June 28th

Up a dawn and haul the anchor. We have about 40 miles to get to Halifax and again the wind is light and this time on our nose. It’s another motor sail all day to Halifax, uneventful with clear skies great visibility and the sun shining. We have called ahead and have made reservations with the Halifax Development Corporation to tie up at one of their floating docks. We follow instructions and find ourselves tied up along side the board walk now just another one of the attractions for the tourists to enjoy and study. The floating dock runs parallel to the shore so waves from the many passing boats rocks the dock and us. the clanging and banging is irritating. It’s July 1 weekend and the waterfront is packed with people, some stop and stare, some ask questions, some seem to need new friends, we need to move tomorrow!

Downtown Halifax is quite beautiful with lots of old buildings steeped in history. We do a short circle tour of the area and find a great waterfront bar with live jazz featuring four special guests direct from Cuba. We spend a couple of hours enjoying some great talent and a couple of cold Keith’s. Supper in town and back to the boat for a few more conversations with curious tourists and its lights out early.

June 29th

We have decided to seize the opportunity to see the opening matinee of the The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. http://www.nstattoo.ca/
We have purchased tickets for tomorrow and head off to tour Citadel Hill.
Fort George is the fortified summit of Citadel Hill, a National Historic Site of Canada. First established in 1749, as a counterbalance to the French stronghold of Louisburg, the fort is operated by Parks Canada and is restored to the Victorian period. There are re-enactors of the famed 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band who were stationed at Halifax for almost three years (1869-1871).
After a pleasant waterside lunch we untie the lines and move to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. This place is special, and has every thing we could ask for. A beautiful club house, new floating docks, two heated pools (one salt water for adults only) a beautiful dining room with excellent food. All nestled in a protected bay surrounded by fabulous houses. We will need to spend a few days here.

The dock master Wayne arranges transportation to get us to the Binnacle to get the Navionics Marine Charts update that John has ordered. This store is amazing for marine equipment and cloths.

We are impressed at the size of the junior club at least four fleets with at least 12 boats per fleet. When we arrived in the Harbour we dodged them as they
raced around marks and dumped their dinghy’s.

If it all works out we will meet up with Gail McLeaod and her friend for lunch at the Yacht Club before we head off for the Tattoo. They are driving from Pictou and will be catching a plane home later this evening. We will probably stay another day here before we head for Chester. There are a few more things on the menu we want to try
and this will give us some time to put the Avon in the water and do some exploring.