She was built in 1948, she’s got a colourful past, and since 1991, she’s been sailing the waters out of Lunenburg Harbour.
The Eastern Star knows the waters of the South Shore very well, providing sailing tours for visitors and guests every day throughout the season, but on Sunday, June 24th, 2018 she was reminded that sometimes nature can get in the way.
The vessel ended up lodged on a shale ledge, known as the Shingles Shoal, for a while.
“The shoal basically goes past where the buoy is and (the driver) of the ship touched on it,” says Captain Keith Merrill. “The tide was going down, we had about another half hour or so to go he just left her there; when the tide turned it lifted (the ship) off and he brought her in.”
Merrill says once the Eastern Star was back at the wharf, they went down with snorkels where they inspected the keel and everything was just fine, there was no damage whatsoever.
While the boat sat out on the shale ledge, a friend of Merrill’s who owns a lobster boat, did go out to make sure everything was okay, and it was.
Merrill says these things can happen from time to time, noting Lunenburg Harbour is a very sailing friendly harbour for vessels.
“It’s really not unusual for it to happen once in a season,” adds Merrill.
Story by Craig Power
@CraigTPower
power.craig@radioabl.ca
Above Photo: The Eastern Star moored at the wharf in Lunenburg, NS. Photo Credit: Craig Power, © June 2018.
