Free Maritime Mysteries by Bill Jessome Page A

I’m still waiting.
    The Ghost of Chebucto Light
    A young girl walks her dog along a path at Chebucto Head Light. The animal cowers, sinks low to the ground and growls. His black eyes focus on something moving over the high cliffs. The girl also sees it. Her body stiffens, fear sweeps over her. What is in the distance is not whole, it takes no definite shape; it is transparent, floating over the rocks like a ghost. A large bonnet covers most of the face—if there is one. It wears a grey dress, cinched in at the waist, and flowing outward and down to the ground. And there is a rope tied around the thing’s waist. As suddenly as it appears, it vanishes. The child quickly returns to the safety of her home. Her parents listen to her story, but laugh it off, telling her there’s no such thing as a ghost.
    The young girl’s name is Pat Flemming. Today her married name is Helpard and she is an educator. Chebucto Head Light is located at the entrance to Halifax Harbour. When all this happened, Pat’s father was the lighthouse keeper.
    For all of her teen years, Pat felt there was someone or something trying to make contact with her. Most nights, while waiting for sleep, there was always a strong, unexplained presence in her room. She now believes it was the ghost she saw on the cliff who was trying to communicate with her, and that the rope tied around the ghost’s waist indicated only one thing—she was the victim of a shipwreck. Perhaps during a violent storm the woman’s husband had lashed her to the ship’s mast to keep her from being swept overboard, but in the end, she drowned, and her ghost is wandering the cliffs of Chebucto Head in search of loved ones.
    Pat’s father was a firm believer in the here and now and nothing in the hereafter. That is until one evening, while in his boat, a stranger appeared above the high cliffs. “What in the hell is that?” he whispered. Stan Flemming saw a tall woman wearing an ankle-length dress floating down the side of the cliff. In disbelief, he watched it float past his boat and over the water until it disappeared. Whatever it was, Stan knew it wasn’t human. That’s when he became a believer.
    When the lighthouse was eventually automated, the Flemmings were forced to move. For a long time, the home remained abandoned.
    One day a radar technician knocked on the Flemmings’ door. He had a story to tell. He told them that one evening during a winter storm, he was forced to stay overnight in the empty house at Chebucto Head. Sometime during the night, he was abruptly awakened when his portable cot was overturned and his alarm clock was smashed against the far wall. He left, fighting the storm, rather than facing the unknown.
    Teazer
    A mong those many islands in Mahone Bay there are, from time to time (but not recently) reports of a flaming ship that sails over the waters, then dips it bow and disappears beneath the sea. Is it the phantom ship Teazer , or merely the imagination of those who wish to believe. Perhaps it’s a combination of moon reflection, fog banks, and island shadows, and bored fishermen wanting to tell a tall sea tale. Regardless, there have been many sightings and those who have come forward stand by what they have seen.
    History tells us that during the war of 1812, the United States navy commissioned many privately owned ships to harass their bitter enemy, the British. One such vessel was the Teazer . She was caught and burned by the Brits in 1812. A gentleman’s agreement was reached between the British and the Teazer ’s officers: they would win their freedom if they promised not to engage in further attacks on British merchant ships. Naturally, the officers of the Teazer, including a Lieutenant Frederick Johnson, agreed. But promises are made to be broken, even by gentlemen. In time, the original Teazer was replaced by young Teazer, and who do you think proudly walked her deck? Lieutenant