Changes are coming to Bluenose II.
Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan confirms the schooner’s steel rudder will be replaced.
MacLellan says it’s the opinion of the expert builders in Lunenburg that a wooden rudder is the best fit for the iconic vessel.
“This is one that was really fumbled from the get-go. The steel rudder, as it was being built and constructed, there were people in the know here in Nova Scotia that were uncomfortable with that plan.”
No specific dollar figure has been released yet.
The cost currently sits around $23.8-million and MacLellan indicates work will be complete within the $25-million budget.
The rudder will be replaced while Bluenose II is in dry dock for the winter and is expected to be finished in time for the 2017 sailing season.
