The past few days have been very busy on the Picton Castle as we have passed through the locks on the St. Lawrence River. We reached the anchorage area east of Montreal around 1000 on Friday, passed the required inspection before transiting the locks, and were heading across the Montreal harbour towards the first lock by 1600. Maneuvering the ship through the locks is tricky business, it requires the crew to respond quickly. Andrea Deyling is our number one helmsman and she steered us safely through all seven locks. The captain depends on her excellent helmsmanship as he pilots the Picton Castle in and out of the locks. The lock operators call the ship into the lock and tell us where they want us to stop. Because we are heading upriver the lock is always at its lowest water level when we enter. Once the ship is in position the line handlers ashore throw us a heaving line, we attach it to our hawsers and they pull the hawsers up and make them fast ashore. Before the lock starts to fill we take the slack out of the lines and make them fast, then as the water rises we continue to take out slack. Most locks give us a rise of 15 meters. After about 10 minutes the water level in the lock is even with the river above, the big steel gates open and we continue on.

Opened in 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway extends from Montreal to Lake Erie including the Welland Canal. Some of the locks are Canadian, some are American and there seems to be quite a lot of cooperation between the two. Most of the ships that use the Seaway carry cargo such as wheat and other grains, iron ore, chemicals, oil, and manufactured goods in containers. These ships have been designed to just fit in the locks with little room to spare. The maximum size of a laker (as these ships are called) is 740 feet long with a beam (width) of 78 feet. To compare, the Picton Castle’s sparred length is 179 feet with a beam of 24 feet. Being smaller doesn’t actually help, as it means our ship can bang around; if we filled up the lock we couldn’t. We have had some large ships pass us going the other direction, follow us, or overtake us between locks. Sometimes we have the whole lock to ourselves; sometimes we have to share with another ship. Coordinating vessel traffic in the Seaway is a large task, but they do it well. As we leave a lock the local traffic station will tell us about other ships in the area including their names, direction of travel, and approximate location. There are a number of designated reporting stations, and as we pass we radio in to them and let them know where we are. It would be nice to anchor at night but we are steaming flat out to make sure we get to Cleveland on time. It’s all very interesting but very different from sailing the South Pacific.

The distance from the first lock (St. Lambert) to the last lock before Lake Ontario (Iroquois) is 95 nautical miles, with some locks right next to each other and others up to 44 nautical miles away. We passed through the Iroquois lock at 1430 on Saturday, so our transit of those seven locks took almost 24 hours. Throughout the Seaway we are using the Scandinavian watch system, with two watches instead of our usual three. Today the Port watch is on deck from 0400 to 0800, and 1300 to 1900. The Starboard watch has the deck from 0000 to 0400, 0800 to 1300 and 1900 to 0000. Tomorrow each watch will have the opposite schedule, and so it cycles around. This is a more demanding watch schedule than we usually keep on the Picton Castle but it actually allows for more sleep because otherwise we would have to call all hands to pass through every lock.

We took a short but well-earned rest last evening as we made a stop in Ogdensburg, New York. With the town dock right on the river, it made sense for us to stop there and clear in through US customs and immigration. We must have been quite an event in town, based on the number of visitors who drove past to check out our beautiful barque. We still have all of our Seaway modifications in place—yards cock-billed and greasy fenders all over—so we don’t look quite our usual best, but they didn’t seem to mind. Crew were let loose for a few hours each, long enough to play a game of rugby in the park across from the town dock, stock up on potato chips and maybe find a cold drink. We got a very early start this morning at 0300, leaving the dock and getting underway again. It would have been nice to stay a bit longer, but we must press on. So we have locks day and night. It’s quite something.

Because of our stop in Ogdensburg we were able to pass through the Thousand Islands in the daylight. I don’t think anyone bothered to count, but there certainly are a lot of islands. One of the smallest ones we saw is only about 20 feet by 20 feet with a house covering almost the entire island. The inhabitants could barely take two steps out their front door before going for a swim. On the opposite end of the size spectrum is Boldt Castle, the vacation home built about 100 years ago by the guy who owned the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. It looks like a real fairy-tale palace. There are lots of cottages and summer homes in the area and we were checked out by a number of powerboats and jet skis out for a Saturday morning ride.

At Cape Vincent, where the river opens up into Lake Ontario, we said goodbye to Don Metzger, a Seaway pilot and friend of the ship. Don had joined us at the Snell lock in Massena, New York, and he was a huge help. Like all pilots in the Seaway, he specializes in one area, and he covers the river upwards from Massena and all of Lake Ontario (seems like a VERY large area to me). He regularly guides ships in and out of ports on both the Canadian and American sides. Don was great to us, sharing all sorts of knowledge about the area and making sure the helmsman was informed and comfortable.

Currently we are motoring across Lake Ontario, heading for Port Weller where the Welland Canal begins, which goes around Niagara Falls. We hope to go through the canal in the daylight hours on Monday, and the total transit time should be somewhere between 8 and 12 hours. Then we are headed on to Erie, home of the US Brig Niagara, a ship on which the Captain worked for some time. It is 2nd Mate Greg Bailey’s home town, too.

