The Best of 2012: Bluenose II Launch

    Lunenburg, Nova Scotia-Today the Bluenose II was returned to the water after a nearly two year restoration project.  In the early morning hours at the high tide she slipped back into the water at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
Bluenose II was designed around the original Bluenose, famous for her speed. All wooden vessels require regular maintenance.  Through the years, Bluenose II began "hogging". Hogging is a term used to describe the distorting of the shape of the hull due to the forces of gravity and buoyancy. As the weight of the vessel pushes down, the water pushes up. The bow and the stern are pushed closer to the water. As the shape is distorted, it effects performance, safety and maintenance.  Restoration work was done by the Lunenburg Shipyard Alliance, consisting of Covey Island Boat Works, Snyder's Shipyard and Lunenburg Industrial Foundry & Engineering.  Her hull was carefully dismantled and rebuilt to eliminate the "Hogging" Much of the original Bluenose II was reused including: rigging, masts, sails, ironwork, deck structures.
    There is still work to do to return her masts and sails, but she is looking good and back in the cool blue Atlantic were she belongs.