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Since being anchored down in Fort Pond Bay, Long Island, in mid-July, Pride II has won the ASTA-sponsored race between Greenport, NY, and Newport, RI. She spent a week in Newport trying to do daysails twice a day (which ended up as open houses instead) and participated in the Newport Parade of Sail on July 19. We raced and won our class between New Port, RI, and New London, CT, then participated in the New London Parade of Sail commemorating the World Youth Conference on World Environment that took place at New London's Connecticut College. After that, we sailed to Quincy, MA, for a weekend of open houses and evening daysails. (That included getting 'locked' out of our Quincy berth when the road bridge to that berth failed to open for over two hours with no alternative dock immediately available). We then motored (no wind) to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Tall Ships Festival. So here we are! Since arriving in Halifax on Wednesday, July 24, Pride II has been open to more than 3,000 visitors a day and has hosted corporate receptions lasting from early to late evening. More about all these activities below.

For those of you interested in how Pride II did in the Greenport to Newport race, the start was delayed for 3 hours, to 1800, due to heavy weather. A good thing, too, since the wind dropped to 20 knots by that time. But there was a sizable swell, so sailing to windward was at first a little uncomfortable. This race was nearly a non-race. Most of the participants were unable to get to the start because they were pinned to their docks by the weather. Plus the square-riggers considering the race did not start when Pride II did because of lack of sea room beating out of Block Island Sound against the easterly wind. So Pride II started alone. Soon after her start, the wind moderated to 15 knots and then shifted towards the north. This meant we could increase sail area and sail with more favorable wind conditions for the early part of the race. The Polish barkentine Pogoria, which had joined us at anchor in Fort Pond Bay, chose to wait out the weather even longer. She did not start till the morning after the official start and did not finish till after dark the following day. (Pride II had finished early in the morning.)

Our visit to Newport had an interesting twist from my perspective. All of it hinged on the fact that I had spent my early-to-mid twenties here sailing the coast between Long Island Sound and Cape Cod. I had been the mate for a schooner called Brilliant which is owned by Mystic Seaport and campaigned as a youth sail training vessel. This visit to Newport brought all those adventures back to me, especially as I had not sailed into Newport for over 10 years. As you may imgine, everything had changed but nothing had changed. Newport is now busier than it ever was in the 1970's. So, between my 'old langsyne' trip down memory lane and the harbor being filled to capacity with interesting yachts from far and wide (as well the tallships gathered for the ASTA Tall Ships Challenge), I felt both at home and a bit like a foreigner.

Pride II was located at a premier dock in Newport. But it turned out to be a poor dock for marketing daysails on a tall ship. This was because Pride II was not docked in the same area as the other tallships, and anyone who may have been interested in sailing on a tallship was half a mile away looking at the other tallships and therefore completely ignorant of the opportunity to go sailing aboard Pride II. And those who were visiting Newport but not into tallships were not interested in a three hour daysail. Why was Pride II docked in a different part of town? That is a complicated story. But the short answer is that the original organizers of the tallship event had pulled out at the last minute leaving Pride II with a hole in her itinerary. By the time other organizers were able to pick up the pieces and re-organize the event, a month had passed and we had new obligations and agreements that could not be changed without breaking contracts. So, the crew was closer to town than the other tallships and did not get inundated with the visiting public like the other popular ships did. But we did do a few daysails, even if it was less than half of the original schedule. None of the other tallships went daysailing. So Pride II contributed to the maritime scene in Newport in a lively, sailing fashion.

Pride II was part of another tallship race leaving Newport bound for New London. This race did, in fact, become a non-race. Pride II was one of only two vessels to participate in this race, although there were other vessels at the start to wish us off. The other tallship dropped out due to a lack of wind. But I persisted and waited for the afternoon sea breeze I knew would come, having experienced it for so many years when I sailed Brilliant in these waters. Sure enough, it arrived and the crew tacked out of Narragansett Bay against the wind with all sail set. They did very well, too, as Pride II tacked every ten minutes for about 2 hours before sailing out into Rhode Island Sound. Then it became a race to finish before the wind died again. We lost, just five miles short of the finish line. We could not afford to wait till the wind came back so we cranked up the iron topsail (engines) and discontinued the race. It was a good sail while it lasted, though, and the crew did a great job of jumping-to when required.