Andrea and a laker on the way to the lakes

Boldt Castle on the way to the lakes

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Greg on 4th of July on the way to the lakes

huge ship overtaking us on the way to the lakes

inside the lock on the way to the lakes

Kim Smith and Don Metzger on the way to the lakes

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St. Lawrence Seaway between Quebec City and MontrealShortly after 0300 this morning the Picton Castle anchored off Quebec City and said goodbye to Francois and Benoit, our pilots from Escoumin. I awoke this morning to a beautiful view of this historic city, founded in 1608. The Chateau Frontenac, the famous castle-like hotel with a green copper roof, was an easy landmark to spot. Quebec City is known for its historic buildings, narrow streets and old world charm, but it is clear from our angle that there is more modern stuff going on there. Behind the old stone buildings are huge glass office towers, across the river is a container port, a big Coast Guard icebreaker sits at a dock, roads and traffic run along the water and inland. The old fort is visible on top of a cliff on a point that sticks out into the river and, as someone said this morning, with all the cannons up there nobody would have been able to sneak past.

Around 1100 we took on two new pilots and a pilot trainee, heaved up the anchor and passed the fort without incident. The watches have been busy today preparing the ship to transit the locks further up the river near Montreal. Our efforts have been directed toward making the ship as narrow as possible and also protecting the outside. The yards are braced up sharp on starboard tack, the fore and main yards have been cock-billed (really, really tilted) so that they fit entirely within the width of the ship. Everything has to be inboard. The ship’s rigging was designed to be able to do this; it’s the same technique we use when going through the Panama Canal. We will hoist onboard the boat currently hanging in the starboard davits on to the cargo hatch and turn the davits inboard. The giant wooden fenders which have been prepared in the past few days were greased and installed today, lashed over the t’gallant rail and through the scuppers below. Rubber tires have been brought out on deck and wrapped in old rope to be lashed to corners of the ship that might touch lock walls when they are filling and we are going up. We will be ready for the locks tomorrow. We have 13 locks to go through before we get up to Lake Erie, 7 in the seaway and 6 in the Welland Canal which connects Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. That makes 14 including Canso lock. Before long all hands will be lock experts.

Alex makes a fender on the way to the lakes

fenders secured on the way to the lakes

Luc and Ryan lash a fender on the way to the lakes

main yard cockbilled on the way to the lakes

Nadja and Kathleen go hard right in Quebec City

Quebec City waterfront on the way to the lakes

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This morning at 0700 the Picton Castle took on two pilots at Escoumin who will be with us until we reach Quebec City tomorrow morning. Any vessel over 500 gross tons, as well as any foreign flag vessel over 100 feet long, must use the services of a pilot while in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Picton Castle flies the flag of the Cook Islands and we fit the length requirement so we must take a pilot. In fact, we currently have two pilots on board, Francois Pouliot and Benoit Frenette. This is because we have an open quarter-deck and don’t steam at 13 or more knots. We are pretty excited to make 8 knots. They tend to work in pairs on the Escoumin to Quebec City section because it takes a while to cross and they can take turns. The training and apprenticeship to become a Seaway pilot is two years long, at the end of it they have to know their section so well that they can draw an accurate chart of it from memory. These guys are certainly the local experts. They have to be experienced mariners with large tickets to begin with before they can start their pilot training.

We are currently anchored off Point au Pic, Quebec, a small tourist oriented town on the north shore of the river. As the tide flows out from here the current runs at about 3 knots, around the next bend it can increase to 4 or 5 knots. Considering the wind is also coming from upriver it makes sense to not waste diesel trying to fight it now. We will wait until a bit later this evening and carry on up the river with the flood tide. We should be in Quebec City tomorrow morning where we will anchor again to await the flood tide, and also to switch pilots. We will do one more pilot switch even further up the river at Montreal.

At Montreal we will have more locks to go through, carrying us ever higher up towards the Great Lakes. Today chief mate Kim and some helpers have been preparing 6″x6″ timbers to become fenders for our lock passage. These giant pieces of wood will be lashed vertically to the sides of the ship, seven on each side, to prevent the ship scraping directly on the lock walls.

Wildlife sightings have been in abundance over the past few days. People are still talking about the thousands of birds we passed perched on the cliffs of Ile Bonaventure. At dinner last night we were entertained by a pod of whales spouting about 500 feet off the port side. The 4-8 watch was extremely lucky this morning to see a beluga whale. Apparently there are a lot of whales in this area, and a lot of whale watching boats. It was quite foggy through most of the day so we didn’t see as many as we had hoped, but we will keep looking.

