Chester Race Week 2023

It’s nearly time to sail South towards the USA for the Polar Seal crew. But first we need to make a stop in Chester for the annual Race Week; we can’t miss it.

To get there, we have to sail in fog, of course, Nova Scotia style. Once the fog is gone, a gorgeous sun comes out, but the wind disappears. Not ideal sailing conditions. But! We get to film something amazing: it looks like some islands are floating above the water today. They aren’t, of course. There’s wind offshore, but the sea is completely still near land, so the flat water looks like air. After a few hours, we drop anchor in Chester and I’m ready to try out racing once again.

This time I try my hand at it on board a beautiful historic Bluenose, one of the small sloops you see around Nova Scotia, which are named after the original Bluenose - the majestic 140ft ship engraved on the Canadian dime. The little Bluenoses are native of Chester - they are built in a yard near Back-Harbour, where Polar Seal is anchored.

Ryan and Barns follow the race aboard a motorboat. While my team manage to perform an excellent tack early on, the weather turns rainy and the wind stops blowing. It takes us an eternity to complete the course, but we make it. We came in dead first, from the bottom. I really enjoyed the day, though; it was a lot of fun. And we managed to win the race to the bar, which is by far the most important thing.

The next day, I hike to beautiful Peggy's Cove - a must-see Nova Scotia landmark - with Barns, our local friend Jennifer and her dog. Unfortunately, Ryan needs to stay on Polar Seal to catch up on some work. Barns and I have a great time, though.

Soon Chester Race Week is in full blast. There’s no space aboard Falcon, so I can’t join the team for the racing this time. But Ryan and I borrow a motorboat, so we can film the race up close. There isn’t much wind, so we tie up to Falcon and party for an hour or so. Then some wind magically appears offshore, so the racers motor there. Here, the race can actually take place and it’s very cool to watch. We even managed to grab some cool drone shots.

As we leave for Lunenberg, we sail alongside three regattas. It’s super cool to see the racing boats fly their spinnakers, although there’s a lot going on - a little too much for us cruisers. We bid our friends goodbye one last time.

It’s sad to leave Chester. We truly felt part of a community here and that’s pretty rare for us. Thank you for all the laughs, Chester!