I have a cornucopia of photographs taking up an inordinate amount of space. I have stuff from various adventures over the years and I might as well DO SOMETHING with them. I mean, if they are going to occupy 1/3 of my 1TB hard drive they may as well be useful.

HOMEBODY ADVENTURES

One can expect to find an array of locations, primarily in Southwestern Ontario … I am a homebody really at heart.

This particular weekend in June 2008 was a new Toronto Harbour festival to feature the Tall Ships, and they had the Bluenose II in dock. Only certain Tall Ships can get through the locks at the Welland Canal, so Toronto doesn’t get some of the TALLER Tall Ships that the coastal areas get. None the less it is pretty neat to see re-constructions of old sailing vessels. Many of the designs are based on 19th century tall ships, and are modern constructed, but old at heart with all hand constructed fabrication

FACTOID: Many of the masts the British Navy used came from trees cut from all across Southwestern Ontario. The native White Pines where the tree’s of choice, as their trunks grow so tall and strait. White Pines of the size they once grew are rare in many areas of their original territory, due to this British desire for White Pine lumber for these masts. I’ve read where White Pines once rivelled the Red Pines of the West Coast.
(This Canadian moment was brought to you by …{insert Ad of choice} ) :lol:

We could subtitle this post “Adventures with Jane”. Jane’s a pal from my Baffin Island Yacht Club days. We had a fabulous day. She used to work as a Captain on one of the replica paddle boats that Tours the Toronto Island, so I had the commentary for part of my Toronto Island tour from the author of some of the script. You can look forward to those in a later post {once I find them}.

BLUENOSE II is a replica of the fishing schooner Bluenose which was built-in 1963 as a promotional yacht for Oland Brewery and became Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador in 1971. [Wikipedia]

From Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. And I love the Bluenose…love the history and the whole Canadiana of it. This day was a wee bit drizzly at first, but very appropriate conditions for a festival for the East Coast.

The crew of Bluenose were primarly students working their way through University. What a fabulous summer job. A couple of the American Tall Ship have trips you can go on and again many of the crew were students.

On our way out we came across this little guy. Apparently he lives in the Toronto Harbour most of the summer. He/she is a Black-crowned Night Heron.

Check it out – Red Path Waterfront Festival – Toronto – 2013

{Kudo’s to NivaLaDiva for the idea}