The New London Parade of Sail on July 22 marked the United Nations World Conference of Children for the Environment that took place at New London's Connecticut College. The parade was an exercise in frustration for many as the fog was thick and abundant. So, few spectators were out those who were out could not see the ships because of the fog. Right after the Parade, Pride II was scheduled to continue on to Massachusetts rather than stay in New London. This is the first time I know of where Pride II was not invited to attend a tallships port stop. We were welcome to participate in the Parade, but not the weekend event. My understanding of this is that the focus was on youth and Pride II is not recognized as being a youth-focused program. Oh, well.

Meanwhile, we were interested in going to Boston anyway because of the Democratic National Convention. Our thought had been that there would be opportunities for Pride II to host Maryland Democrats in Boston, and the Maryland Port Administration was interested in entertaining there as well. But the new maritime security regulations and anti-terror policing turned Boston into such a complex mess for everyone there were no takers for using Pride II while she was in Boston. A new plan was quickly put together that shifted Pride II to the neighboring town of Quincy in Boston Harbor where Pride II was well received and had two very popular and fully booked daysails. Then it was off to the Canadian Maritimes.

Our sail to Canada was a non-sail. For two years running now Pride II has headed "down east" to the Canadian Maritimes and had to motor almost the whole way. Last year we went in June and experienced light easterlies followed by heavier easterlies with a very heavy swell from the east. This year we went across in July and experienced calm conditions with heavy fog. The phrase "down east" comes from the prevalence of wind from the west providing down wind sailing for those going east along the North American East Coast. Well, for two years running during two different months representing early and mid summer, our experience would seem to belie the concept of going down east when going to the Canadian Maritimes. But I will bet that when it comes time to head west, we will have westerly winds.

Halifax this year hosted another sizable tallship fleet in conjunction with the American Sail Training's East Coast Tall Ship Challenge and the Acadian/Cajun 400th Anniversary celebration. As was the case for the 2000 Millennium Tall Ships Celebration, this year's tallship gathering in Halifax was a significant event. Nations represented included Cook Islands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Mexico, Rumania, the United States, and, of course, Canada. This time Pride II has come to Canada to stay a while. Halifax is the first stop in a Nova Scotian cruise to include the western Nova Scotia ports of Lunenburg, Shelburn, Yarmouth and Meteghan. Then we will sail northwards across the Bay of Fundy to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, before heading back to the United States.

While Pride II is in Halifax, we are open to the public from 10 AM to 5 PM followed by private receptions from 7:30 PM to 9 or 10 PM. One of the receptions was with Maryland's own Port Administration. So far each day, almost 3,000 visitors have come aboard. The waterfront has been teeming with the curious and tallship enthusiasts. Speaking of the waterfront, Halifax has done much to make its waterfront pedestrian friendly. Now it stretches from the casino in the north for about a mile southward to include many docks and waterside promenades marked by museums, art stores, restaurants, businesses, and condos. When I first came here with the old Pride in 1981, there was only a 500 foot section of waterfront available to visitors and it was all restaurants.

With the many hours of open houses plus the evening receptions, I have instituted a crew watch routine that changes at 3 PM rather than at 8 AM This way, the watch that starts work at 3 PM will only work till 10 or 11 PM with a rest period before they work the next morning from 8 AM to 3 PM when they are off for 24 hours. This was a resurrection of a watch routine that I instituted in Amsterdam when faced with similar work hours. Back then, the crew was very thankful of not having to work 15 hours straight. But I sense this year's crew is more interested in a full day off than having to be on duty for 15 hours straight. Oh well, whatever turns 'em on....

Cheers,

Captain Miles