“Your dinner aboard the ship is some expensive,” said the woman sitting across from me in the doctor’s office waiting room.

Dinner aboard the ship, I wondered. Huh? “Oh, you mean the dinner that’s being auctioned off in support of LaHave Manor.”

“Fifty dollars a ticket, prepared by the Captain, served on the ship,’ she continued, until finally she permitted me to explain that the $50 ticket is for a dinner and auction in support of the local residential centre that provides a home and care for mentally challenged adults and the dinner – for six, to be prepared and served by Capt. Moreland and World Voyage IV crew member/television actor Billy Campbell aboard Picton Castle – is just one of the items that attendees will be invited to bid on.

“Well, I was going to say that $50 a person would be a lot for dinner on a ship,” she persisted.

“Actually, we’re hoping they’ll get a lot more than that,” I said, at which point she looked me dead in the face as if to see whether I was one of those people who would part with their money so easily. As a born and bred Lunenburger, I’m generally not.

“Well, at least it’s for a good cause,” she concluded. I agreed.

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I have been sailing in the Picton Castle for almost 7 years now, and last month we did something I have never done before, something I never would have dreamed was even possible. We spent the month of August in Lunenburg! Until recently, I had been very sceptical about the reported existence of summer in Lunenburg. I thought maybe the fog just warmed up a little.

It’s been gorgeous, and we have been doing our best to take full advantage of a month of summer ashore. Aside from the usual ways the crew find to entertain ourselves (anyone who knows the crew knows what that means…), we have had some proper adventures.

Our first big adventure was a trip on the topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II. At every tall ship festival, and whenever we have the good fortune to sail in company with Pride, all of our crew ogle her. She’s stunning; sleek, sexy, shiny, and with that distinctive why-are-your-masts-falling-down rake. Sometimes we talk about how fast she goes, how pretty she is, and who’s sailing in her now, but more often than not we just stare with our mouths open.

Pride sailed into Lunenburg on August 6, and the following day she took us out for a sail. We had a wonderful time; the schooner Bluenose II sailed with us on the way out of Lunenburg Bay before disappearing into the ever-present Cross Island fog bank (soon to be added to the approaches chart), and we tacked and headed home in the warm early evening sun. This time our crew stared at the GPS with their mouths open, “How can we be going 6 knots? There’s barely any wind!” She really does move.

A little short-handed, the Pride’s crew enjoyed having extra muscle to hoist sail, brace, and trim, and our crew really enjoyed going faster than the speed of sound. Discussions began between the crews, and were carried on well into the night. They really wanted us to come with them to Maine, and we really really really wanted to go with them.

So we did what any experienced team of professionals would do in this situation. We batted our eyelashes and sucked up to the Captains.

After days of delicate negotiation with Captain Miles (actually I think they just enjoyed watching us squirm), the word was passed that we could sail with Pride to Maine the following day. Suddenly the foc’s’le was transformed into something that can only be compared to a room full of 5-year olds on Christmas Eve. Everyone was hyper and full of questions, nobody could even think of going to bed, and all we could do was talk about Christmas Day…

Bluenose and Pride

Bluenose in the fog

Capt Miles and Capt Moreland

Pride and Bluenose part company

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Picton Castle made a grand entrance into Lunenburg Harbour on Saturday July 28. A good crowd had assembled on the dock for 1400, and around 1430 the ship sailed around Battery Point and came into view in Lunenburg Bay, sailing under t’gallants, upper tops’ls, lower tops’ls and courses. The Captain kept her under sail well down the channel into the harbour then docked the ship, starboard side to, stern into shore, almost effortlessly. There were smiles and waves, excited shouts of recognition and greeting, and a general sigh of happiness to be home again.

Many local friends of the ship were phoning the office for days before the scheduled arrival asking if the ETA had been moved up, because they could see the ship under sail or at anchor from their homes along the shore nearby. The ship made a quick passage from Sydney, at the north end of Cape Breton, to Lunenburg and had some time left to enjoy the local anchorages. With summer weather having finally arrived in Nova Scotia, the crew were treated to several beautiful day sails, returning each night to anchor in one of the area’s protected bays.

