Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

It’s Christmas time again, a time for sharing with family and friends. Marney & I hope you enjoy this special time of year and carry on your family traditions, whatever they may be.

Over the past few days we have been receiving our first snowfalls of the year. Perhaps this is why I am in the Christmas spirit or perhaps it is because of my friend, Captain Morgan, who is sitting here beside me. Actually, I feel like I have been in the Christmas spirit since about last Christmas when I first discovered what was to be our new tour boat. We became owners in April and after some refitting, “Murphy’s Legacy” was launched in June and made its first big splash in the Atlantic Ocean. The keel was first laid in 1993 but was stored inside for 23 years. Come to find out this boat came with a lot of history that fits in well with our what we are trying to do here at Murphy’s. The full story and launch video will hopefully appear on our blog in the near future.

This past year, we are happy to say, was our 56th year of Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean and it shows we must be doing something right when friends continue to return year after year. This past summer we had several families who had been visiting here for fifty years or more and some thirty five years and more, all helping to make this our busiest season ever. We receive so many kind wishes from around the world, especially this time of year. Marney & I thank you for all your kind words and wish you the best in life and a safe journey forward.

We have had many new visitors as well. We attribute this to the fact that more and more people are finding out about us either by word of mouth, Ryan and his promotional skills or by being a strong supporter of Nova Scotia Nature Trust and their ongoing campaign to protect our 100 Wild Islands from future development, keeping the islands available for us all to enjoy.

Because we are having more and more interest in our 100 Wild Islands, our new boat “Murphy’s Legacy” has been featured in several videos over the summer. Nova Scotia Nature Trust signed up a variety of tours with us to promote the Islands, some being bloggers, another being appreciation day on Borgles Island for some 30 donors and yet another tour with our local councilors and our Mayor John Savage, who donated $300,000.00, on behalf of the city of Halifax, as part of an eye opener tour to show them what they have in their own back yard. Then, Nova Scotia Tourism contacted us so they could feature our Island Drop Off experience in some of their Tourism promotions. They followed us in a yacht, using a drone to capture it all. TIANS also did some great promotional videos and asked our son Ryan, chair of the Wild Islands Tourism Advancement Partnership (formerly STEP) to speak about WITAP and how the local community is embracing the Wild Islands as an economic driver via tourism. It was very kind of the Nature Trust to invite us to their annual appreciation banquet and auction. During the evening, while presenting the 100 Wild Islands Campaign, they highlighted our campground and our boat tours so much, that people were introducing themselves, making us feel a bit like celebrities.

This year we will be sharing Christmas dinner with Ryan and Emma, along with Emma’s lovely family. Ryan and Emma recently moved to Musquodoboit Harbour and are now conveniently close to Emma’s thriving business, “Uprooted Market and Café” and central to Ryan’s Bread & Better Small Business Solutions. Over Christmas, family will be visiting Shauna in her new home in Halifax, which she is just finishing up some renovations. On the 23rd we hope to have the whole family here including our daughter Karen, and grandson Ronan who makes Christmas come alive for everyone.

As usual, Marney is enjoying her time off and is busy making Christmas special for her family while I sit back and have the hard task of writing letters and planning for next year. On warmer days I will be doing a little tree harvesting and on cold winter days I will be in my workshop making various items for the boat. Hopefully I will be interrupted by family and friends and a game of crib or two.

Marney and I wish you all the very best of Christmas Spirit during this Holiday Season. We miss you and hope to see you again soon around our cozy campfire . As always, we invite you to drop in any time of year for a visit or even a game of crib.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
Brian & Marilyn