Paper Trail

Researchers have long known the benefits of reading through old issues of newspapers and periodicals for information about historical subjects. Items that were once "everyday news" help to back up primary research in a variety of topics. Whether your interest is genealogy, local history or other, more specific subjects, the publications from days of yore are bound to have interesting tidbits of information.

It isn’t necessary to have access to the actual newspapers or magazines. Microfilmed or digital copies of publications are often available for reading in museums, libraries and other research centres. They can sometimes be requested through inter-library loan. Of course, nothing truly compares with the sensation of reading original documents. One of my most thrilling research moments, when in university, came with the opportunity to read bound copies of original issues of "The Gentleman’s Magazine", which was first published in 1731, in London. Contrary to the implications of the title, it was a periodical that had a variety of articles, none of which were of a dubious nature. My quest for information had to do with an early archaelogical dig of Henry VIII’s castle of Nonsuch. Reading about the castle ruins, in dated language, helped to put me "right there" and I loved it.

This leads, however, to one of the perils of archival research. Unless you are particularly gifted with a strong sense of focus, your eyes will stray to interesting bits of news that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Sometimes the curiosities of the day will strike a responsive chord; the best advice is to bring plenty of paper, or make a special file in your computer, to record snippets too good to be missed.

Two such instances were found during the course of other research:

From the "Digby Weekly Courier" - February 2, 1906
Fish Story: Smelt Swallows Bottle Contains PEI Man’s Note

New York, Jan. 31. While cleaning a large bloater smelt that came in a consignment of fish from New York this morning, Fred Ivamy of West Second Street found in the fish’s stomach a bottle about the size of a man’s thumb. It was securely corked and contained the following message written on a small piece of paper. "Whosoever gets this note will confer a favour by replying to undersigned. Harry Durant, Margate, Prince Edward Island, Canada, January 4, 1906."
The bottle holding it was stamped with the firm name of the T. Eaton Company Ltd. Toronto and though almost as large as the smelt’s mouth could easily have been swallowed by it.

From the Lunenburg "Progress-Enterprise"
September 29, 1909
One day last week while D. V. Richard, of West LaHave Ferry was fishing about seven miles off Indian Island, he captured a seven foot shark. When the shark was opened he found a French briar pipe half full of shag tobacco. What an awful thing the tobacco habit must be when even the fish of the sea cannot keep clear of it, or is it possible the tobacco trust is looking for a new market?

Family Photographs #1

This is the first in a series of articles about the care and investigation of family photographs.

Many of us have family photographs that have been passed from one generation to the next. However, we’re rarely lucky enough to have the names, dates and locations included with these treasures. This leads us to try our hand at unraveling the mysteries of the image; while we may never be able to answer all of the questions (like "why" the group has gathered together), we can still learn a lot and have fun.

The historic images that you have are at their peak, in terms of condition. Each passing year adds to their deterioration; visuals fade, the paper becomes weaker and accidents happen. One of the first things that you should do is make a copy of the photograph. Scan it or take it to a professional photography studio. Keep the original in archival-quality storage (search on-line or ask at a local museum or photography shop) and then work from your copied image. If you are fortunate to have the original negative, store it in an archival negative sheet. Again, discussing your concerns with museum or photography specialists is a wise choice.

This is probably a good time to realize that the photographs that you have from your own immediate past require tender care. Scan them to ensure that the images have a viable future and make a written record in terms of who is in the photograph, when it was taken, if it was a special occasion and the location. Never write on the back or front of the photograph! If you keep the images in an album, write on a piece of paper and insert it behind the image; if you are making a scrapbook type album, write beneath the image. At the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic we often make a photocopy of a photograph and write on the photocopied page. In this way, we can mark on the image and not damage the original.

A further safety precaution is to keep copies of your images and the information in another location. You might consider making it a joint project with a relative, with each of you keeping copies. Remember, the finished product (or even the work-in-progress) makes a cherished keepsake for family members - a wonderful present to give and to receive!

A Fisher-Wife

Christina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), an outstanding poet in Victorian England, is best known for lengthy works, including "Goblin Market". However, her ability to capture depths of emotion within just a few verses should not be overlooked.

The following poem strikes a chord in all who live by the sea.

A Fisher-Wife

The soonest mended, nothing said;
And help may rise from east or west;
But my two hands are lumps of lead,
My heart sits leaden in my breast.

O north wind swoop not from the north,
O south wind linger in the south,
Oh come not raving raging forth,
To bring my heart into my mouth;

For I’ve a husband out at sea,
Afloat on feeble planks of wood;
He does not know what fear may be;
I would have told him if I could.

I would have locked him in my arms,
I would have hid him in my heart;
For oh! the waves are fraught with harms,
And he and I so far apart.

The Navy and Lunenburg

One of the new research projects at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is taking a look at Lunenburg and its relationship with the navy. Over the centuries, our port has been known as a fine harbour for vessels, and representatives of various navies have stopped in, dropped anchor and visited with us.

When the Fisheries Exhibition and Reunion was at its peak, during the mid-1900s, there was always a "navy boat" in port for the week. Most often the vessel was from the Royal Canadian Navy, but sometimes there were vessels from the American fleet.

The heyday of the relationship between the navy and Lunenburg certainly falls within the time period of the Second World War. Vessel repair kept the Lunenburg Foundry busy and the town did its best to welcome the sailors.

After the War, naval vessels maintained the good relationship, often visiting port.
If you have any stories regarding the navy and Lunenburg, we would love to hear from you. Please contact me at getsonhe@gov.ns.ca .

Hello Everyone,

While listening to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic’s Maud R.M., complete with the put-put-put of an authentic make-and-break engine, I’m reminded that our shoreline waterways were once the main highway for coastal residents.

Whether people travelled by sail power or were propelled by oars or eventually by marine engines, the little boats of the coast linked island dwellers with the mainland. Trips to shore were carefully planned, incorporating trips to stores, visits with friends and relatives and rare appointments with doctors.

When make-and-break engines were first developed, at the turn of the 20th century, they gave an element of security to isolated communities. People were no longer dependent upon the weather; if it was "flat calm" they were still able to get to shore. More importantly, unless there was a vicious storm, they were able to go to shore to get doctors and members of the clergy, if there was an emergency at home.

The simple mechanics of the first marine engines made them user-friendly for those who had no previous experience with machinery.

The make and break experience is still available, for those who visit the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The inshore boat replica, Maud R. M., putters around Lunenburg harbour at least once a week - and several lucky visitors to the Museum are able to take part in the tour!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Ship to Shore ...

Hello Everyone,

This morning, Lunenburg’s front harbour is like a pond of burnished silver, reflecting the colours of the sky, paused with an pregnant hush. Will it rain? Will it clear? We don’t know.

It is an easy thing to stand on land and look out to the ocean, wondering what the weather conditions might bring. It is an entirely different matter to be on the ocean, especially aboard a fishing vessel, and be at the mercy of the whims of nature.

Now-a-days, with computers and a multitude of ship-to-shore communications, sudden storms rarely arrive without some form of advance warning. Mariners no longer have to base their survival on the rhyming ditties of old, including:

Red sky in the morning,
Sailors take warning.
Red sky at night,
Sailor’s delight.

