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Contributed to the anthology Pottersfield Nation: East of Canada.
Time in a Bottle: Historic Halifax Harbour from the Bottom UpBob ChaulkMaritime History, Outdoor Adventure Order this book: |
![[Cover of Time in a Bottle.]](../images/1895900514.jpg)
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Hundreds of dives in the largest natural harbour in North America have given Bob Chaulk an extraordinary perspective on the history of the continent. On the waters of Halifax Harbour sailed the men who took the New World from its inhabitants and then fought among themselves for control, ultimately settling and building a community that they had to fight to keep. They all left their mark on the harbour floor. The Portuguese, the French, the British, the Americans, and the Canadians have all left their signatures in the artefacts that have accumulated in Halifax Harbour for over 300 years.
The author skilfully unfolds the true story of the scuba divers who explore the hostile environment of the harbour throughout the year. Contending with strong currents, polluted waters, massive ships, and freezing water temperatures, this offbeat group spends their winter weekends diving beneath harbour ice, among warships and weaving among the pillars under the huge docks on the waterfront.
Chaulk writes of their adventures diving in winter blizzards, checking out everything from live bombs and sunken ships to mundane items like medicine bottles that once contained cures for everything from baldness in people to diarrhoea in chickens. He tells of the challenges of handling the complex equipment required for this extreme sport, anticipating overhead vessel movements, and the careful navigation needed to get back to shore in murky waters while avoiding entanglement in mountains of twisted cable, sunken railway tracks and old wrecks.
Bob Chaulk is a Halifax writer with a passion for the ocean around Canada's Atlantic coast. He weaves together the historic tales of how bad weather, bad navigation and bad luck have resulted in the tragic losses of ships and people in and around the harbour. He tells of how the long-lost remnants of these sad incidents are being rediscovered and visited regularly by wreck divers, who photograph, research and document the events so that their stories may be preserved.