Canada’s historic sailing vessel, the Bluenose II, will return to the sea on September 29. That good news has left the town of Lunenburg, N.S. awash with excitement. But that feeling is doubly true for the ship’s captain, Phil Watson.
“I’m itching so bad. I just want to go,” Watson told CTV’s Canada AM on Friday from Lunenburg.
Watson joined weather anchor Jeff Hutcheson at Lunenburg’s docks to share his memories from the Bluenose II as well as his thoughts on its restoration.
Watson first came to know the Canadian vessel in 1987, when he worked as a deck hand on the ship. He eventually became the ship’s captain in 2001.
During those years, Watson said the ship’s failing condition was not so easily observed by the naked eye.
“It was a very slow degradation. You didn’t really notice it until you took out pictures from the 1960s and 70s and looked at the ship. That’s when you really saw the difference,” said Watson.
Today, thanks to a $ $15.9-million restoration, the ship has been restored to its former glory.
Watson hopes to show that off to Canadians in the near future, when the Bluenose II will embark on a tour of Nova Scotia’s coastline towns.
“We want to show people their history,” said Watson.
The restoration of the three-storey vessel became a spectacle for visitors to Lunenburg.
The original Bluenose was built in 1921, and its replacement in the 1960s. The recent restoration restoration was manned by the grandsons of men who built the original vessel in 1929 –a fact that has intrigued tourists visiting Lunenburg.
With the exception of its modern navigation and propulsion equipment, the Bluenose II is an exact replica of the original vessel that found fame in the 1920s.
The fishing vessel raced against the fastest schooners of the day and never lost a race. Those exploits turned the ship into a maritime icon.
For those in Lunenburg today, including American actor and sailing enthusiast Billy Campbell, the launch of the Bluenose II on Sept. 28 will mark another thrilling moment for Canada’s history books.
“I love Lunenburg. I’m a wannabe Canadian,” Campbell said on Friday as he spoke with Canada AM’s Jeff Hutcheson from the port town’s pier.
Campbell first fell in love with big ships after reading the “Master and Commander” series of books by Patrick O’Brian.
“Halfway through I thought I’ve got to go sailing to really know what this author is writing about,” said Campbell.
Driven by his curiosity, the 53-year-old actor found a tall ship in Norway and crewed it for several months.
Campbell has since sailed around the world twice on a tall ship called The Picton Castle.
The star from the AMC series “The Killing” owns twin, 48-foot schooners that were built on the waterfront in Lunenburg.
Campbell’s schooners are the first boats of this size to have been built in Lunenburg in more than 30 years.