Sadly, the change in communication has taken place only within the span of a lifetime. The turning point for Nova Scotian schooners came with the August Gales of 1926 and 1927. Although the technology had been available before that date, fishing schooners were not equipped with receivers until after the horrific loss of life in the Gales.

Although the hurricanes hit along the shore and caused wide-spread destruction, the Lunenburg fleet was hit particularly hard. In those two years, 138 fishermen aboard six Lunenburg schooners were lost. One of the keenest felt aspects of the tragedy is that those on land knew of the approaching storms, based on weather reports. The men aboard the schooners had no such luxury and unwittingly faced a dark future.

After the 1927 Gale, the Province of Nova Scotia made arrangements to have weather signals sent via radio, from Cape Breton. The owners of the schooners were instructed to install radio receivers aboard their vessels. Those two simple acts, previously avoided because of the expense, undoubtedly saved countless lives.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Set Sail for Lunenburg!

Hello Everyone,

One of the most wonderful aspects of a Museum is that it can be the focal point in the sharing of history between those who have roots in an area and those who visit. Although this sharing of history happens every day, special events make the exchange even more meaningful.

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, is nearing its anniversary. Each year, on 23 July, we celebrate the history of the Atlantic fishery, especially as it pertains to the Canadian coast.

This year, on 23 July, we’re celebrating both the anniversary of the Museum and the 70th anniversary year of the schooner Theresa E. Connor. Theresa E. Connor is the flagship of the Museum and we are tremendously excited to be celebrating 70 years of her history!

Theresa E. Connor is the oldest saltbank schooner in Canada. In almost 30 years of fishing, the vessel never lost a crew member. During the course of her career, the vessel fished both fresh and salt fishing. This meant that sometimes the catch was preserved on ice (fresh) and sometimes it was preserved in salt (salt fishing).

If you’re planning to head our way on Wednesday 23 July, you’ll be highly entertained! Special events, musical entertainment and historical re-enactments are part of the celebrations. Theresa E. Connor will be open, free-of-charge to the public on that day! Retired fishermen and heritage interpreters will make the vessel come to life, with demonstrations and talks.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Memories - August Gales

Hello Everyone,

Every Nova Scotian coastal community owes some part of its history and prosperity to those who went fishing. Whether they worked from small inshore fishing boats or went to sea in schooners or trawlers, their life’s work meant prosperity for their villages and towns. The industry continues today and is just as important, although technology and the diminished fish stocks have changed the tenor of the activity.

Older fishermen often said, when pressed, that they did not like to talk to their families about the close calls that they had at sea. There was no point in worrying those at home and they were simply thankful to have survived.

Other stories became known, however, because of the extent of the tragedy that was involved. The fishermen did not live to come home; their loss made headlines, instead.

The August Gales that hit near Sable Island, in 1926 and 1927, took the lives of at least 138 Lunenburg-based fishermen. In total, six Lunenburg vessels were lost, with all hands. The tragedy did not confine itself to the Lunenburg area; devastation was felt all along the coastline.
In the August Gale of 1927, the last of the all-sail Gloucester schooners, Columbia, was lost at Sable Island. The crew of 22 were all from Nova Scotia, from the Queens County and Shelburne County areas.

One of the most poignant stories is that of Shelburne County crewman Allister Firth, who was just 17. He was lost with the rest of the crew, including his father, Arthur.

Young Allister did not want to go to sea that trip. He was a musician and wanted to play the violin. The family, however, was poor and the small wage that Allister could earn at sea was important. It became a source of great dispute between Allister and his father. On the day of sailing, the young lad hid in a closet in the home of a relative. His father found him, dragged him down the dock to the schooner, and threatened him that he had to go aboard Columbia and stay there. Arthur went and got their belongings and settled aboard the vessel.

Within weeks, the August Gale dealt crushing blows to the schooners caught in its grip. Columbia, with young Allister, was lost without a trace.

As a curious side-note, a few winters later, an American trawler was fishing in that area. It was night, but they were steaming along, when suddenly they caught hold of something heavy. The command was given to raise the trawl and, in the beam of light from the trawler, the crew was astounded to see the wreck of the schooner Columbia break the surface and pause for a few minutes. The lines then broke and the famous fishing and racing schooner dipped beneath the waves, for the last time.

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, has a detailed exhibit about the August Gales of 1926 and 1927, with photographs of many of the men who were lost.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Blowing in the Wind

Hello Everyone,

As noted several times, the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is perched on the edge of Lunenburg’s front harbour.

Our front harbour has been witness to a great deal of history. The month of June always puts me in mind of Lunenburg’s first settlers. The Foreign Protestants who first populated our town came in two small waves of settlement, arriving on June 8 and June 17.

The weather played havoc with the plans and good intentions of the British military, who organized the settlement.

The initial flotilla of 14 transport ships that brought the first Lunenburgers to port, left Halifax at the end of May. The trip was expected to take only a day or two, but provisions for one week were packed, to ensure victuals for the voyage and the first few days in their new home.

Unfortunately, crew members eager to embark on their voyage put the provisions deep in the holds of the vessels, along with the settler’s baggage. Food and water were inaccessible. While the vessels waited out a period of "flat calm breeze" (i.e., no wind), word was sent to Halifax that fresh provisions were required. Settlers and crew waited a week before they were able to get a good sailing wind. Very early on the morning of June 7th, they left a cove near Halifax and ventured forth.

The early hours of June 8 saw the first Foreign Protestants grace the surface of Lunenburg’s front harbour. The second wave arrived on June 17, after a mere two days at sea.

From that point onward, the fine settlers put down roots and established a world-famous seaport - although most of the first generation Foreign Protestants were farmers!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Hello Everyone,

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is heavily involved with the Toronto Nautical Festival, running this weekend (Friday, 20 June to Sunday). In addition to a fine display booth highlighting both the Museum and the town of Lunenburg, our boat builder is constructing a Lunenburg dory at the Festival.

The Province of Nova Scotia has also sent Lunenburg's fine ambassador, Bluenose II, to be the flagship of the event. The Province issued the following press release:

Nova Scotia's sailing ambassador, the world famous schoonerBluenose II, is sailing into Toronto, bringing with it the sights and sounds of Canada's seacoast province. The visit is part of the 2008 Nautical Festival at the Toronto Harbourfront Thursday, June 19 to Sunday, June 22. "We are thrilled to have Bluenose II at the Toronto Nautical Festival," said Bill Dooks, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "While she was born in Nova Scotia, Bluenose II is a symbol of endurance and achievement for all Canadians and remains a wonderful ambassador for our province."

The event will feature a Nova Scotian pavilion, including a wide range of industry professionals demonstrating new products, sharing experiences and offering samples from Canada's seacoast province. It will also give the public an opportunity to stroll the deck of Bluenose II.

Popular entertainers, such as the Barra MacNeils, will perform at the festival, immersing Toronto residents in Nova Scotia's rich and lively music. Information about Nova Scotia as a travel destination will be featured at the Nautical Festival. Included will be an outline of air travel options available to those interested in visiting Nova Scotia from Toronto's Pearson International and City Centre airports.

