Lunenburg, Picton Castle’s home port, is fairly quiet in the winter. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. One of the nice things about having the ship tied up for a while is that the crew can work regular, predictable hours, taking most evenings and weekends off. That much time off is a luxury to the crew of a sailing ship, so we’re sure to make the most of it.

Most evenings you can find at least some of the Picton Castle crew at the newly renovated Grand Banker, the local restaurant/pub that becomes our second home in the winter. The place got a facelift in November with new floors, a slightly revised booth arrangement and a fresh coat of paint. The changes make it easier to move around and the new decor looks great. The Grand Banker has started a trivia night on Saturdays, and the Picton Castle team placed first for two weeks in a row in February.

Ben, Kjetil and I took curling lessons at the Lunenburg Curling Club in November and have continued to curl through the winter. We have recruited the rest of the crew to play with us, or at least come and watch, when the club hosts “Friday Fun Night” which is open to anyone, whether you’re a club member or not. Some of us are really improving from week to week, and we’re all having a good time playing this very social sport.

For the crew of a barque that sails mostly in the tropics, we’re really embracing winter. In addition to curling, we have been to the local arena to ice skate a few times. Skating was particularly fun before Christmas when we had a whole group of former crew visiting and there was a huge crowd at the rink. Lynsey and Rebecca have been snowboarding at a hill a short drive away from Lunenburg and hope to go again before the winter is over. I’m sure that all of the crew have thrown a few snowballs, made snowmen or snow angels.

Ben sweeping

Kjetil calls the shots

Maggie delivers a stone

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Much of Picton Castle’s rigging has been sent down from aloft and brought into our warehouse for the winter. This helps protect it from the harsh Canadian winter weather, and it also allows us to work on it so that everything is in great shape when it goes back up in the spring.

Kjetil and Ben have recently been working on overhauling the heads’l sheet pennants. They started each one by cutting away the old chafe gear, seizing and serving then removing the block from the wire eye. The block was taken apart, the wood outside was scraped and oiled, the sheave inside was wire brushed and greased to make sure it can turn smoothly, and put back together again. You can see on the left in the photo below that the block was sitting in the eye, ready for the next step. The wire splice was in good shape still, so it did not have to be replaced. The next step was to worm and parcel the splice. Worming means filling in the grooves between the strands of wire with marlin and parcelling means wrapping a strip of fabric around the splice over the worming to help keep it in place and make the surface more even. Next the splice and the eye were served, meaning that marlin is wrapped tightly around the wire, over the worming and parcelling, to protect the wire. The serving is then covered in a generous amount of pine tar which helps to preserve it. The block is held into the eye by a seizing, which you can see in the middle of the photo, also made with marlin. The last step is to protect it further by sewing leather around the splice which protects the serving. The leather is soaked in warm water to make it flexible, then sewn on by hand.

The sheet pennant is about six feet long and connects the clew of the sail (the aft corner of a fore and aft sail) to the sheet (the line that controls the trim of the sail). One end of the sheet is made fast, the other end goes through the block and to the pin rail. On the other end of the sheet pennant, a shackle connects it to the clew of the sail. The process for overhauling the other end is much the same, just without the block. The old chafe gear, seizing and serving are cut away, the splice inspected, then the splice and they eye are wormed, parcelled, served and covered in leather.

Ben sews leather around an eye

Sheet pennants in stages

Sheet pennants other end

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Winter has really taken hold here in Lunenburg. It’s snowing outside my office window, the beginning of what is forecast to be five centimetres tonight. The wind is blowing from the southeast, causing whitecaps in the harbour and I can hardly see the golf course across the water through the snow and fog. Picton Castle is still tied snugly to her wharf, rocking in the waves that are formed when the wind blows up Lunenburg Bay.

Work continues aboard as we prepare for the Voyage of the Atlantic. Finn is making great progress in the engine room, mounting and re-wiring lights, getting parts overhauled and keeping the furnace running when it gets really cold to stop the pipes from freezing. Kjetil, Ben, Ryan and Sarah have made good headway in overhauling all the blocks (over 300 of them!), which were sent down and into the warehouse in the fall. Each block is taken apart, inspected, scraped, cleaned, greased and oiled as necessary. Some take only a few minutes to overhaul, some take much longer. They’re also doing some varnish work, with yards laid across sawhorses in the warehouse for scraping and sanding, then hung from beams in the ceiling to varnish.

