Heavy fog and strong winds at the entrance to Halifax Harbour complicated the arrival of tall ships Thursday.
The Picton Castle rolls in through the fog for the Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival in Halifax on Thursday.
(Ryan Taplin/Associated Press)
The coast guard escorted vessels in for this year's Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival, even putting pilots aboard to steer the ships safely into an unfamiliar port.
At the marine communications centre above the Bedford Basin, communications officer Brianna Brusdeilins watched the radar.
"Just making sure there's no vessels getting in the way of the larger ships," she told CBC News on Thursday morning.
It was her job to make sure the tall ships, yachts and oil tankers didn't collide in the fog blanketing the harbour.
Twenty-five vessels were expected for this year's pirates and privateers-themed festival, which officially began Thursday.
The harbour is usually a busy place, with container ships and small ferries moving about. But in addition to the tall ships, yachts were racing in from Marblehead.
However, it was the weather and not the volume of traffic that was creating challenges for navigators, said coast guard supervisor Brian Murphy.
"The weather at Chebucto Head was up to 30 knots of wind in dense fog, and those tall ships are light and they move around, so getting a pilot on-board is a very tricky situation," he said.
No problems were reported.
The tall ships are in Halifax for the next five days. Then they'll head to seven other ports throughout Nova Scotia, including:
- Lunenburg.
- Yarmouth.
- Pictou.
- Louisbourg.
- Sydney.
