. A former vice-commodore of the RNSYS, Hugh treats us to a fine lunch in the club's impressive clubhouse.
And then it's back to a few tweaks to the radar before we set off, out past the evocative memorial to the many Titanic victims who were brought in to Halifax. All being well, we should be in St John's by Sunday morning, and then on our way on the big leg across the Atlantic.
Clive Tully
FACTBOX
Wilmington - Halifax
Time of leg: 2 days 16 hours 24 minutes
Length of leg: 952 nautical miles
Total distance covered: 22,610 nautical miles
Distance to go: 2,850 nautical miles
Average speed over leg: 14.78 knots
Total elapsed time from Gibraltar: 96 days 2 hours 39 minutes
Total elapsed time at sea: 72 days 16 hours 20 minutes
Fuel consumed: 1,944 litres
Average fuel consumption: 2.04 litres / nautical mile
Number of refuelling stops to go: 2
Next stop: St John's, Newfoundland
ETA: Sunday
Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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