The original Bluenose was launched from a shipyard in Lunenburg on March 26, 1921. Because of wins in the races of Grand Banks schooners between Canada and the U.S., the Bluenose became known as Queen of the North Atlantic. In 1963, the ship's replica, Bluenose II, was launched from the same shipyard, also built by many of the same men who worked on the original Bluenose.

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If you're in Toronto this weekend, drop in an visit with our staff from the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Looks can be Deceiving

Hello Everyone,

Brightly painted red buildings on the waterfront in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia are eye-catching, gorgeous and almost a dime-a-dozen. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic stands out from the crowd, with a large parking lot and attractive flags at the entrance, but for those who approach by land and not sea, looks can be deceiving.

Many first-time visitors to the Museum have no idea how large the site is, with several inter-connected buildings, an authentic fishing schooner, a retired fishing trawler (both open to the public), a theatre, exhibits and an aquarium.

The boat shop, at the far end of the property, is often a hive of activity. The boat builder constructs dories, as well as special projects of various types of small boats.

The Whaling and Whales exhibit is tremendously popular, especially with school groups. A traditional, albeit Norwegian, whale arch frames the entrance. The arch is composed of the jaw bones of a fin whale. Laughter and excitement bubble to the fore, when students measure out the length of fin and blue whales, on the wharf.

Described as friendly and fascinating, the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic has many exhibits and activities for visitors. Rather than being "too small", the Museum offers delights that have enraptured visitors for many hours, as well as days!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Ride the Lobster!

Hello Everyone,

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is open for the summer season, with more activities and delights than you would ordinarily imagine.

One of the special events that came our way is the Ride the Lobster ( www.ridethelobster.com ) unicycle race! It is an international race, with 36 teams racing 800 km along the length of Nova Scotia (apparently we’re the crustacean-shaped province).

The cyclists came rushing through Lunenburg, yesterday, and the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic was one of the official check-in stations. It was simply amazing to see the riders balanced atop large unicycles, cycling at speeds of upwards of 25 km per hour. On the open highway, the more experienced racers are able to go even faster.

One of the special treats that we had on-site for the afternoon was a trio from the Lunenburg County Fiddlers. They blended into the festive spirit of the day, with their lively Down East music. One of the unicycle team members, a fellow from British Columbia, was ecstatic with the chance to listen and to perform with the group. A trained violinist, he has been picking up various forms of violin (or fiddle) music - and his dulcet tones and remarkable ability enriched the musical experience for everyone.

Ride the Lobster continues through the rest of the week, moving into Cape Breton for the grand finale.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Upcoming Season at Fisheries Museum

No matter what the season, one of the most delightful ways to spend a few hours, or an entire day, is a visit to Lunenburg’s Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Several major exhibits are open year-round, Monday - Friday (holidays excepted). In the winter and early spring, Wednesday mornings are Movie Mornings, with showings from the Museum’s heritage collection, at 10:00 a.m.

Full season programming begins on May 17, with visitors encouraged to explore many aspects of Nova Scotia’s maritime heritage. Exciting activities and a wonderful salt and fresh water aquarium engage people of all ages. Exhibit topics include rum running, losses at sea, the famous Bluenose and the history of fishing on the Banks.

2008 marks the 70th anniversary of the launch of Canada’s oldest saltbank schooner, Theresa E. Connor. The flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, Theresa E. Connor is a tribute to all schooners that plied their trade on the Banks. Stepping aboard the vessel is like going back in time, where you can see a schooner ready for work and talk with men who fished on the Banks.
Cape Sable, a steel-hulled side trawler, is also open to the public, with retired fishermen sharing stories of their times at sea.

Local maritime heritage is celebrated in many ways, at the Museum. Special events are scheduled throughout the season, but every day is a special day, with thrilling discoveries and activities. Visitors enjoy the ultimate waterfront experience, at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

The Courage To Do The Impossible ...

Marlon Brando in "Mutiny on the Bounty". Russell Crowe in "Master and Commander". Captain Angus Walters aboard the famous Bluenose.

What do these three men have in common? The connection is found through their vessels; the replicas of the HMS Bounty and the HMS Rose (later HMS Surprise) and the original Bluenose were all built at the Smith and Rhuland Shipyard, in Lunenburg Nova Scotia.

The replica of HMS Bounty was launched in 1960, to the cheers of thousands of Lunenburgers and visitors to the community. It sparked the movement to build a replica of our own Bluenose, and in 1963, Bluenose II slid down the ways at the Smith and Rhuland Shipyard.

In 1970, the replica of HMS Rose was constructed at the same Yard. Marine history buffs were delighted to see another part of nautical history come to life under the skilled hands of Lunenburg craftsmen. In 2003, HMS Rose was immortalized in the release of "Master and Commander", as the vessel HMS Surprise. In honour of that role, the name of the ship was officially changed to HMS Surprise.

The Smith and Rhuland Shipyard was one of the best-known shipyards in Nova Scotia. Located on the Lunenburg waterfront, the Yard produced more than one hundred fine ships. The Shipyard was the creation of Richard Smith and George Rhuland and was established in 1900. In their first year, they built two vessels: Palatia and Quisetta.

From 1900 until the mid-1970s, many vessel designs went from half-models to full-sized craft. Fishing vessels, like the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic’s Theresa E. Connor were built there, as were larger "ocean-going" ships. Vessels that were used for pleasure craft and in serious work went hand-in-glove with other, adventurous ships ~ like rum runners!

The mainstay of the Smith and Rhuland Shipyard, though, remained in the fishery. The fine vessels, the shipwrights that crafted them and the men who sailed them can all be brought together under the same tagline used in the movie "Master and Commander": The Courage To Do The Impossible Lies in the Hearts of Men.

For every fisherman who has gone to sea and for their brave families on shore, the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic celebrates their dreams and honours their sacrifices.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Lunenburg on the Money!

Hello Everyone,

We’ve always said that the smell of fish, when being made into various products at a fish processing plant, is the "smell of money". I’m sure that Lunenburg is not alone in that regard. Fish processing, whether it was in the days of salt fish or in modern plants, has been the economic backbone of coastal communities.

The Museum schooner Theresa E. Connor played a successful part in the economy of Nova Scotia, from 1938 until 1966. The vessel was originally owned by the Halifax-based National Fish Company.

However, Theresa E. Connor has an added connection with the Canadian economy. The Canadian one hundred dollar bill, issued from May 1976 until December 1990, had a picture of three vessels on the Lunenburg waterfront. It was part of the Bank of Canada’s "Scenes of Canada Series". The vessels were, from left to right, Lilla B. Boutilier, E. P. Theriault and Theresa E. Connor. The schooner Lilla B. Boutilier was the sister ship to Theresa E. Connor. The original photograph, from which the engraving was copied, dates to early 1939.

