One of Nova Scotia’s most charming assets is the cool, sparkling Atlantic Ocean. A beautiful sea to photograph but nearly always too cold to swim in, it has all too often been the center of mysteriously eerie events.
The following is a collection of true maritime events that surround our photogenic coastline.
By now, most people are familiar with some of the specters that haunt Nova Scotian shores along our beautiful Atlantic ocean: There’s the ethereal lady in blue who is occasionally seen on the rocks of Peggy’s Cove; McNab’s Island (link) off Halifax, which juts out into the Atlantic, has had its fair share of apparitions; but let’s not forget the multitude of mysterious ghost ship/boat sightings around the coast of Nova Scotia. Here are a few worth talking about:
Bedford, NS: Several people have come upon the unmistakable sound of men rowing a dory furiously into the shoreline. Nothing can be seen at the time of the encounter except typical maritime fog settling upon the waves. A local legend describes how a dory with several men in it overturned in the harbour sometime in the 1800’s, from which no one survived. Perhaps they are still trying to reach the shore.
Northumberland Strait: A burning schooner has been known to sail the waters that separate Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI. Repeated sightings date back over the last 200 years.
Yarmouth, NS: A large ship aptly named “The Yarmouth” arrived safely in Antigua with its exports, in 1811. The ship and her crew were mysteriously never heard from after that until one year later, when it came sailing back into Yarmouth. Oddly, it did not approach the wharf and several men took a dory and began to row out to it. They could clearly hear the captain shouting when they were a few feet away and then the brig vanished right before their eyes. One year later, the ship sailed in again. Men again rowed towards it, heard the shouting and watched it vanish. The ghost ship re-appeared regularly for about 60 more years, becoming fainter each time, and then disappeared for good.
Mahone Bay, NS: In 1813 in the picturesque cove of Mahone Bay, NS, a U.S. privateer schooner named “Young Teazer” was trapped between Mason Island and Rafuse Island after being chased by warships.
(Brief background: during the War of 1812, British warships patrolled the coast to capture American raiders. Incidentally, the original warship named “Teazer” had its crew captured and the ship was burned at sea. Its owner Samuel Adams of New York then had “Young Teazer” built to replace it.)
She sported an alligator figurehead and some fake wooden cannons, used to appear more intimidating. The Lieutenant and Captain of Young Teazer argued about how to defend their ship once they were trapped in the bay, disappeared below deck and moments later the whole thing exploded. Some say the Lieutenant was seen packing the ship’s magazine with powder, as he feared being hanged once captured. Regardless, the blast killed thirty crew members, and others were badly burned but rescued by local residents. The survivors were then taken to Melville Island Prisoner of War camp in Halifax.
Around the June 27th anniversary of this explosion, the fiery ghost ship has periodically been seen in Mahone Bay harbour over the years. Witnesses have claimed to clearly see the whole ship on fire, crew members staggering about the deck and falling overboard, while their screams pierced the scenic shores. The apparition itself has been dubbed “The Teazer Light”. This term is from the phenomenon of other ships seeing the flaming ghost ship coming towards them through the ethereal fog.
Maybe you’ve seen it. Or know someone who has.
Interesting to note: Today, some of the ship’s salvaged timbers are in local Nova Scotian establishments: (The Rope Loft restaurant and an Anglican church in nearby Chester.)
The shores of Nova Scotia have always provided lucrative fishing opportunities for the hard working men who chose to make their living on the sea. Many coastal communities produced an abundance of fishermen who were willing to venture out in all kinds of weather and temperatures. Sadly, many of them who set out in the hopes of a good haul did not return.
Even more interesting, some of those that met their fate at sea did manage to come back, but not in the way you may think.
Old fishing villages are full of stories of men in dripping wet fishing gear returning to their homestead after having met their demise.
Consider the true story of James, a fisherman out of the north shore of Nova Scotia many years ago. He had been at sea a week or so, when suddenly his wife saw him heading up the walk towards their house, wearing his fishing gear. She was surprised, as she was not expecting him so soon after only being gone a week. He opened the door and walked through their kitchen, disappearing in through the dining room. She followed, his wet foot prints visible on the floor but he was nowhere to be found. Nervously she waited for the news she knew would eventually come and sure enough, it was not long after she was notified he had indeed been lost at sea.
Seems like he came home from a hard day’s fishing one last time.
Architecturally, many Nova Scotian fishing communities had houses built with “widow’s walks” on their roofs. These were usually small rooftop balconies/patios from which wives kept watch out over the Atlantic for the return of their husbands. When a husband did not come home, obviously the women became widows, hence the name. These can still be seen today on the oldest houses around the province and became popular in coastal towns such as Lunenburg, Shelburne and Canso.
Many maritime ghost stories include this creepy element, in which a grieving ghost continues to keep watch from the widow’s walk for her husband returning from the sea.
Not very far off the Nova Scotian coast lies Sable Island, made famous by its wild horse population. But, you guessed it: it is not without ghosts and spirits. Known as “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” due to its more than 350 shipwrecks just offshore, several apparitions have been known to wander the dunes with the horses. Most notable is “The Pale Lady”, a shipwreck victim who seeks her stolen wedding ring and the finger it used to sit on.
It may not be near Nova Scotia but the mystery of The Bermuda Triangle deserves a mention here, as the Atlantic Ocean plays a pivotal role. Spanning the waters off Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, many unsolved disappearances of ships, planes and people have been ongoing in this anomaly for many, many years. Suggested reasons include: haphazard compass readings, rapid weather changes and difficult island navigation. For every theory put forth, there is a counter-theory but nothing concrete explains all of the missing vessels. Even the famed explorer, Christopher Columbus, experienced things he could not explain while in “The Triangle”.
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