Estabrooks, has a point that what had been assumed by many people to be public islands seem to be suddenly swept away from the public realm and the use becomes prohibited.
…Halifax – NDP MLA Bill Estabrooks wants Nova Scotians to know that people from around the world are buying up islands off the coast of Nova Scotia on the Internet, which limits public use and endangers fish and wildlife habitats.
(more…)
Nova Scotia ferry won’t sail this year
After ship’s owners reject bid, Hub group hopes for May launch
By Keith Reed, Globe Staff | July 27, 2005
Nova Scotia’s a no-go from Boston, at least for this year.
Several months of negotiations to bring the Scotia Prince ferry to Boston for trips to Nova Scotia ended this week, with the ship’s owners rejecting a proposal from a Boston investor group, Shores Atlantic LLC. Its failure to lease a ship ends hope for a maiden voyage from Boston in 2005 — a trip that until yesterday Shores Atlantic had said was still on track for August.
With no boat, however,……………
Full article can be found here.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/07/27/nova_scotia_ferry_wont_sail_this_year/
Boston Globe
Nova Scotia ferry won’t sail this year
After ship’s owners reject bid, Hub group hopes for May launch
By Keith Reed, Globe Staff | July 27, 2005
Nova Scotia’s a no-go from Boston, at least for this year.
Several months of negotiations to bring the Scotia Prince ferry to Boston for trips to Nova Scotia ended this week, with the ship’s owners rejecting a proposal from a Boston investor group, Shores Atlantic LLC. Its failure to lease a ship ends hope for a maiden voyage from Boston in 2005 — a trip that until yesterday Shores Atlantic had said was still on track for August.
With no boat, however, the company says its only option is to regroup and look for another vessel, in hopes of starting the service in May.
”Even though we’re disappointed, no one’s interest has waned. It was very ambitious to try to start it this year, anyway,” said Eugene Hartigan, a Shores Atlantic partner. ”We’ll find a ship and be able to put a crew together and be ready.”
But beyond securing a ship, Shores Atlantic had other hurdles.
The company first talked publicly about its plans in June, when Hartigan said cruises could start in July and run through October. The ship would have departed from Boston every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the 14-hour voyage to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, returning on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with roundtrip fares of between $100 and $200 per person.
But those plans were thwarted by a slew of important arrangements that needed to be made in a short time. Shores Atlantic needed a crew, docks for loading and unloading passengers and their cars, and security plans that could win the approval of US and Canadian customs officials.
Shelburne Mayor P.G. Comeau had set a July 1 deadline for Shores Atlantic to get its go-head to sail, because the Canadian town needed time to get ready for an August launch.
Comeau said he had been willing to commit a portion of a $400,000 city development fund to construction of a ramp to allow cars to drive onto the ship. He did not return several calls seeking comment yesterday.
It was mid-July before Shores Atlantic reached an agreement to use the Boston Autoport in Charlestown for boarding, but that was scuttled when the US Customs & Border Protection Service said the facility did not have an adequate place to conduct interrogations or detain people entering the country, if necessary.
Shores Atlantic later settled on using the Massachusetts Port Authority’s Black Falcon cruise terminal in South Boston, but that meant cars were no longer part of the plan.
The Scotia Prince can carry 185 cars.
The ship, a 1,000-passenger vessel with showrooms, restaurants, and a casino, sailed from Portland, Maine, to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, until last year. Scotia Prince Cruises operated those trips, but canceled its 2005 season in April during a dispute with Portland’s city government over the condition of its docks.
That left the Scotia Prince available, and Shores Atlantic contacted International Shipping Partners, a Miami cruise ship broker that manages the Scotia Prince on behalf of its owners, which is listed on International Shipping’s website as Scotia Prince Cruises Limited.
That company could not be reached for comment; Charmaine Morris, a manager at International Shipping, declined to comment. Hartigan said Shores Atlantic never had direct contact with the Scotia Prince’s owners and hasn’t been given any explanation of why they rejected his company’s offer.
He said he and his partners will spend the next 10 months looking for a ship to lease for a May 2006 launch, and taking care of details like the security plan that will be needed to use the autoport.
”I was surprised, but that’s business,” Hartigan said. ”The window’s closed, and now it’s time to look for a new ship.”
Keith Reed can be reached at reed@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
A recent article in American Chronicle about places to live around the world.
New Places To Live and Retire Around The World
Phillip Townsend
By Phillip Townsend
July 23, 2005
The advent of fast Internet communication and inexpensive air travel makes it easier to turn any far-flung paradise into a permanent home. Which places in the world have the most to offer? The perfect place to live or retire, of course depends on your idea of perfection.
I’m taking a different approach for this article. Instead of giving an overview of the better-known and increasingly-popular expatriate destinations around the world (Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Panama, Nicaragua, Ecuador, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.), I’ve decided to introduce you to the below 7 locales you probably don’t know much about. All offer affordability and abundant recreational and cultural opportunities.