On 3 December 1990, the Birds of Canada Series one hundred dollar bill was first issued. The front of the bank note remained the same, with Prime Minister Robert Borden. The reverse showed the Canada goose.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

A Fish Gone Bad

Hello Everyone,

Perhaps the greatest disservice done to the good name of fish has been the wide-spread assumption that if something smells like a fish, it’s "off". It does not smell good. It has been part of our language for generations: if a statement seems "fishy", we know that there is something bad about it. A fishy excuse, as teachers all recognize, is no excuse at all!

A fresh fish has virtually no smell. In fact, it has a freshness of scent that is quite delightful.

A fish that is not so fresh, however, has that unmistakable smell of a fish gone bad.

When buying fish at your market, the sniff-test is essential. Yes, asking the fishmonger if the fish is fresh is a sensible question, but you need to examine the product before you buy it. Honest sellers may recommend buying fish and seafood frozen at sea, if their "fresh" fish is not top of the line.

Thoughts of fishy smells have transcended into misconceptions about fishing vessels. There are those who equate a fishing boat with a vessel that is unkempt and unclean. Any fisherman knows that the vessels and all of the on-board gear need to be kept scrupulously clean.

A description of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic’s Theresa E. Connor, from the November 1944 edition of "Canadian Fisherman":

While the gang were dressing down, I went below to the fish-hold to see what it was like. Located in the waist of the schooner, it was quite a lengthy compartment and also occupied the whole width of the vessel. Walls and partitions were painted white and shone dazzingly [sic] in the glow of the electric lights. The air below deck was clean and fresh and not stagnant and odorous with the smell of fish as I expected it would be. Were it not for the chill of the atmosphere I would have fancied myself in a hospital corridor. With our vessel just come from having been completely overhauled I thought that this cleanliness was exceptional, but some of the men working below assured me that such was not the case. "The fish-hold has to be clean," said one. "We have to keep washing these storage pens after every trip, or they would go sour on us and spoil the fish."

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Canada's Oldest Saltbank Schooner

Hello Everyone,

The flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is the retired fishing schooner Theresa E. Connor. Launched on 14 December 1938, from the Smith and Rhuland Shipyard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the vessel fished until the mid-1960s. In 1967, as Lunenburg’s Centennial of Confederation project, Theresa E. Connor was unveiled as the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum.

The schooner is important because it is representative of thousands of two-masted fishing schooners that plied their trade all along the Atlantic coast of Canada and the United States. In turn, crew life aboard Theresa E. Connor also speaks of the lives of hundreds of thousands of fishermen.

As a saltbank schooner, Theresa E. Connor fished on the fishing banks near Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as those nearer Nova Scotia. The men fished from dories and brought their catch back to the mother schooner. The fish, mostly cod, were cleaned and then preserved in salt, in the hold of the vessel.

Theresa E. Connor was launched into a time that included steel trawlers. The last of the schooners fished virtually side-by-side with side trawlers that hauled their catch aboard their vessels with huge nets.

The fishing history of Theresa E. Connor ended on a bitter-sweet note. In May 1963, Captain Harry Oxner prepared the schooner for one final trip to the Banks. With a few Lunenburg-area fishermen, he set sail for Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, to get the remainder of his crew.

Unfortunately, the steady march of progress and technology made it impossible for him to get additional crew members for the last salt fishing trip. No one was willing to undertake the danger and hard work of dory fishing, when they had the chance to go on trawlers. Although the work was still hard and dangerous, they did not risk the danger of being lost in a dory.

The schooner spent the remainder of 1963 fishing with cod traps, in the Labrador fishery. Theresa E. Connor continued to fish, in a reduced capacity, for Zwicker and Company (Lunenburg) until 1966. The vessel was then sold to the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of visitors have been welcomed aboard the schooner. The retired fishing captains who now work aboard the vessel share their experiences with people from around the world, keeping the memories alive for new generations.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Sailor's Valentines

Happy St. Valentine’s Day Everyone,

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic has many precious stories, artifacts and images in its collection. On a day like today, though, two items stand out above the rest: our Sailor’s Valentines.

Sailor’s Valentines are relatively flat, hinged boxes, often octagonal in shape. When opened, the viewer is treated to two panels (one in each half) of shells, which have been arranged in gaily coloured designs. Messages are sometimes included, with small seed shells spelling out words of devotion.

Mariners were often away from home for long periods of time. Although the best-known trips were aboard whaling vessels, the North Atlantic fishermen also had their trips "away". When the salt fish were properly cured (dried), the shipments were sent to places as far away as Spain, Portugal, England, the West Indies and South America. Some members of the fishing crews would spend months going to and fro, taking the salt fish to the buyers and returning with cargoes of rum, salt, molasses, bananas, coconuts and other items.

It was during their runs to the south, including voyages to the West Indies, that gave fishermen the opportunity to get shells to craft their Sailor’s Valentines. If they were not artistically inclined, a visit to the West Indies also gave them a chance to buy a Sailor’s Valentine already fashioned with the exotic local shells.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Fish Flakes

Hello Everyone,

Now-a-days the bright red buildings of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic are so much a part of the Lunenburg waterfront that it is difficult to imagine the structures that dotted our shoreline in years past.

Memories and old photographs help to fill in the gaps. Museums depend greatly on oral histories and reminiscences from older generations. Photographic images capture moments in time and help to flesh out the stories.

When I was a child, long before I began work at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, my father told me stories of the fishing schooners, the crews, the captains and the Lunenburg waterfront. I was able to see, through his words, images of things that were no longer in evidence.

Fish flakes were part of that rich heritage.

Does the expression bring to mind tins of flaked tuna or salmon? That’s not what we mean, when we speak of fish flakes.

Fish flakes were roughly hewn structures of wooden poles and branches, located near the shoreline. Salt fish were carefully placed on the flakes and dried in the sun. The people who manned the flakes were sometimes called "fish makers". (The image of the fish makers, at the top of this blog, dates to the 16th century, when European fishermen dried their fish at Newfoundland.)

When the schooners returned home with their freshly salted catch of fish, the fish still needed to be dried, to help in their preservation. Men, women and children all helped in the careful drying of the fish. They made certain that the fish were not scorched by the sun, nor were they exposed to the rain. It meant that for several weeks, the flakes had to be constantly tended.

The time on the fish flakes was a critical time in the fishery. Fish that were damaged during the drying process did not get a good price when the fish companies sold the finished product.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

It's Good For You!

Cod Liver Oil

Did your spine seem to shiver, when you read those three words?

If so, then you are probably one of countless individuals, from around the globe, who had to shudder and swallow your morning dose of cod liver oil, with the parental admonition of "It’s good for you!"

Others grew up with a daily ration of halibut liver oil and still some of us had the added bonus of having it given to us in capsule form, rather than the golden liquid in a spoon. A word to the wise: no matter how much trouble you have when swallowing a capsule, do not give in to the urge to bite it.

Now-a-days, the health benefits of an omega-3 oil rich diet are well documented. It just so happens that cod liver oil is an excellent source of this nutrient. Our parents knew what they were talking about, when they said that it would keep us healthy!

Whether we consume the fish oil in the liquid or encapsulated form, we are ingesting processed oil from the fish livers. It’s a step up from what the hardy fishermen of the North Atlantic often took, while at sea.

