Jim and I have had an absolutely wonderful summer back home in Nova Scotia. We moved in with our daughter who keeps the house going all year and reconnected with our family and friends; we played tourist in our own province; we welcomed visitors and thoroughly enjoyed the land-based parts of our lives.

A couple of trips to Ottawa allowed us to visit our two sons and numerous friends from the days when we called that city home. (It seems that there is never enough time to see everyone, and we jealously guard the time with our boys, so apologies to the folks we didn’t get to see.) Visitors from Florida, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Ontario stopped by our home in Halifax for a day or a few and we loved having their company for sea glass hunting, wine tours, sightseeing and relaxing times in our own garden, including the odd lobster feast, of course.

We do know how to throw a party in this city, and the music and entertainment went on all summer including Blues and Jazz and Busker festivals, beach volleyball championships, Fringe Theatre and Film Festival and just yesterday – Word on the Street with readings and signings and book sales galore. Halifax welcomed a number of Tall Ships in July and the waterfront was lined with sailing ships for a week. I volunteered with that Festival and, while checking bracelets and handing out information, found time to ooh and aah at the beautiful woodwork on Peacemaker, and the gorgeously resurrected and restored Larinda that was sunk in the harbour during hurricane Juan. Among many other ships, the huge American Coast Guard vessel, Eagle, tied up at Murphy’s Wharf and welcomed a steady stream of visitors, and the Spirit of Baltimore represented the graceful ships of the Chesapeake Bay. Nova Scotia’s Bluenose II has been undergoing a major refit and will be relaunched on Sept 29th in Lunenburg.

One of the most memorable evenings of the summer was the night of July 21 when the Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra played the 1812 Overture in a huge tent on the waterfront. The piece, composed by Tchaikovsky in the 1880’s to commemorate the liberation of the Russians during the Napoleonic Wars, used cannons and church bells in the grand finale, and the NS orchestra recreated the same effect. I cannot remember the last time Jim and I were part of a crowd that was so excited. As the music built to its finale, we watched cannons being loaded on the wharf outside the tent. And then right on cue, fireworks exploded in the sky, cannons boomed, church bells clanged and the crowd exploded with cheers and clapping hands. What a night! You can see it on the CBC News report at www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/.../2259512023/

Our cottage on the Northumberland Strait enticed us to leave the bustle of the city for the serenity of warm waters and endless sand bars. Jim said this was his favourite year there – probably because I didn’t make him scrape and paint all summer! Our glorious weather this year had a lot to do with it too, I think.

Along with old friends, Peggy and Glenn, we visited Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick for the first time and had the thrill of seeing a Fin whale breach behind our kayak as we paddled around the rocky shores. Another island outing was to Tancook Island that lies off Chester on the South shore. We picnicked on the beach, looked for sea glass, enjoyed ice creams and visited galleries and gift shops.

We tried to keep up on our hiking/walking outings – trekking out to Cape Split in the Bay of Fundy, climbing from sea level to the top and through the forests at spectacular Blomidon park, picking our way around the headland at Taylor Head park on the eastern Shore, and walking the trail left behind from the failed Chignecto Ship Railway that was to have moved ships and cargo from the Gulf of St Lawrence across the Isthmus of Chignecto to the Bay of Fundy back in 1880’s. The funding ran out and work was halted shortly before completion, and now there is just part of the trail and an old stone bridge and the memory of this wild and crazy idea.

As summer has drawn to a close, our thoughts are turning to our winter sailing season. The bin marked “Madcap” in the corner of our bedroom is starting to fill up. We’re reading the blogs of Mary and Blair on Strathspey (our Ottawa friends who were with us our first year out, and who are on their way south again), Alex and Dave on Banyan (who moved aboard their vessel and headed south from Halifax in August), and Nancy and Allan on Karma IV who are getting ready to leave Halifax shortly for points south.

As for our own plans … we’re taking a hiking trip to Utah in October and have a flight booked for Guatemala City on November 6th. It’s time to enjoy the last days in our garden, walk a few more hours on the sandbars, visit another venue or two for live music in the city, and keep making the lists and piling things in the bin.

When we started this journey 5 years ago, we didn’t know quite how it would all turn out. We spent 17 months on the boat then and loved it, but we have now evolved into a rhythm of roughly 6 months at sea and 6 months on land, and it seems to suit us well. Jim and I both hope you’ll follow along with us as we spend another season on the water.