Nova Scotia
Just east of Maine, in the North Atlantic, Nova Scotia’s pristine coast is slowly becoming a sought-after affordable getaway. Only two hours from New York or Boston, it feels a world away. A pleasingly crowd-free province on Canada’s Atlantic Coast, little-known Nova Scotia could just be the perfect full- or part-time retreat. Halifax, the capital, has been luring tourists for years. Waterfront cafes, European architecture, and spectacular seafood keep them coming back. Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island boasts the some of the best scenery in the world, from the picturesque highlands to the picturesque Bras d’Or Lake (pronounced “bra door”), with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop. In the winter months, the Gulf Stream keeps the climate milder than most northern U.S. states, with the area more rain showers than snow storms. Picture the American East Coast a century ago, and you get a feel for what Nova Scotia is like. Almost an island, it is best known for its stunning coastline, sleepy seaside towns and friendly people. The province’s natural beauty, cheap real estate and low cost of living make it well worth a look: oceanfront lots start at $10,000, three-bedroom homes on acreage from $50,000. A lobster dinner with a bottle of good local wine set you back no more than a twenty spot. Scenes of the Hollywood blockbuster Titanic were shot in Nova Scotia, and celebrities including Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Billy Joel maintain summer homes here…
complete article can be found here
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=1336
The author has also written a book about retiring in Nova Scotia. It can be purchased and downloaded here.
http://www.thegloballife.net/
[Phillip Townsend, an international consultant, has assisted individual, corporate and government clients with travel, relocation and business matters. A former Money magazine correspondent, he most recently authored the e-Book “Passport to Canada: The Complete Guide to Living and Retiring in Nova Scotia” and special reports on Cuba and the Caribbean. Currently, he edits “The Global Life” newsletter, a bimonthly covering international living, retirement, travel and offshore financial affairs.]
Comments
Tim Harris
mailto:tim.harris@tradewindsrealty.com
Kiplinger.com has published an article about purchasing in Nova Scotia. The author refers to Nova Scotia being like New England 50 years ago. More than one of my clients has remarked that they feel the Village of Chester is like Nantucket 50 years ago, and they should know because that is where they come from to escape the ferry waits, line-ups in stores and all the tourists that crowd everything.
The full Kiplinger article can be found at.
http://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/magazine/archives/2005/08/abroad.html
Kiplinger.com
August 2005
At Home Abroad
by Pat Mertz Esswein
One alternative for buyers who don’t mind mixing a little adventure with their pleasure trips is buying abroad. With smart shopping, the price can be very right, but the real payoff will be in savoring a slice of the good life in another culture. We scoured three continents for desirable locales that are both affordable and accessible and settled on three: Nova Scotia, Honduras and the Etruscan region of Italy. Then we found part-time expats who are living their dream.
Nova Scotia: New England revisited
John and Jenice Benton of Tempe, Ariz., intended to buy a second home in New England to escape desert summers. In 1997, they spent part of a vacation fruitlessly scouting out places in Vermont, where they found properties too scarce and high-priced. On a whim, they headed to the historic Nova Scotian fishing village of Lunenburg, near Halifax. While strolling one evening, they passed a real estate office with its door open. The next day, the couple went back and asked to visit some of the homes for sale. They bought the second one they saw — an exquisitely restored two-story Cape Cod built in 1840 — for $92,000 (all prices in this story are in U.S. dollars). It’s in the village, within walking distance of its harbors.
Nova Scotia has since become a family affair for the Bentons. Eldest daughter Katie and her husband, Hal Cohen, from Baton Rouge, La., purchased a second home for themselves and five-month-old son Julius. The couple split the $81,000 purchase price, and the $81,000 it cost to renovate the house, with her parents, and they share ownership.
Parts of Nova Scotia have seen appreciation similar to that in the U.S. Properties in Lunenburg, for example, have appreciated more than 70% since the Bentons bought their home nearly eight years ago. But the province continues to attract Americans looking for a location that’s more affordable and less congested than New England and elsewhere on the East Coast. “Nova Scotia feels like New England 50 years ago — unbelievably wholesome, with a slower pace,” says John, 57, a real estate developer with family roots in New England. The province has 4,600 miles of coastline, hundreds of lakes and rivers, 60 golf courses, and a rich Celtic and Acadian heritage.
But Nova Scotia’s greatest asset may be its people, uniformly described as friendly and kind. John Benton says his neighbor, a purser for the scallop fleet, often leaves a bag of the day’s catch in the Bentons’ refrigerator with a note to “cook them tonight.”
Where to look. Buyers have already discovered Nova Scotia’s …. see full article at
http://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/magazine/archives/2005/08/abroad.html
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Tim Harris, Broker, Tradewinds Realty
comments
mailto:tim.harris@tradewindsrealty.com