After dock lines were secure and those who had to leave to catch flights home were gone, the rest of the crew lay aloft to deal with the sails. Instead of furling them, like we normally would when coming into port, we began the process of sending them down. Picton Castle’s sails are mostly made of cotton canvas which means that when they get wet, even if they’re furled, they need to be loosed and dried. If they are not properly dried they will develop mildew and mold, the fabric becomes weaker and more likely to rip. When the ship is in port for a long period of time, we take the sails down so we don’t have to spend all our time drying them and re-stowing them. Because the weather had been so sunny and warm for the few days prior to the ship’s arrival the sails were perfectly dry, and ready to be sent down and put away. Before arriving in Lunenburg, the crew had made bets on how long it would take to send all the sails down. I think the Captain had the shortest time with two and a half hours, others had guessed up to four hours. The crew split up with Lynsey working on the spanker and then the heads’ls, Nadja and Hilary on the main t’gallant and royal, John on the main tops’ls and mains’l, and Rebecca on the foremast. The rest of the crew were working aloft, first tying up the sails with robands then unfastening buntlines, leechlines and clewlines, attaching a gantline and cutting down the lashings that hold the sail onto the jackstays. Those who stay on deck were equally busy with hauling and easing lines as required, and bringing sails safely to deck using the gantline. The sixteenth and final sail to be sent down touched the deck only two hours and four seconds after the process began. As Kjetil pointed out, that’s only seven and a half minutes per sail. Pretty impressive, especially because we beat the Captain’s prediction by almost a half hour and everyone else’s by even more! The last stage of the process was to inspect, label and roll all the sails and get them moved into the warehouse where they were stored temporarily on the first floor.

Saturday night the crew visited all our favourite watering holes in Lunenburg, the veteran crew leading the way for those who had never been in our home port before. Many of our crew members who have not been in Lunenburg in the summer before seemed surprised by the number of tourists, but being a community that has embraced sailors returning from sea for generations we got a particularly warm welcome. Picton Castle returned the welcome the following day, with an open house on Sunday afternoon to say thank you to the local community for their support. It was well attended, and the crew got the chance to reacquaint themselves with friends of the ship, or meet them for the first time. The crew who are new to Lunenburg have discovered quite quickly how lucky we are to be part of this community that has been so hospitable and generous to us.

The next few days were quiet, as the crew took some well-deserved time off. This summer has been a busy one with record numbers of visitors on deck tours in port and lots of trainees signing on and off the ship for short legs of the voyage. It’s good to be home for a while to shift gears from sailing to shipyard, and to enjoy life in our home port.

Approaching the dock in Lunenburg

In the channel in Lunenburg Harbour

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Finally, the weather has given us the patiently anticipated window we were waiting for while all hands stored ship, bent sail and went through their first safety drills. On Tuesday the 5th of December at 1300 the lines were cast off from the Picton Castle dock in Lunenburg and a fine farewell given by Deputy Mayor David Dauphinee and Captain Daniel Moreland. Lots of friends came by to wave us off, including Bill Gilkerson, Bob Higgins, Mikayla Joudrey, and the whole shore office team. Lynsey Rebbetoy, as usual, was busy to the last minute to make sure we have all we need. Chibbley decided to share with us the Caribbean adventure and is getting on with her bunk inspection as we speak.

With temperatures just below freezing point, and a breeze from starboard abeam, the light snow showers make sure we won’t forget to appreciate the fine warm weather we are about to sail in soon. Who was it that said it is fun to sail in snow? Ice was broken off the frozen stiff lines and the snow shuffeled from decks and pin rails; nevertheless, we all have smiles on our faces and are full of good spirits. With a long blast for Lunenburg from our ship’s horn, we left the dock and headed for Battery Point.

With great respect for all those seamen who sailed in stormy winter seas the crew lays aloft and loosens topsails. Cold hands and stiff ropes make us aware of how much we were taking for granted: centrally heated rooms not long ago…The galley soon becomes the most frequented place on board, a fine spot for warming up with hot water for a very welcome noodle soup and tea.

