7/21 The weather is perfect for going down to the harbor. We leave early and park in one of the shopping centers away from the center of town. The Halifax Transit Company has all 176 of their busses running and has shuttles running from there to the waterfront: many of the streets and public parking are closed to all traffic (all of the businesses are required to get all of their deliveries between 3am and 7am during the 5 days of the event.) The bus left us in front of the ferry terminal, right in the middle of all the action.

        The scene is festive: vendors, street performers, sailors of many nations, and the tall ships docked at the wharves. There are great tents of commercial sponsors of the event, each offering free admission to a variety of displays about the ships. The CBC has a news anchor desk set up for anyone to try his hand at reading the news. It’s an impressive setting and all comers get to keep a videotape of their efforts. We pass on this one. Bob doesn’t want to take anyone’s job away from them.

        The crowd is enormous but very well behaved as we work our way from one end of the spectacle to the other. The ships are magnificent and the crews very friendly.

Crowd scene

Nova Scotia's famed sailing ship, "Bluenose" in her berth. She'll lead the final "Parade of Sails" at the concluding ceremony.    Nova Scotians are affectionately called "Bluenosers" and residents of Halifax are "Haligonians". That's the casino again in the right background.

There are many modes of travel here.
This one goes by land or water.

They also have double-decker busses

The United States Coastguard Ship "Eagle". Leave it to the Americans to have the biggest flag in the whole damn harbor.

A Canadian Navy Corvette

Martha finds a quiet spot to enjoy a lobster roll.

Artifacts outside of a municipal building in this great seaport city.

       We catch another (free) shuttle bus which runs from the end of the ships back to the beginning, then hop on the ferry and across the harbor to catch yet another view of the ships. Lunch in Dartmouth and then back across to Halifax, heading for home tired, happy and very, very satisfied. We’ll be back Monday to see the Parade of Sails when the ships leave harbor and begin the last leg of their race to Amsterdam.