As we’ve told you in a previous Captain’s Log, Picton Castle’s departure from Lunenburg is delayed. Our ship is still out of the water at the shipyard in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, awaiting repairs to the shipyard’s winch system that will lower the ship into the water. Until the repairs are completed, Picton Castle is stuck on dry land. We don’t have a firm timeline yet but we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get sailing early in the new year. We’ve got a global circumnavigation to make!
In the meantime, the crew are handling this unexpected delay with grace and optimism. Has the COVID-19 pandemic taught us all more about patience and rolling with the punches, especially when the situation is beyond our control? I, for one, would like to think so.
All of the crew joining the ship for the full voyage around the world or for Leg 1 of the voyage had already joined the ship in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada in early October. We all expected we’d be sailing by mid November, after several weeks of preparation, training and orientation. The drydocking was scheduled to be short, we were just cleaning, inspecting and painting the ship’s bottom and doing any required repairs. Then the lift broke. So now, we’ve been using this extra time, both in Lunenburg and Shelburne, to continue with our training and working on projects that we had planned to do during the voyage.
The crew in Shelburne, under the capable leadership of Picton Castle’s alternate Captain and Chief Mate Dirk Lorenzen, have been working away at a number of projects aboard. The bulwarks are looking fantastic with fresh coats of primer and paint, the scullery and the mate’s cabin were both completely gutted and overhauled, the quarterdeck’s pine decking was sanded down and refinished, and the galley house exterior has been upgraded.
Meanwhile in Lunenburg, with Captain Dan Moreland, the crew are doing an inventory of sails this week, pulling out all the sails we have so we can assess their condition, make any necessary repairs, and get them ready to be loaded aboard the ship. The crew have also been working on Picton Castle’s fleet of small boats, which has led to lessons in small boat carpentry and fibreglass techniques, as well as working together to move these boats in and out of our workshops.
Despite the delay, we’re still learning and working together – the adventure of the voyage has already begun, even if we’re not underway! We want to give a big thank you to our crew for being so amazing, so committed to the voyage and to each other, and so resilient.
