High in the rigging of Bluenose II there's a heart shaped piece of metal that is painted red. The captain of the ship calls it the "heart of the mainsail" since it holds the two main halyards that hold the sail in place.
This piece of "ironwork" was on the original Bluenose as well as her replica Bluenose II, and both pieces were forged by members of the Walters clan of Lunenburg marine blacksmiths.
The first heart iron was made by Thomas Walters, the founder of the blacksmith business and the second was forged by his grandson, Vernon Walters, who was still working in the original shop when Bluenose II was launched in the 1960s.
Of course this is the building that Ironworks Distillery now inhabits and where our single malt whisky is distilled, aged and bottled.
