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.
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