The schooner fishermen carefully preserved the cod livers in barrels, or butts. The butts were in place amidships, on the deck of the schooners. The oil would be rendered from the livers by putting a metal "stack" deep into the butts. This stack resembled a chimney pipe and held burning hot coals. The heat caused the livers to release the oil.

During the worst of the fishing seasons, when the price of fish was exceptionally low, the fishermen would sometimes earn more money from the sale of the cod liver oil than they did for their catch of fish.

How tough were the fishermen? Many fishing trips have been described with the comments that the fishermen, when they would first come on deck in the morning, would go to the liver butts, take a scoop of raw liver oil and drink it without a blink of an eye.

The thought of it is almost enough to make us feel nostalgic for the spoons of processed oil that were offered to us!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

March Break Ahead!

Hello Everyone,

Glimpses of sunshine and a renewed freshness in the air give hope of springtime, even when we are going from pillar to post between snowstorms.

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, is making plans to celebrate during next month’s spring break for school students. The March Break takes place between March 10 - 14, in Nova Scotia.

Special events will be held each day, at the Museum. Highlights include building your very own Styrofoam tugboat with the help of the South Shore Ship Modeller’s Guild. This enthusiastic group of volunteers will be at the Museum on Friday, March 14, with the programme running at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Other activities will include films, crafts and stories. Our aquarium, as well as other exhibits, will be open to the public, ensuring that there is something fun for everyone!

Please check our website, http://fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca for updates for the March Break Special Events. Pre-booking for registration will ensure that you have a space. Registration can be done by email, smithls@gov.ns.ca or by calling the Museum at 902-634-4794.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Dory Fishing

Hello Everyone,

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is perched on the edge of Lunenburg’s front harbour. In fact, we’re actually out over the edge, between land and sea, with some of our buildings and the wharves. Our largest vessels, the schooner Theresa E. Connor and the trawler Cape Sable, float alongside, at dock.

Lunenburg really does offer the best of both worlds: history is alive within this UNESCO World Heritage Site and modern technology thrives, with businesses such as HB Studios and Composites Atlantic.

Given that this is not the land where time stood still, it is heartening to look out at the harbour and see authentic Lunenburg dories being rowed. The young women and men who practice their rowing skills in the dories are doing it for many reasons, including the International Dory Races, which are held each year.

The Lunenburg Dory is as essential to the story of the schooner fishery as the larger vessels themselves. Dory fishing changed the landscape of Lunenburg and all coastal communities that were involved in the schooner fishery.

Although there is scholarly debate in terms of when dory fishing began, the date is usually set in the 1850s. As late as the 1830s-1870s, fishermen fished from the decks of the schooners, each using one or two long fishing lines. This began to change on this coast in the 1850s, when enterprising American fishermen began to go out in dories, from the mother schooner. This was called "single dory fishing", as each dory contained only one fisherman. They still fished with one to three lines (one would be tied to a tholepin).

In the 1860s, double dory (larger dories with two men) fishing changed the schooner fishery forever. Instead of a few lines, with one or two hooks each, fishermen now set long lines of trawl, with thousands of hooks per dory. The resultant economic boom in the fisheries meant that communities enjoyed financial rewards far beyond anything that had gone before that time.

In Lunenburg, double dory fishing began in 1873, with Captain Benjamin Anderson at the helm of the schooner Dielytris. He took four dories and a crew of 13. Four other vessels were similarly equipped and went with him to the Western Banks, near Sable Island. The companion schooners went home, quickly disheartened with the experiment. Captain Anderson stayed on and had a very successful fishing trip.

Dory fishing caused such a dramatic change in the industry that Lunenburg went from a fishing community with 15 schooners, in the mid-1800s, to a thriving port that was home to more than 100 schooners at the turn of the 20th century.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Bluenose II

Hello Everyone,

When I look out my office window, at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, part of my immediate view is of the ratlines of the schooner Bluenose II. A closer look reveals the masts and deck of this famous sailing ambassador of Nova Scotia.

Bluenose II is owned by the Province of Nova Scotia and is operated by the Board of Directors of the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society. This same organization operates the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic for the Nova Scotia Museum.

Bluenose II is history renewed, revitalized and alive. Built at the Smith and Rhuland Shipyard, here in Lunenburg, in 1963, Bluenose II is a tribute to the original Bluenose, built at the same Yard in 1921.

The original vessel won international acclaim as the undefeated champion of the North Atlantic. Bluenose raced against the best of the American fishing schooners, in the International Fishermen’s Series, from 1921 to the last race in 1938, winning each Series. The schooner was a fishing vessel, a racer and an ambassador, travelling as far as England during the King’s Jubilee in 1935.

Bluenose II has made her own splash in history and continues to bring the experience of going to sea alive for both crew and visitors. Each year, Bluenose II travels to a variety of ports and welcomes thousands of visitors aboard. Short cruises are available, when weather permits.
Nothing compares to the sound of the sails filled with a breeze, on the great Atlantic, or even in the waters of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.

In 2008, the ports of call include Gaspé, Montréal, Toronto, Quebec City, Gloucester and, for the first time, Sainte-Pierre.

The website for Bluenose II contains up-to-date information about the comings and goings of the schooner. http://museum.gov.ns.ca/bluenose/index.htm

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Under the Seas!

Hello Everyone,

The aquarium at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, gives visitors a chance to get up close and personal with a variety of species that are important to the east coast fisheries.

The centrepiece of the display is a large vista tank, which holds 22,706 litres (6000 gallons) of water. It is home to a variety of salt water species, all living in harmony with each other. It’s not unusual for visitors to see a haddock or cod come to the surface, to take a look around! If you look closely, you are apt to see a large lobster nestled into the rocks, at the bottom of the tank.

Fishermen sometimes help us with the most interesting examples of lobsters. Over the years, blue lobsters, white albino lobsters and those that are half green and half red have resided with us, all courtesy of enterprising fishermen who decide to donate their freshly caught crustaceans to the Museum.

The aquarium is one of the largest in Atlantic Canada, with eleven salt water and three fresh water tanks, operating with three enclosed water systems.

Popular with all ages, the displays of fish and shellfish are augmented with colourful, descriptive panels of text and images. Museum staff are stationed in the area, especially during the full open season from May to October, and provide lively talks and detailed information about the species.
Interactive touch screens allow visitors to explore the underwater world. Tantalizing questions such as: "Do fish sleep?" "How can you tell a cod's age?" "How do lobsters grow?" combine with modern technology to make learning highly entertaining.

The inhabitants of the aquarium live in a calm, tranquil environment that offers a pleasing area for contemplation and enjoyment for visitors to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Green Fishing

Hello Everyone,

One of the most fascinating exhibits at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg Nova Scotia, is a Parks Canada installation called The Bank Fishery ~ Age of Sail. The exhibit covers a 400-year period of fishing on the banks of the North Atlantic.

Detailed models of the vessels provide the highlight of the experience, covering the time of green fishing (1500s - 1700s) through to the schooners of the 1930s.

