Nova Scotia Atlantic Coast

Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove

Sunday, we visited Peggy’s Cove, one of the most picturesque areas on the coast. The granite here gets pounded by the surf creating stone formations that look like the back of a whale. The lighthouse here is the most photographed spot in Nova Scotia. They’ve kept a rustic look to the boats and buildings making the whole place charming. Since the weather wasn’t particularly nice, we didn’t have to fight the crowds to see the place.

Peggy's Cove

We headed along the coast to the fishing and shipbuilding town of Lunenburg.  Here we visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. I was worried about another nautical museum and as expected the aquarium part of the museum was disappointing. But we were fascinated by our guided tour of one of the fishing schooners. Our guide had been a captain for over 32 years of his 47 years at sea. His explanation of the challenge of fishing really made it all come to life. This was hard work. He admitted that the fisherman were at fault for the decline in the fisheries. They would have to go out farther and farther to catch fish, and would cheat at any opportunity – to increase their catch, even if it was illegal. For example, they would sell catch to foreign ships who weren’t allowed there and then continue fishing for their own catch. It eventually resulted in the closing of the fisheries off of Newfoundland.

The Bluenose racing

The other superb story was the story of the Bluenose. We watched the film and saw the many exhibits.  In 1921, after the America’s cup had been cancelled because of 22 knot winds, the men of Lunenburg and Gloucester, Massachusetts, decided to have a race between fishing schooners. The purse was put up by a local merchant, and Gloucester won that first year. The next year, they built a new schooner, the Blue Nose (named for how your nose looked after being out at sea). The Blue Nose easily won, though the race was close, until they turned into the wind. This ship continued to win every time it sailed. It became famous, and was on the 50 cent stamp, the back of the Canadian nickel, and even today is on the license plate of Nova Scotia. It was never defeated retiring the International Fishing Trophy to Lunenburg in 1938, the last race before World War II and the last of the fishing schooner races.