The crew of the Picton Castle love to eat and David Matthews, our cook, has amazed us with two special dinners this week, one for Canada Day and one for the 4th of July. Last night the cargo hatch looked like most peoples’ living rooms after a giant Thanksgiving dinner, strewn with bodies lying down rubbing their bellies and groaning about how much they just ate. Dave stuffed us with hamburgers, corn on the cob, hot dogs, roasted potatoes and salad, and Stephanie (trainee and baker) made kaisers for the burgers and apple pie for dessert. We paused between the main course and dessert for a rest and a musical interlude, Ashley serenaded us with the American national anthem.

As new trainees learn their lines and practice their watch keeping skills, they are also taking cues from the experienced crew on how to amuse themselves at sea. Almost everyone has a book to read, many of them books on seafaring. On the silly side, beard fashions seem to be the latest trend amongst the male crew members as they trim, tuck and twirl them into different styles. At anchor this afternoon we launched the Danie Bailey, a wooden toy boat built on the world voyage by Ollie Campbell. It came back from one knockdown in a big wave and floated upright for quite a while, but eventually was overcome by several waves in a row. Maybe it will wash up on shore nearby and make some Quebecois child very happy.

From the serene to the absurd, all on board is well.

Bruce serves Canada Day cake on the way to the lakes

Kolin with beard pigtails on the way to the lakes

our pilots, Benoit Frenette and Francois Pouliot on the way to the lakes

Stephanie, Bruce and Emmanuel prepare lock fenders on the way to the lakes

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After steaming and the sailing through Northumberland Straights which separate the province of Prince Edward Island from the mainland of Canada in the form of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in rainy blustery weather the Picton Castle finds herself sailing north for the Gaspe Peninsula. Gaspe is a stunning gorgeous and remote part of Quebec. Maybe we can put in on the way home to Lunenburg. Right now we are steaming close to Bonadventure Island all covered with sea birds and we have seen some whales close up to the ship.

All is well onboard. Our veteran world voyage crew insist upon running around bare-footed in spite of the fact that we are half-way to the north pole and that they have sweaters, long underwear, knit caps (yes, toques) and oil-skins on and then they remark that it is cold…go figure. Along the coast here the sun has burned away the fog and we have light cool breezes. Dark blue seas and clear blues skies, you know, sky blue. We are motoring in order to make up some time we stayed at anchor letting some minor gales blow on by. A few fishing boats are puttering around nearby trailed by circling gulls. All very pretty.

We went under the huge Confederation Bridge that now links Prince Edward Island to Canada yesterday. Some piece of architecture it is!!! A ship 150 feet high can pass underneath the center span. Kinda narrow, a wonder it doesn’t blow over but they probably figured on all that, most likely. We got the best view of this extremely long bridge from the water, the only vehicles that we saw poking out above the cement sides were large trucks and buses. Too bad for all those folks in regular cars, they miss out on quite a sight.

And before the bridge we went through Canso locks; our first of about a thousand locks we need to go through to climb up into the Great Lakes. Our passage through the Canso locks was fast and smooth, all hands responded quickly with dock lines and fenders. Hopefully a sign of good lock passages to come…

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New trainees aboard the Picton Castle are discovering what it means to sail aboard this beautiful barque as we motor along the coast of Nova Scotia. Along with learning to stand forward lookout, do efficient ship checks, steer a steady course and set and take in sails they have also been figuring out how high to fill their coffee cups without any spilling out, the spot on the windward rail where the waves are most likely to splash over, how brace themselves in their bunks for a comfortable sleep and which combination of layers of clothing will work best to keep them warm. All are extremely keen to be here and make the most of their short summer stay on the Picton Castle.

Canada Day came in cool and foggy this morning with the fog just starting to lift as we enter the Strait of Canso which separates Cape Breton Island from the mainland of Nova Scotia. With the temperature a chilly 14 degrees Celsius shorts and t-shirts aren’t really an option and people have rooted around in sea chests to find red or white sweaters and toques (for you non-Canadians, a toque is a warm winter hat also known as a watch cap or a beanie). I can’t say I have ever worn long johns on Canada Day before but I suppose there’s a first time for everything. Despite the cool weather the sun is shining and we plan to celebrate by displaying all our Canadian flags, singing out a loud ‘O-Canada’ and enjoying a special Canada Day supper. Last year the Picton Castle celebrated Canada Day in the Pacific Ocean on the way to the Galapagos Islands but it feels much more like home to spend July 1st on the cool coast of Nova Scotia.

Excitement continues to build over the ship’s summer plans. We are bound for the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence seaway to participate in a number of tall ship festivals. Bruce Dickie-Clark, one of the new trainees, will be almost able to see home from the locks in Montreal, as will Stephanie McMahon from further up the river. Legs of the trip are quite short this summer, only one or two weeks, meaning that lots of trainees will get a chance to sail with us. We look forward to welcoming guests aboard for daily deck tours in the various ports, transiting locks in the seaway and the Welland Canal, checking out other Tall Ships, and exploring the great inland seas. We are also looking forward to real, actual, genuine, proper summer weather…You know, with sun shine and stuff like that.

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