Captain Watson

Pier 4
Charlestown Navy Yard

Good evening,

Well our last day in Boston has past and Sail Boston '09 is over. We have had a very good reception here with well over 16,000 people visiting the ship in just four days! Our guests were very inquisitive about the ship and Nova Scotia with many of them having some kind of connection to home. I had a wonderful visit today from a lady who was related to Cap'n Angus. She brought a folder of info for us to see and keep. More pieces to the puzzle of Bluenose and her greater meaning.

I took last night off and stayed in the hotel that had been supplied to the ship. I thought it would be great to have a long hot shower and to lie in a big comfy bed and watch the news. Nope, not gonna happen, at 02:36 the fire alarm went off and a rather grating, robotic voice informed me that there was an emergency and the building was going to be evacuated...into the rain. I suppose it was probably 0300 by the time all was said and done. I then spent the next hour trying to unwind and sort myself out and to stop worrying about the line of thunder squalls that were approaching. 0630 came early to say the least.

By 1000 I had managed to find some coffee and walk the half hour to the world trade center for the Captains meeting. We sorted out the order of departure for tomorrow and due to a variety of reasons, including our size and my preference for an early departure we will be the first ship out of the port at 0800. Our great friends the Picton Castle will depart at 0900 and will be the second ship out. This certainly won't be a parade of sail but as Capt Moreland said this morning it will be a pageant of sail. We will certainly try our best to put on a good show!

The crew are off on the town this evening with a fair number of them being entertained aboard other ships in the fleet. Sail training vessels do not have the same responsibilities as ambassador vessels and can easily host small (or sometimes large) get togethers on deck so the hands can trade stories about their ships. This to me is the true magic of these events and although it is very important for the public to see the vessels, to me, as a sailor, it is the talk among crews from different ships sharing a common experience is what these events are really about.

That's all for tonight,

Best regards,

Phil Watson
Bluenose II