canada post strike

the posties have conspired to make life difficult for small operations like this. They are now theoretically back to normal working. Normal working, to them means taking twice as long to deliver mail as in Queen Vistoria's time, though then there was just one transcontinental railway, the roads were dirt tracks, and there were no aircraft. However, if you wish to send anything by mail, it should now be all right to do so.

Printed version of the book

Some people have asked why no printed version. The short answer is cost. I have had a few printed, but locally this costs about $75. The ones I have made were ground out on my home printer, it takes hours. The resultant book is about 9"x11" and weighs about 2 pounds. This is a huge cost to send overseas through the mail and it also gets the attention of the revenue men and homeland security. Attempts to get a Canadian publisher interested, though the original sells on average at 5 times its original price, were absolutely futile. These guys will not do anything without a government grant. The CD can go through the mail at a minimum cost, and anywhere in the US, can be printed by an office supplies joint like Staples, for less than $40. Being somewhat of a  a Luddite, I prefer a real book, and I have no objection to anyone who buys the CD printing it out for their own use. There may be hope of a US publisher soon

Points East book review

very nice review of my book in June edition of Points East, pages 74, 75. Thanks very much, Sandy. See it at www.pointseast.com

praise from an unexpected place

got a letter from Percy Paris ( he knows I'd never vote for his party), he writes
" I must commend you for producing such a thorough and accurate publication about cruising Nova Scotia's coastline as well as our history and culture"
I've released it, free of royalties for promotion of tourism  in the province

gremlins

I've been going through the book on DVD There are a few little errors In the index, should be 390 The Southern Bras d'Or lakes and West Bay somehow, there was a glitch in the scanning and pages 106-109 are not in the right order There are a couple of pages have the same # I'll try and correct these later, but I don't think they'll detract from the usefullness of the book

news from lunenburg

The Yacht Shop, next to where the new bluenose is being built, has moved to Halifax and has been taken over by a couple of guys who used to work there. It is now called Lunenburg Boat Locker, and carries much the same stuff as before, hopefully including my book. One good thing is they have a very good mechanic/boat systems guy, a much needed service in this area. Go to them if you have a balky engine etc. While you're there. take a look at the new Bluenose, you can see it on line at www.novascotiawebcams.com

weather forecasts

In Western Nova Scotia, forecasts are notoriously unreliable. Part of the reason is that the doppler radar in Halifax does not reach anywhere to the south and west. Lurcher and Browns bank are not covered at all. This means it is impossible to see any strong convection cell, developing circulation etc. We are alway at risk of getting unforecast 40-50 knot winds when a front passes. You might like to look at www.passageweather.com it covers the whole world, its free and pretty good. We are in the north atlantic-new england section. We used it all the time on our trip, after it was shown to us by Capt. Don Barr, late of the Bluenose2. A number of local fishermen are now using it