We were booted out of the car near a good vantage point. I snapped a few photos of various watercraft milling about and the moored tall ships. I especially looked longingly at the brig Niagara and the replica Bounty, but there was a long line to enter (theoretically, our ride was just going around the block...ahem).

While I didn’t get any closeups, it was a nice view. A few well-tended wood craft skimmed across the harbour looking for all the world like beautiful little glossy toys. This critter, which appeared to have been doing duty as the Niagara captain’s gig, zig-zagged back and forth across the harbor several times before an encounter with a too-inquisitive powerboat almost clipped their wings. We watched it tie up alongside the Niagara and disgorge its passengers shortly thereafter.

Numerous people milled about in costume, although the multiple layers of 18th-century garb weren’t exactly suited for August temperatures. It was a bit overcast, but the crowd’s spirits were high...it was a little difficult to distinguish the adults from the kids! One felt a little sorry for the dozen folks dressed up in heavy trader costumes paddling across the harbor, but it was a dashing sight nonetheless. A number of kids were impressed by this and energetically played “fur trader” on the dock (how to play: shout “Daniel Boone” while leaping about; first person to get the look from Mom wins).

The replica Bounty in the distance looked inviting, but it wasn’t to be, even though we offered to sign up with the press gang roaming the docks! They seemed to feel a couple of white-beards weren’t going to make prime seamen. Well, well!

We hear the HMS Pandora is headed to Tahiti soon, so perhaps we’ll sign on with her...

All-in-all, a too-brief glimpse. In attendance were a number of smaller vessels, the 198' brig Niagara, the 137' schooner S/V Denis Sullivan, and the replica of the collier-turned-armed-transport, the HMS Bounty. Another headed out as we arrived, the Highlander Sea, a 154' schooner.