Canada Episode II (The Tall Ships)

The reason Molly chose this particular week to go to Canada, was for the Tall Ship Festival. Every seven years, tall ships from around the globe gather in Nova Scotia.

There were ships from Russia, Barbados, Uruguay, France, Brazil...
The first day the ships ported.
All the crew members were walking around, seeing things, and also getting their ships in top shape for display.

I love uniforms.
Sigh...
This ship was full of cute little foreign sailors.

I love accents.
Sigh...
Can you see their laundry strung out over the ropes?

I love a man who does laundry.
Sigh...
Of course there was also the occasional scalawag.
My kids are fans of the occasional scalawag:

There was no rum consumed by us.
However, there was the consumption of Poutine.

Poutine is another Canadian thing.
It is basically hand-cut fries, topped with melty white cheese and gravy.
I recommend using a fork.
The first day at the port, we just walked around taking everything in.
Can you see the sailors up in the masts of the ship?
I think they are polishing the wood, or maybe scraping off barnacles.
You will see my knowledge of all things ship related is pretty vast...

The next time we went down to the port, we actually boarded some of the ships.
I am not sure how those sailors keep all the ropes straight.
There was a lot of rope.


There were also big steering wheels.
I realize they are called something other that steering wheels, but I can either google correct maritime terminology, or post pretty pictures.
You get pictures today.

Here are some inside shots of some of the boats. (Galley's perhaps?)

A swinging table:

I bet that is fun on soup day.
The kids.
On a boat.

And just to prove that they are my kids...here they are showing signs of "distracted by all things shiny" like their mother.

Here we are, in the midst of a once in a lifetime chance to see big honking ships that they don't even make anymore. And where are my kids?
Oh yeah. Fascinated by barnacles and trash in the water.

And here is another time when they ran off.
Climbing on this thing.
See the arrow I added to the photo?
It is a safety cone, with a sign attached to the safety cone that reads: "Wet Paint."

I think that was an attempt to keep kids off of the thing.


I was happy the Tall Ships were g-rated.
I have seen worse on the "Tidal Wave" boat at Lagoon.

Chivalry is not dead.
This cute sailor helped all the ladies down the steep steps.

There was a lighthouse conveniently located in the port.
Canada is very photographer friendly that way.

The last day we spent in the port, was the Parade of Ships.
The ships left the port, in full sail.
It was amazing!
Everyone just grabbed a spot to sit wherever they could.
The whole port was crawling with people.
And cameras.
And very impressive zoom lenses.
We chose some pointy butt-stabbing rocks.

The pointy rocks were home to many creatures.
There was a sneaky mink? looking thing that would pop up every once in a while, to the kids' amusement.

I didn't even care about my sore bum.
You know why?
Cause this:

And this:

And this one was our favorite:


We were seated quite a distance away from the main drag, and this ship sailed clear over our way. Everyone cheered!
Thanks Sagres(from Portugal)!
You guys rock.
Avast!
All hail off the port bow!
(All my sea-lingo knowledge comes from Pirates of the Caribbean.)

More pretty ships:


This one is the Cisne Branco.
It is from Brazil.

I made sure to wait until the Brazilian flag unfurled to take the photo.
With a special shout-out to my cousin Kim, who lived in Brazil.
You're welcome!
I think I deserve a hot-tub party for thinking of you.
Call me!
Commencing with the parade:



A little palate cleanser:

And moving on...


And I have approximately 766 more breath taking photos of Tall Masted Ships...
But this concludes this epic and photo heavy post.
Yaaaaaar Welcome.