Green fishing means that the fish that were caught and salted were still wet when the vessels returned to their ports. The fleets from France were outfitted with large amounts of salt, which were readily available to them because of their unending supply of solar salt, at home. The fleets from Britain did not have the same amount of the resource and had to go ashore, usually at Newfoundland, to partially dry their catch in the sun.

The method of fishing, in these early years, is almost unimaginable by today’s standards.
The vessels were square-rigged, which required a large enough crew to climb the rigging and set the sails. This same crew did the fishing, from the deck of the vessels, while standing in tall barrels. The barrels were used for stability and to provide some semblance of warmth. The men would lower their fishing lines, which were usually at least 300 feet long, and would work for 10 or 12 hours, hauling the then-huge cod to the deck, all by hand.

The men were paid according to the number of fish that they caught. In order for the captain to keep an accurate tally, the tongues of the fish were cut out and driven on a short iron pole, one for each fisherman.

Research based on logbooks and legal depositions from the time period show that the amount of fish caught varied greatly. One voyage, in 1754, on the Saint-André, of Honfleur, France, showed that in some weeks the average catch per man was 10 fish per day. At other times, the men averaged 100 or more on a daily basis! Considering that some of the cod would have weighed several hundred pounds, the effort of hauling the deadweight of the fish aboard the vessel, from at least 300 feet, would have been backbreaking, dangerous work.

A common practice was that whoever caught the lowest number of fish, each day, had to clean up the deck and working areas, while the other men were able to go to their meals and bunks.
The men came to know coastal areas of what is now Canada with great intimacy. Some of the men from Britain eventually settled in ports of Newfoundland, making the fishery a leading contributor to the settlement of Canada.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Fishermen's Mittens

Hello Everyone,

As I’ve mentioned before, we might have a tendency to mock those who faithfully follow superstitions related to the sea, but we should have more respect for them. Especially in the years before ship-to-shore communication, the stress of living and working within a fishing community was profound. People were determined to be as positive as they could be, since fishing was the only way of life available to them, but the very real dangers that were faced daily could not be ignored.

One of the ways in which many mariners and their families felt that they had some control over their lives came in the form of superstitions.

One superstition focused on the colour of mittens worn by fishermen.

Home-made mittens were used by both inshore and offshore fishermen. The women in the families would often knit thick, large wool mittens for their loved ones. The mittens would shrink from the cold Atlantic waters, and would become almost water-tight.

In Nova Scotia, the mittens were often made of white wool. Mittens with any colour were thought to bring bad luck. There is a story told of one captain of a fishing schooner who, after discovering that a member of the crew had brought grey mittens with him, turned the schooner around and returned to port. The offending mittens were removed from the vessel. There are many other stories where coloured mittens were thrown overboard.

Why was the colour of mittens important? Undertakers often wore gloves that were grey. A connection was made that coloured gloves and mittens were harbingers of death.

It was only a small part of life aboard a fishing schooner, like the Museum’s Theresa E. Connor, but it was important. It helped to give a sense of comfort, to both the men at sea and their families at home. Fishermen’s mittens are made on site at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, here in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Hello Everyone,

When you visit Lunenburg and the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, you can be assured of an experience that focuses on excellence and authenticity.

Our streetscapes are filled with structures that are proudly maintained and painted in almost every colour of the rainbow. "Red" is the colour of choice along the waterfront and the Museum buildings are gleaming examples of that selection. The bright buildings beckon with the promise of activity, fun and a look into the seafaring history of Atlantic Canada.

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic sits on the edge of the waterfront, complete with the vessels Theresa E. Connor and Cape Sable. During the summer we have full programming, which includes excursions in the harbour with one of our smaller vessels, the Maud R.M. The sounds of the make-and-break engine aboard the Maud R.M. fill the air, taking us back to the turn of the 20th century. In those days, the put-put-put sound was familiar all along the coast, when the water ways were the highways for those who lived next to the ocean.

Whether you come by land or by sea, we look forward to sharing our stories and experiences with you.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Looking into the Past

Hello Everyone,

Lunenburg is lovely in all seasons. This morning, the beauty of the harbour and the skyline was breathtaking. Overlapping strokes of lavender and blue nestled together, painting a picture that renewed spirits in this last week of January!

It made me wonder how many eyes have looked to the mouth of the harbour, and the many scenes that were observed over the years.

The old time schooner fishery of Atlantic Canada saw schooners that were away from their home ports for months at a time. Families had a vague sense of when their loved ones would return, but it was far from an exact science. The summer trip, which was the longest, easily stretched from June to September. Vessels could return to port in the first days of September, or circumstances might keep them away until October.

There was no method of direct communication from ship to shore. Letters could be sent back and forth, but that was only from one vessel to another, if one of the schooners was headed to port. If the fishermen had to stay at sea to get more fish in their holds, they often stayed.

The uncertainty at home was keenly felt. The delay could mean one of two things: the vessels could be engaged in fishing, or they might have been caught in a storm or cut down by a steamer.

When schooners rounded Battery Point and entered Lunenburg’s front harbour, the sigh of relief would have been palpable. The only added hesitancy would have come if a schooner had their flags at half-mast. This would indicate that the vessel had lost one or more of its crew.

Many eyes have been drawn to the Lunenburg harbour, for many reasons. It is ever changing in its beauty and is a picture that is worth more than just a thousand words!

If you have an opportunity to visit the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, you’ll be captivated by the exhibits and the people. It’s a true showcase of Atlantic Canada’s heritage. Come to see the waterfront for yourself!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Mug Up!

Hello Everyone,

Aboard Lunenburg schooners, mug ups meant ‘lassie cookies and big, steaming cups of tea. Huge slabs of fresh bread, butter and molasses. Tea biscuits and baked beans. A little bit of whatever you could "lay your hand to".

"Mug ups" were an important part of life aboard fishing schooners. The men would go to the galley and have a hearty feed, whenever they could take a break. It was a time to re-fuel themselves, have a momentary sit down in the forecastle and warm up before going back to work or going to their bunks.

The cook and the galley stove had few breaks. Bread, cookies and full meals had to be kept at the ready. Even during the poorest of times, the owners of the vessels understood that the crews needed to be well fed. Healthy, contented fishermen were able to work with all their strength; a crew that was half-starving couldn’t fish the North Atlantic with any success or degree of safety.

‘Lassie (molasses) cookies were favourites of crews from Lunenburg. They were huge, usually soft and always a treat.

The term "mug up" made an easy transition from ship to shore. It was used in coastal communities by the mid-1800s, if not earlier, to describe any snack throughout the day or evening. From the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: "Had a mug up at the Skipper’s house, after which he and one of his men took me in their punt and rowed me up to the head of the Arm." (Manuscript, Howley, 1869)

Mug ups are special events at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. This coming summer we plan to have them to help celebrate the 70th anniversary of our schooner, Theresa E. Connor. ‘Lassie cookie, anyone?

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

She Sells Sea Shells ...

Fine dining, especially in seafood restaurants, often involves succulent scallop dishes. Whether they are wrapped in bacon and broiled, pan fried or in a chowder, scallops can be prepared and enjoyed in many ways.

