Sunday 10th July 2016  44:42.006 N  63:36.785 W

Distance sailed 42 miles.

Anne and I have met many people with an Irish story on this cruise. On 30th of June last in Brooklyn Judy Parsons rowed by in her beautiful white punt and told us she had been to Crosshaven at Salve Marine. Later that day she returned with a letter and photographs to deliver to Wietse Buwalda and a pot of jamb for Shelduck.

Tuesday 5th of July dawned a beautiful day and Shelduck had a pleasant passage from Prospect Bay to Halifax with one incident when she received a small bump on the starboard side just below the water level. We had sailed past many basking Sharks and think it must have been one of them. It is 20 miles from Halifax Harbour entrance to Dartmouth Yacht Club at the northern end of the harbour. I had come to Dartmouth to have the weather fax loaned to me by Justin McDonough of Selkie connected. The berth at the club was easy to access and was sheltered.

I had been in contact with Belfast born Mike Savage Mayor of Halifax a city of almost half a million people. Mike’s late mother Margaret was one of six sisters and one brother three of whose family’s holiday in Baltimore, the late Bernadette Perry, Cecelia Woods and Bernard McCartan. Mike invited us to the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo the following evening and included Peter Clarke who was due to join us for the cruise from here to Lewisporte Newfoundland. Next morning I had a call from Peter to say his flight Dublin/St.Johns was delayed by 6 hours and that he would miss his connection to Halifax and therefore the Tattoo. He joined us early Thursday morning.

Mike invited Anne and I, through his secretary Kelly MacNamara, to a VIP reception before the show where we met his wife Darlene, Darlene’s mother Miriam and her business partner Hugh Vincent. Our seats were prime and were immediately behind the Generals, Admirals and senior politicians including the Premier of Nova Scotia, a post that Mike’s father the late John had held. It was a great show which included Canadian, American, German, British and Swiss service men and women and great acrobats from Africa and dancers of Scottish and Irish origin.

On Thursday Eugene of Atlantic Electronics came to inspect the weather fax job which included fixing a wire from the board to the insulated section of the backstay. Eugene returned next day with assistance and did the fitting. Sunday was forecast as miserably wet so I decided to move to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron to give shorter exit from Halifax Harbour. On departing Dartmouth I noticed Shelduck’s GPS was not functioning so the connecting up of the weather fax must have disconnected the GPS at the board. Eugene promised to return to repair it on Monday.

Mike and Darlene joined us aboard Shelduck for Sunday lunch where we enjoyed a chat, among many other things, about the McCartan gals as he called them. In the evening we were joined by Hugh Vincent, a prominent club member, for a wonderful roast rib dinner in the clubhouse. Hugh had cruised Ireland and when there had visited the Royal Cork.