The weather is good to us: with 25 knots of wind on the starboard quarter we motor-sail past Cross Island following the backside of that Low with Hurricane force winds, which kept us waiting so long. Mysteriously enough we did not pick up any lobster pots on our way out, but just as we hit the open sea we happen to encounter one of the Canadian Navy ships. Not too far off we find a submarine operating in periscope height, and our first wearing ship maneuver is due. About time that something happens and makes us move; the ropes, however, seem to think differently.

Accompanying dolphins and a fine smell from the galley round up our first day at sea just fine, and while the moon leaves a wonderful sparkling light on the dark sea we look forward to our sunny and warm days, not too far away anymore.

Captain Michael Vogelsgesang

Captains shake hands with Deputy Mayor of Lunenburg

Crew haul the main braces in Lunenburg

David, Don Wilson, Lynsey, and Mikayla cast off dock line

Greg stands by helm in Lunenburg Bay

Winter in Lunenburg off the starboard quarter

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The Picton Castle is almost ready to head out on her next adventure, a six-month voyage in the Eastern Caribbean. Professional crew and trainees have been arriving since the middle of November, and with the full crew here as of Monday we put to work as a team to get the ship ready to go. The ship has been a flurry of activity as we combine formal training sessions with the work of preparing a ship for sea. All hands have worked hard bending on sails, stowing food and books in the hold, practicing bracing, drilling in safety, loading boats on top of the galley house, varnishing deck boxes, making sure we have the right charts, painting the Monomoy (our rowing-sailing whaleboat), fixing the water pump in the galley, keeping the ship clean, carrying spare sails from the warehouse to the ship and so much more.

Leading the crew in preparations and on this voyage is Captain Michael Vogelsgesang, who has Picton Castle experience as he served as Chief Mate for a year during the second world voyage. He has had command of many different ships, most recently the Francesco Petrarca, a three-masted wooden schooner sailing in the Mediterranean. We are pleased to welcome him to his new role on the Picton Castle and look forward to an excellent voyage in the Caribbean. Captain Moreland continues on as the Senior Captain and CEO of the company (and Marine Superintendent, etc., etc.) and plans to use his time ashore to continue developing the ship’s programs, including The Bosun’s School, which is an intensive training program for experienced traditional seafarers being run for the first time this winter.

The professional crew and trainees we have assembled here are a good group. In addition to the pro crew, there are five trainees who plan to spend the entire six months with us as they participate in the apprentice program and become true traditional seafarers. Many of the trainees who are aboard now are only with us a few weeks for the passage south to Grenada. Already they are all functioning well as a team and have started to learn the ways of the ship. Sail handling is obviously a huge part of our training, but learning to stow and lash is an equally important aspect of seamanship. Many have been surprised by the amount of work that goes into beginning a voyage, but it makes us even more appreciative of the day we get to set sail. There has been plenty of work this time, but there would have been even more had we completely down-rigged after our summer voyage. Running rigging was made off aloft, which saved having to set it all up again, and many supplies and provisions stayed on the ship during our two month port stay in Lunenburg.

The ship is nearly ready, and we will go as soon as we get a clear window in the weather. We expect it will come in the next day or two as a giant low-pressure system currently sitting south of Nova Scotia moves off up the coast. The first few days at sea are sure to be chilly, and we are all looking forward to getting past the Gulf Stream where we will feel the change in the temperature immediately. In the meantime we are using our extra time well to practice rowing the Monomoy, run through safety drills, and lash the last few things in the hold. The Christmas decorations have gone up in our favourite pubs, there are snowflakes in the air today, and the crew are wearing their rain gear over multiple layers just to keep warm. These are all signs that it’s time to go soon.

Bending on fore topmast stays l before leaving Lunenburg

Captain Vogelsgesang commands the Monomoy before leaving Lunenburg

Greg stows the hold before leaving Lunenburg.

Mary Anne confers with the cook.