The final presentation of scallops on a dinner plate, however, bears little resemblance to the bivalve in the wild. Many visitors to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic are astounded when they visit our aquarium and see what a scallop "really looks like".

The scallops that we eat are actually only one part of the entire scallop. Neatly enclosed within two curved shell halves, the edible meat is the adductor muscle. The muscle is well-developed, since scallops swim by using the muscle to open and close their shell. The clapping motion can sometimes result in the scallop making a sound, as it moves along the ocean bottom.

Scallops have been well-represented in ancient rites (often as fertility symbols), used by Christian pilgrims as a sign of devotion to a particular Saint and have been heraldic symbols. The family crest of Sir Winston Churchill includes scallops.

They also appear in many well-known paintings, including Botticelli’s "The Birth of Venus".

Whether your interest in scallops is culinary, historical or of an aquatic nature, you can enjoy your fill at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

The Nova Scotia Museum has an excellent page about scallops at http://www.seasidelive.ca/oceansliveEnglish/ Click on "3D Creatures" and it will take you to the section that includes an interactive unit about scallops.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Beauty: In the Eye of the Beholder

Hello Everyone,

Some of the most beautiful sights in the world are framed through my office window, here at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Visitors to the Museum see it on a grander scale, of course, since they are able to stroll along our wharves or watch from the decks of our vessels.

Lunenburg’s front harbour is both picturesque and the foundation of industry.

A few minutes ago I watched an inshore fishing boat returning to port. The light green hull cut neatly through the water and the resulting wash of waves was an ever expanding series of V’s.

Yes, it’s all very pretty and we could easily be lost in the momentary beauty.

The inshore boat, though, is coming back after hours of lobster fishing. The boat left near dawn, joining others from the area, and chugged its way out to its lobster traps. The traps were then hoisted aboard the boat, lobsters removed, bait refreshed and the traps reset. No matter how warmly the fishermen dress, the North Atlantic is freezing cold in the winter. No matter how numb your fingers, you still have to be able to handle the lobsters with a degree of dexterity, or risk having a crustacean grab hold with a feisty claw!

Lobster seasons vary in the Maritimes. Lunenburg is in Fishing Zone 33, with the season being from the last Monday in November to 31 May. The fishermen are not able to work during the entire period of the season, due to poor weather conditions.

Fishermen are also involved with the Federal government, in efforts to maintain a healthy stock of lobsters. If they catch any female lobsters with their tails "berried" (having eggs ~ they look a bit like berries), they place a V-shaped notch in the tail and then release the lobster. The notch is visible for years and it is illegal for anyone to catch and keep a notched lobster. Other conservation efforts include releasing lobsters that are under a certain length or weight.

All in all, lobstering is a labour intensive, difficult job.

It’s good to keep that in mind, when admiring the beauty of the seacoast and the attractive lines of the boats!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Sticking Tommy

Hello Everyone,

The object pictured above is one that could once be found in the thousands, but is now, to quote an older member of the community, "as scare as hen’s teeth".

It is called a Sticking Tommy.

In effect, it is a portable candle holder and was used extensively in the schooner fishery.

The two points are used to "stick" the Sticking Tommy. If a fisherman needed extra light in the hold of the vessel, he would stick the horizontal point into a post or beam. If they needed light on deck, the end point would be driven into the rim of a barrel or some other upright structure.

The Dictionary of Newfoundland English (University of Toronto Press, 1982) refers to such objects as a tommy-sticker, with the following definition:

tommy-sticker: makeshift candle-holder. "When we’d want to stick the candle up for to burn, where he wouldn’t burn the wood, we had a tommy-sticker. There’s a cone-shape in the top-end large enough for the candle to go into, and a point, a spear on the end, and another spear on the side where we could stick him up perpendicular or stick him up on the side of the ship, or anywhere."

Similar objects were used in coal mining.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

When Cod was King

Cod.

For some of us, the word "cod" evokes a series of images that are reminiscent of Kipling’s Captains Courageous. Men working with and against the cold North Atlantic, engaged in backbreakingly hard work. The all important daily catch of fish. The careful salting and preserving of it. The race homeward, to get the best prices and to see loved ones, after months on the Banks.

Around here, the cod were so important that if you said the word "fish", you were actually talking about cod. Lunenburg was at the centre of an economy that saw hundreds of schooners set sail every year and sent thousands of quintals of salt fish to the West Indies. The economy was international and flourished for more than 200 years.

Until the collapse of the fisheries, due to over-fishing and mismanagement of the natural resource, cod were the mainstay of the industry. The expression "Cod is King" was more than just a saying; it was a mantra for a way of life.

Fishing for cod, whether aboard a colonial schooner or in the dories that came later, was hard work. Unlike the thrill of a sport fishery, once you catch your cod you don’t have to fight to bring the fish to you. Cod are normally found within six feet of the bottom. Due to the change in water pressure, the fish immediately loses any resistence. The difficulty, back in the old days, was in the weight of the fish. It was not uncommon to have to haul, by hand, a cod that weighed 100 to 300 pounds ... a complete deadweight.

With the freezing spray of the North Atlantic hitting the fishermen and a good chance of being bathed in a thick fog, fishing for cod was never easy.

The cod were salted in the hold of schooners, like the Fisheries Museum’s Theresa E. Connor, and when the hold was full, they returned home. On land, the fish were dried and carefully preserved. Fish that were landed at Lunenburg in September would eventually find their way to various places, including the West Indies and Portugal, by December or January.

Although the captain, the cook and the mate were all paid in September, the remainder of the crew had to wait until the proceeds from the sail of the salt fish arrived home. This meant that the labours of work from March to September were often not rewarded until February of the following year.

Once the bills were paid, the families of fishermen continued to live their frugal existence.

The stories of fishermen and their families are part of the reason for the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Our retired fishing captains, aboard our schooner Theresa E. Connor and the trawler Cape Sable, share their experiences with visitors. Museum interpretive staff share their knowledge through programmes and conversations. Exhibits chronicle the best of times and the worst of times, from times of prosperity to occasions of losses at sea.

We will always remember.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Old Town Lunenburg

Hello Everyone,

We talk about the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, here in Lunenburg Nova Scotia, but we haven’t really said very much yet about the town of Lunenburg.

The community was founded in 1753. The first Lunenburgers were called Foreign Protestants by the British, who brought us here to settle the land.

Most of us spoke only German; we were from the same areas as those who became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. In fact, it was because the Pennsylvania Dutch were such good settlers that caused the British to advertise for more of them, approximately twenty years later!

If those first Lunenburgers could return today, there would be aspects of the community that would be familiar to them. Lunenburg is the only colonial settlement to have retained the grid pattern that was used by British military planners, when creating a new town or city. The architecture, mostly of wood, reflects the entire evolution of the town; there are buildings from the 1700s right through to the present time.

In 1995, UNESCO designated Old Town Lunenburg as a World Heritage Site. If you check the UNESCO link on this page, it will take you to more detailed information about the designation.

