Bluenose was a fishing and racing gaff rig schooner built in 1921 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. A celebrated racing ship and fishing vessel, Bluenose became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia and an important Canadian symbol in the 1930s. Then, stripped of her masts, she served as a working freighter until she broke apart on a coral reef off Île à Vache, Haiti in 1946. Her replica, Bluenose II, was built at Lunenburg to original plans and by some of the same workers at Smith and Rhuland. Bluenose II was launched on this date in 1963. She was commissioned by Sidney Culverwell Oland, an owner of Oland Brewery, as a promotional yacht for their Schooner Lager beer. The ship has one of the largest mainsails in the world, at 4,150 sq ft, and a total sail area of 11,150 sq ft. She does not race formally, in honor of her namesake's racing record. In 1971, Oland sold Bluenose II to the government of Nova Scotia for the sum of $1, and the province later gave her to the Bluenose II Preservation Trust with the mandate to restore and continue to operate her for the people of Nova Scotia. Another extensive restoration was performed 2009-2013, with many significant design changes. She continues to tour the Altantic seaboard and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the summer, promoting Nova Scotia tourism. Credit: https://w.wiki/EqXV Today was my first ride as a 67-year-old. It felt really good, after four days of rest. The climb up Bundy to Mount Saint Mary's was the easiest yet. And I went up Kenter, which I haven't ridden for years, because I remembered it as unpleasantly steep. Today I turned around at Honeywood Road, so the steepest was around 10%. There's another 1.1 miles, at up to 14.7%, to Kenter Fire Road, that I didn't ride today. I'll probably do that in the next week or so, before I leave for the Giro Bello in nine days in Santa Rosa.