Monomoy behind the martingale before leaving Lunenburg

Small boat practice before leaving Lunenburg

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As I write this Captain’s log the Picton Castle is tugging on her moorings at her old wharf in Lunenburg with a southeasterly gale roaring along the coast. The fishing vessels Primo and Zebroid, who share our wharf, do the same. Violent rain squalls are blowing hard horizontally across the harbour. Skies and white-cap-spattered seas in the harbour are a uniform battleship grey. The black scallop draggers of Adams & Knickle steamed in and discharged their catch this morning, and they too are having a bit of a ride at the wharf. The ships have all their hawsers doubled up, as well they should. Out in the harbour a couple of small schooners and even an old black Newfoundland schooner are bucking and jerking at their moorings. But inside our office at 132 Montague Street, overlooking Bluenose Drive and the wharves, all is warm and dry. Nice not to be clawing off a lee shore just now.

The Picton Castle has her sails off, sent down and stowed below for the time being. All her yards are still crossed; the running rigging is still rove off in anticipation for her passage south to the Caribbean, planned for the end of November. It is quite amazing to think that only two or three days’ sail due south from Nova Scotia a vessel crosses the Gulf Stream and sails into beautiful warm waters and then soon into the northeast trade-winds followed by some of the best islands in the world in the West Indies. Sign ups are coming along nicely. Wouldn’t you rather spend a sweet Christmas time in the Grenadines wearing shorts, tee-shirts or a sarong? And skipping the madness and commercialism of the holiday period? Bring a pal and sail with us this Yule time in the Christmas Winds of the Windward Isles of the Caribbean. My favorite Christmas-times have always been with a tropical sun and a trade-wind blowing to cool me, barefoot and suntanned, in the lee of a beautiful coconut-palm-covered island.

Along the waterfront

The Schooner Bluenose II…

is hauled out at the Lunenburg slipways for her annual dry-docking. One glance at her sleek hull-form below the waterline and any mystery concerning her swift sailing capability should be quickly dispelled. The gang from Snyder’s Shipbuilding over in Dayspring is doing some routine caulking. The ring of caulking mallets against iron, driving tarry oakum in between her hard oak planks, fills the air of the shipyard once again. It is an interesting opportunity for our crew to go over to the slipways, watch and learn something about the trade and hard work of caulking. The Bluenose II is “flat-roofed,” that is, she has her topmasts sent down. In the old days this was sometimes called the “winter-rig,” as the fishing schooners rarely carried their topmasts in the winter fishing season. Anyway, it is quite a sight to see that big, sleek powerful schooner out of the water.

The Old Dory Shop…

right next to the Picton Castle wharf in the east end of the waterfront is still making wood-chips and putting out dories and other small wooden boats. Jay, the boatwright, is working on a “transom dory.” This is simply a regular dory but with the high tombstone stern replaced with a broad transom that will take an outboard easily. This will make a good run-about utility recreation-fishing workboat. I always had a boat like this (bought 2nd-3rd hand for a short song from the local boat livery) when I was a kid for messing around the islands nearby. It was seaworthy, fast, easy to handle, and could carry a ton of stuff—we will be interested to see how it comes out (www.doryshop.com).

Schooner Races

The Great September Classic Schooner Race has come and gone. About a dozen schooners from the area sailed off their moorings in Lunenburg Harbour a week and a half ago, out into the bay, rounded Cross Island and made a majestic sight sailing back in with the well-named Schooner Comet II taking line honours.

Many sweet schooners sailed into Lunenburg for this gathering. The day broke fair and clear with a fine westerly breeze. While the schooners were out racing, some Picton Castle crew were setting up the big barbeque and roasting the mutton at the Dory Shop. Our old dugout served once again as beer cooler. The post-race feast lasted into the wee hours with music, plenty food and drink and good time had by all at this salty corner of Lunenburg Harbour. We want to see schooners being built here once again.

Chibley the Cat…

Is moping around a little without her shipmates. She is used to having 40-50 people around to adore her. Now she is down to four, none of whom are on night watch when she comes out to prowl. She has been modeling clothes lately but with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. She is waiting for the new gang to show up, I suppose.

A working waterfront

Bluenose II cleaning, Lunenburg, mid October 06

Bluenose II in drydock, lunenburg, mid October 06

Kathleen, Ian, Scott, Nadja and Chloe carry a sail lunenburg

Lunenburg Dories with Picton Castle

PC, Primo, and Zebroid docked in Lunenburg

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