The office continues to be busy, with packages arriving almost daily by courier or mail that contain catalogues, publications and samples as we provision the ship for the voyage. We need to make sure there’s enough of everything from crew T-shirts to Chibley’s flea medication. We have heard recently from a number of people in Europe who have connections to Picton Castle, many family members of former crew who worked aboard when she was fishing or carrying cargo. They’re excited to see what the ship is like now, and we’re thrilled to share her with them. There are only a few more months of winter, and a few more months until we sail away on our next exciting adventure.

Kjetil overhauls a block

Ryan sands a yard

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May 2008 will mark the beginning of a whole new adventure for Picton Castle. The ship will set sail on a year-long voyage around the Atlantic, calling at ports in twenty different countries. This voyage will have all the characteristics of our now-famous world circumnavigation voyages: long sea passages broken up by weeks of port hopping, in-depth training in seamanship and square-rig sailing, the time and guidance to develop in skill and confidence, and the entry into the kinship of shipmates. Everyone who sails with us is a working crew member who stands watches, takes a turn at the helm, helps in the galley, sets and takes in sail, keeps the ship in good shape and enters a port knowing they played a role in getting the ship safely to her destination.

After a winter of being tied up in our home port of Lunenburg, the ship will set out across the Atlantic in May 2008. The first landfall after the Atlantic crossing will be southern Ireland, followed by a run into the Baltic Sea to the Aland Islands. On the way back out of the Baltic we’ll stop in Denmark on the way to Bergen, Norway where Picton Castle will meet up with the fleet of European tall ships. The ship will sail to Den Helder, the Netherlands and Bremerhaven, Germany in company with the fleet before heading down the English Channel with a stop at Ipswich. Picton Castle will return to her roots in Milford Haven and Swansea, Wales as we visit ports close to the castle for which the ship is named. Brest is next on the itinerary, then into the Mediterranean past Gibraltar to Mallorca. We’ll head back into the Atlantic and visit the Canary Islands, the Madeira Islands, Dakar in Senegal, and the Cape Verde Islands before crossing the ocean again, this time dipping south of the Equator to Fernando de Noronha, an island group off Brazil. The journey will continue with a few months of sailing in the Eastern Caribbean, experiencing some of the best sailing, anchorages and island hopping in the world, before arriving back in Lunenburg about a year later.

We are thrilled to be introducing this new and exciting voyage. In 10 years of operation, we have found Picton Castle is at her best on long voyages. This new voyage will give us a chance to bring the ship back to Europe where she was built and served most of her life fishing, carrying cargo and working as a WWII mine sweeper. Picton Castle’s award-winning program will remain much the same as on our world voyages but with the added challenge and wonder of sailing different waters and exploring different ports.

No sailing experience is necessary to join this amazing voyage. All you need is a desire for adventure, a willingness to get along with your shipmates and a reasonable level of physical fitness. You can apply online or through our office. Contact us with any questions you may have about this opportunity of a lifetime.

john tars the mizzen shrouds

Kristin comes down from aloft

nadja watches other ships

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It has been a while since we posted a Captain’s Log, things have been quite busy around Picton Castle. The ship is still snugly tied to the dock in Lunenburg and now that our first Bosun School has finished we have been working away steadily on a number of different projects.

Local carpenter Dave Rodenhiser has been replacing planks in the deck, the crew have been learning how to caulk and pitch the seams to make them watertight. The saloon sole, where most of the extra rope, sails and rigging tools are stored, has been inventoried, cleaned and re-organized. Finn is pleased that he has got the boiler for the furnace working in the engine room, which will heat the ship enough during the winter to prevent the pipes from freezing. Winter preparations also require putting antifreeze in all the pipes in the ship that normally carry water. The new wire seizings on the shrouds done during the Bosun School are now being primed and painted, as are the now rust-free rails on the foc’sle head. The topmasts are being de-greased so they can be painted (usually they’re greased to help the yards move up and down smoothly), and the jibboom has been varnished after it had been scraped and sanded during Bosun School.

In the ship’s office up the street, we have been working on plans for the Atlantic voyage which will begin in May 2008. The Captain and Lynsey have been examining charts for Europe, dividers and calculator in hand, to determine the best route to take the ship to all the places we want to go. We have been researching ports, figuring out what vaccinations, visas and other documentation the crew need to get, making connections with people in Europe and checking out festivals that we may want to participate in. We’re also working to check off as many items from the to-do list as we can now by getting equipment serviced, major purchases researched and arranged and provisioning planned. Of course, we have also been spreading the word about the voyage. Trainee applicants have been coming to Lunenburg since the beginning of September for their in-person interviews and they look like the beginning of a great crew.

