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September 18th, 2009 – Halifax, Nova Scotia
by Herb McCormick
(Sept. 18): In yesterday’s log I sang the praises of a book I loved, Leif Enger’s So Brave, Young, and Handsome, and it felt so good I’m going to do it again today. But this is going to be more fun, because of who the author is – a fine and intrepid sailor named Alvah Simon – and because on several levels his story is so very near and dear.
In the interests of full disclosure, I’ve known Alvah for several years now and, when it comes to the inter-related pursuits of sailing and writing about it, he has few peers. Alvah is a good friend, in the truest sense of the word, but I won’t sing the praises of his epic book, North to the Night, for that reason. Had I never met the man, I’d still consider it one of the best adventure books ever written.
Just a few short weeks ago, Ocean Watch negotiated the waters off Pond Inlet and Bylot Island north of the Arctic Circle, and today, we sailed into Halifax, Nova Scotia; these places, which have become such important and familiar waypoints on our own journey, serve as the backdrop at critical junctures in North to the Night. The book jacket provides a synopsis of the tale:
“In June 1994 Alvah Simon and his wife, Diana, set off in their 36-foot sailboat to explore the hauntingly beautiful world of icebergs, tundra and fjords lying high above the Arctic Circle. Four months later, unexpected events would trap Simon alone on his boat, frozen in ice 100 miles from the nearest settlement, with the long polar night stretching into darkness for months to come. With his world circumscribed by screaming blizzards and marauding polar bears and his only companion a kitten named Halifax, Simon withstands months of crushing loneliness, sudden blindness and private demons…”
So: Cheery, right?!
Without giving away too much of the story, I hope, Halifax – “…motley and mean. She spat, hissed, and tried to tear great hunks out of any hand offered…” – was named after the city where she was adopted and first came aboard. As the story progresses, several weeks later, Diana is whisked away by helicopter in urgent, dramatic fashion just as the long winter is about to set in, leaving Alvah alone…with Halifax. Here’s how Alvah describes the moment:
“(The helicopter) rose in a snow cloud, turned, and (was) too soon a speck on the vast Arctic sky. I stood there staring for a very long time, watching the sun and my wife, both sources of warmth and light in my life, disappear over the southern horizon. I have never known such silence.
“After a time, that stillness was broken by a soft sound behind me. I turned to Halifax and said, ‘You’ve been promoted.’”
Back here on Ocean Watch, the day progressed in less theatrical fashion. Skipper Mark Schrader described the final miles thusly in an abbreviated Captain’s Log:
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| “We are smashing our way over and through a short, choppy little sea, making 6.5 to 7 knots toward Halifax.” |
“The beautiful, clear, calm afternoon and evening conditions we all enjoyed just a few short hours ago changed overnight. First came darkness, then timid little rain squalls, then a steady rain with a rising wind, then the rain went away, the wind shifted about 100-degrees and increased to a steady 20-knots on the nose. Just before dawn we hauled in the second reef and added more Lugger (engine) power. We are now smashing our way over and through a short, choppy little sea, making 6.5 to 7 knots toward Halifax.
“The Nova Scotia coastline is in view along with a few ships and commercial fishing vessels keeping us company as we head towards Halifax. According to our shore team, Ocean Watch will be berthed at Bishop’s Landing, Halifax Harbor, until our departure on the 23rd.”
On Ocean Watch’s approach to the city, we had time to thumb through our onboard copy of North to the Night. We found Alvah’s description of his Halifax memories to be particularly useful – if nightmarish – background. He writes:
“We pressed on (from Maine) into America’s neighboring nation. Canada is captivating, in no small part due to Canadians. In cobble-stoned downtown Halifax, the Maritime Museum offered us free dockage. A yachtsman lent us a car for the day. An Air Force major introduced himself from the dock and took us on a tour of the waterfront.
“He explained that the city felt so new and orderly due to a tragic incident in 1917. Two munitions ships collided in the harbor, caught fire, and burned beautifully as thousands of the city’s residents watched the spectacle through their windows. The shrapnel from those windows exacerbated the injuries when the ships vaporized into the largest explosion of the pre-atomic era.
“The devastation, casualties, and deaths were unimaginable-and then it got worse. A blizzard beset the town before the survivors could crawl out of the rubble. An SOS was sent out and help poured in from around the Allied world, but most forthcoming were contributions and volunteers from Boston, Massachusetts. To this day, the city of Halifax annually sends a giant Christmas tree to the city of Boston as an expression of continuing gratitude.”
Well.
Happily, Ocean Watch’s arrival was far less combustible. After pounding our way upwind for most of the day, we
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| After pounding its way upwind most of the day, Ocean Watch finally turned the corner for the downwind run into the main harbor. |
finally turned the corner for the downwind run into the main harbor. There were sailboats about, a half dozen or so, the most we’d seen since leaving Seattle. We rolled past the commercial docks to the lovely waterfront and its long boardwalk, and tied up to a wharf a stone’s throw away. Friends and family were there to greet us. On a gorgeous Friday afternoon, the open-air cafes and taverns were doing a booming business. It was very, very good to be here.
A postscript: Halifax the kitty departed for the great catnip patch in the sky earlier this year, and though sorely, sorely missed, will never be forgotten. On the other hand, Halifax the city, on a sun-splashed afternoon, appears more than just fine.
- Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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