Most of all, though, Lunenburg is a vibrant, living community at the edge of the sea. We’re not trapped in a bell jar; time has not stood still in Lunenburg, although the chapters of our history have been carefully noted and preserved.

Lunenburg captures the essence of seafaring Atlantic Canada. Beauty, charm, industries and celebrations are in full abundance. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is located on the historic waterfront, in Old Town Lunenburg.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Red Sky in Morning ...

Hello Everyone,

Looking out at the harbour this morning, it’s easy to see that another winter storm is approaching. The normally calm surface is breaking, with wave over wave, and whitecaps are already in evidence. The sky was pregnant with the promise of "weather", at daybreak. It seemed so heavy and ripe that I reached out with my fingers, as if to touch the sky.

Mariners of old had to rely on what they saw and what they felt, in order to judge the weather. Their ability to read the signs was critical to the very survival of their vessel and their crew. In this day and age, we have G.P.S. units that tell us when we have arrived home and we have access to instant weather reports. Years ago ... but still into the 1930s for many North American fishing schooners ... mariners had no such means of assistance.

Old sayings, like "Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning" were not only catchy phrases. Mariners would take note of the colours of the sky; if there was a lot of red in the morning, it meant that there was a strong chance of a storm.

Those of us who live next to the sea understand that we have countless reasons to be thankful to the mariners who risked their lives in every moment of their profession. Whether they were part of the crew of sailing ships that transported freight or if they were fishermen, plying their trade, they made it possible for families on land to survive and prosper.

That they were able to do it all without the navigation aids that exist today is nothing short of a miracle and is a tribute to their determination and hard work.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Knock three times

Hello Everyone,

No, the title isn't meant to be read as lines from an old song.

If anyone from Lunenburg and the surrounding area hears three knocks and there is no apparent source, it means only one thing: we've heard a forerunner.

Forerunners are never meant to be nasty or evil. They are warnings that someone we know, most often someone related to us, will die within three days of hearing the knocks. It's generally felt that this is to give us time to brace ourselves for the news of the loss.

There are stories of those who have been lost at sea who have come, in almost a ghostly apparition, to announce the news themselves. In many of these stories, the news of the loss of the fisherman is not confirmed for weeks. When the confirmation is received, it is revealed that the loss took place at almost the exact same time as the "forerunner".

While we don't pretend to know everything, there have been countless stories of forerunners in Lunenburg County, for many generations. Many of these stories conclude with confirmation of the passing of a loved one.

As Shakespeare once wrote, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Lunenburg "hung on a fish hook"

Hello Everyone,

There’s an old saying that Lunenburg "hung on a fish hook". It means that the future and good fortune of the town relied completely on the success of the fisheries.

For most of our 255 year history, this has been accurate. The first generation of Lunenburgers consisted mostly of farmers. By the time of the second generation, we were well established as a place for shipbuilding and for fishing.

Like many coastal communities in Atlantic Canada, we starting fishing close to shore, then moved out towards the various fishing banks of the North Atlantic.

Canada’s oldest saltbank schooner, Theresa E. Connor, is the flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Launched in December 1938, the schooner was born into a time of danger on the Banks. The Theresa E. Connor did not start fishing until the first months of 1939; in less than a year, the world was at war, again.

Fishing schooners were in danger from enemy U-boats as well as from convoys and large shipping vessels. Torpedoed and cut down, men and vessels were lost at sea.

Theresa E. Connor survived the war years. Equipped with an engine, as well as sails, the men fished from little dories and salted their catch in the hold of the vessel. Eventually the Theresa E. Connor went fresh fishing, as well. This meant that the men still fished from the dories, but the fishing trips were shorter, as the catch was put on ice in the hold. Since the fish were not salted, they were "fresh".

The spirit of adventure has not dimmed along the Atlantic coast. A visit to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic guarantees memories of the best of Nova Scotia!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Where Down is Never Up

Hello Everyone,

Planning a visit to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia? You’ll find that the folks are generally very friendly, the food is incredible, the tours of the town are fun and the museums are fabulous. We’re also one of Atlantic Canada’s leading cultural communities, with 19 art galleries. Old Town Lunenburg maintains its charm as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This all takes place within a community of 2,300 people!

Superstitions have had a way of creeping into the lives of Lunenburgers for as long as memory can recall. Although some of the habits seem comical, it’s important to realize that the superstitions originated as a way for people to feel that they had control over uncontrollable aspects of their lives. In the age of sail, when loved ones were away from home for months at a time, families would do anything that they could, to protect those who were on the North Atlantic.

In my childhood, I watched my mother carefully follow the same ritual, each time she baked bread. The hot loaves would be carefully tipped, partly to one side, and eased out of their pans. They were then put upright, on cooling racks.

This didn’t seem odd to me. It was only after I began working at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic that I discovered that it is an age-old tradition. Whenever there were friends or family at sea, the women would never turn a pan upside down ... nor would they turn a loaf of bread upside down. The fear was that if they did, the schooner on which their loved ones were sailing would be caught in a storm and would capsize.

As I said, this was a way of dealing with daily fears. A strong belief in the superstitions gave a sense of control in lives that were forever fraught with uncontrollable elements of nature.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Threescore and Ten!

Hello Everyone,

2008 is a special year at the Museum. The last of Canada’s saltbank schooners, Theresa E. Connor, is 70 years old this year!

The Museum had its start aboard the schooner, in 1967; since then we’ve grown to occupy a set of buildings that once housed a huge fish processing plant, a carpenter shop, boat building shop and an ice house. Theresa E. Connor is now joined at wharf side by the trawler Cape Sable, giving a well-rounded view of fishing on the banks of the North Atlantic.

One of the great things about the history of the fishery, on the Atlantic coast of Canada, is that it led to a migration of fishermen and their families. Many Nova Scotians went to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, establishing a strong link between those left at home with their cousins in the "Boston States". Many fishing families from Newfoundland came to Nova Scotia; their vim and vigour injected a strong burst of energy in the workforce of places like Lunenburg.

We’d love to connect with families who have roots connected to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Do you have a connection to our schooner, Theresa E. Connor? The vessel fished from early 1939 until the 1960s.

A saltbank schooner is one that preserved its’ catch by salting it, rather than keeping it on ice. The method of preserving fish in salt is one that dates back thousands of years. When technology developed to the point that there was a steady supply of ice available for the fishing fleets of the North Atlantic, "salt" fishing gave way to "fresh" fishing ~ fish were kept fresh, on ice, and the vessels returned home within weeks, rather than months.

Wishing you smooth sailing,
Heather

Our First Blog!

Hello Everyone,

The title may not be original, but the project is totally new! This is the first blog for the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg Nova Scotia. (http://fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca)

The Museum is a multi-faceted site, with exhibits, a stunning aquarium, Canada's oldest saltbank schooner, a theatre and lots of activities. We're open year around, with full programming available from 17 May to 18 October, seven days a week.

Over the coming weeks we'll be talking about special events for 2008, as well as offering general ramblings from the Museum's historian. Check back here for curious stories from our past, as well as features like "Learning the Lingo" of fishermen and those who live by the sea!

Wishing you smooth sailing,
Heather