The crew are still enjoying Lunenburg, maybe even more now that tourist season is almost over. A few shops and businesses that are only open seasonally have closed their doors for the year, or plan to shortly. The fall colours were at their best last weekend, the days are getting noticeably shorter and the weather cooler. We’re happy to settle in and stay busy for a long Lunenburg winter.

Dave replaces planks in the quarterdeck

Ryan painting in the headrig

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“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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Here on our wharf in Lunenburg The Bosun School is in full swing and the gang has been busy, very busy. We have had six weeks of almost perfect weather at the ideal time of year. So often we find ourselves working in the cold rain and even snow while we down rig or up rig the Picton Castle. This time we get do the job in delightful summer weather and teach all the techniques at the same time and have a little fun besides. Here is what we have been up to as part of The Bosun School.

1. Sent all the 21 canvas sails down off the yards and out of the rig. This is a job that takes seamanship and skill.
2. Sent all the 175 pieces of running rigging and 350 blocks down. Then they have to get labelled and stowed properly. The blocks will get overhauled over the winter.
3. Sent the t’gallant and royal yards down. This is a very nice piece of seamanship which young seafarers rarely get to take part in today.
4. Taught, practiced and made new wire seizings as we overhauled the lower shrouds. These are the same one would use on rigging a ship like Peking or Moshulu.
5. Bosun Chair: learning to use a Bosun Chair properly for attending to the rigging.
6. Sail in local Tancook schooners: The local members of the Nova Scotia Schooner Association took all our crew out on a weekend of racing in some pretty fine craft.
7. Sail in the topsail schooner Pride II: The Captain and crew of the beautiful topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II took our whole gang out for a training sail on Lunenburg Bay; my can she sail some good!
8. Sail in schooner Bluenose II; The Captain and crew of Lunenburg’s own magnificent schooner Bluenose II showed our gang a glimpse of the challenges of sailing a big fore and aft sailer on an afternoon daysail.
9. Help build a Dory: A couple of our gang got to help build a dory at the Dory Shop; building dories here since 1917; see www.doryshop.com
10. Sail in a banks dory around the harbour: evenings and weekends were often spent in sailing our own banks dory around the harbour.
11. Liverpool wire splicing; Sailmakers splicing, seizing, sail patching and construction techniques: lots of hand seamanship and good progress made by all.

carrying sails into the warehouse

roping a sail

rowing the dory

sending down the main royal yard

setting sail on Pride II

wire seizing on the fore shrouds

wire splicing

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The next morning everyone was up unusually early (before their third wakeup), seabags packed and ready to go.

We trooped down the street, hopped the fence at the Fisheries Museum, scampered down the ladder on the dock, and threw our gear aboard Pride of Baltimore II. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I was overcome by a very strange feeling after a few seconds of standing on deck. I had no idea what to do next. As the crew, we are used to being the ones who know where everything is, how it works, why, and so on. The unsettling feeling of being the useless new guy wore off quickly though, as I realized that I had absolutely no responsibility! I didn’t have to know the answers to any questions, and nobody would come to me when the head clogged, the cat threw up, or so-and-so was being a pain in the butt. How refreshing!

The second mate, Mike, gave us all an orientation to general ship’s life, as well as a safety gear and procedures overview, and got us settled in our bunks. We helped out as best we could with ship’s work while Captain Miles reviewed the weather and finished up the ship’s paperwork.

We got underway just before lunch, and sailed out of Lunenburg harbour. I love seeing Pride sail in and out of Lunenburg, but I think we all agree the view from on deck is better. As soon as we got around Cross Island we picked up a fresh breeze in fairly calm seas, and we smoked down the coast. I mean smoked! We were making 11 knots like it was nothing. The deck was covered in ear-to-ear grins. We tried to act casual, but I don’t think it worked.

We broke into watches in the early evening, and the ship settled into her routine. I keep saying ’ship’ – actually the crew refer to Pride as a ‘boat’, but after 7 years of having ‘boat’ beaten out of me, I can’t bring myself to say it.

We made Bar Harbour on Saturday, and were greeted by one of our former crew, Chelsie, who had organized transportation for all 8 of us to come and spend the weekend at her camp.

One of the wonderful things about sailing in Picton Castle is that just about anywhere in the world you can conceivably end up, you will more than likely know someone. And they will always go out of their way to show you a good time. Chelsie and her family were great hosts, and our big adventure continued in style until we met the ferry for Yarmouth on Monday. All in all, our outing proved to be one of the most seamless, spontaneous adventures I’ve ever had.

It seemed as though the rest of the month would pale in comparison to this, but we still had a few adventures ahead of us…

Big grins

Setting the main

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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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