Our 8th Bosun School has come to a close, and we had a lovely graduation ceremony at Lunenburg’s historic
Dory Shop on Friday 18 December.
Closing ceremonies are an important part of the Bosun School. Each of the participants works so hard -it isn’t easy, this school of ours. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get through it, and that is one of the reasons we only offer it to individuals who already have some amount of sea experience under
their belt; people who already know they want to work at sea. So much hard work deserves
acknowledgement, and the closing ceremony is designed to provide that.
In the final weeks of the school, Captain Moreland met individually with each of the participants to talk
about what they see in their future. He was able to provide them with advice, suggestions, and
recommendations, sometimes helping them with their plan and sometimes pointing them in another
direction. Some of the graduates are planning going on to take additional courses from other institutions;
some are going on to work on other ships; all were offered the opportunity to crew the ship as Picton Castle
heads to Bermuda in February. Almost all accepted the offer. Because as important as it is to have the the time to dedicate to learning these skills on land, there is no better place to practice these new skills
than at sea. Captain Sikkema is heading south with a very capable crew indeed!
The graduation at the Dory Shop was a great night. It started with some music by Bosun School students
Cici, Anders & Lars, along with a few drinks and snacks, then a sit-down meal of hot fish chowder prepared
by Niko, who was the Bosun School cook. After the meal there were a few speeches made by Lunenburg’s
Mayor Rachel Bailey, by Captain Moreland, and by the two class valedictorians: Ann Featherstone and Caleb
Winberry. No speech was too long; no speech was too short. Each student received a letter of achievement
from the Bosun School outlining what they have studied in the past three months.
The whole night was the ultimate mix of perfect. When the letters of achievement were all presented, the tables
were cleared away and the Dory Shop’s Mike Gray had his band perform until the wee hours.
One of the many fun parts of working here in the Picton Castle office is being able to watch futures unfold before our trainees and Bosun School graduates when they leave us; I’m looking forward to seeing where this incredible group of individuals end up!
