As the PICTON CASTLE remains high and dry at the shipyard in Shelburne, one may be forgiven to ask: “What is the ship’s gang actually DOING down there all this time?”
After successfully completing all the necessary work one does in drydock within a couple of weeks of being hauled out, and ready and waiting to be refloated, things took a turn. As we all know.
From late October through the expect launch day, until Christmas, the gang was busy in ship upkeep and maintenance. This all flowed on really nicely, from putting finishing touches on the areas where the shipyard workers had undertaken steel work. Lots of cleaning up, priming, painting and re-installing items of PICTON CASTLE’s fitout that had to be removed to give access to undertake steel work. As cutting and welding is classed as Hotwork, all combustible materials had to be removed, including wooden panelling, decking, bunks, insulation; even electric cables were not exempt.
Making the best of a mild and mostly sunny autumn, work on deck was a priority: Fixing up the galley house, installing a beautiful mahogany pinrail, and grinding and sealing the quarterdeck were the most obvious things that were tackled. Priming and painting bulwarks, stanchions and ladders whenever the weather permitted, of course.
In the engine room, the lengthy task of cleaning out the bilge under the deck plates and of inspecting a maze of hard-to-get-to pipework, servicing valves and more priming and painting went on alongside a myriad of tasks an engineer undertakes to ensure gear and machinery is in tip-top order. Pumps, pipes, cables, batteries, DC freezers, hot water system, you name it.
As December drew to a close and Christmas loomed, it became clear that PICTON CASTLE would remain stuck well into the New Year. And that meant winter was going to make itself felt. With plummeting temperatures, frequent strong winds and rain (or snow), focus soon shifted to work that could be done sheltered from the elements. It also meant winterizing the ship as much as possible and creating shelter so work could continue outside: The breezeways and Aloha deck were enclosed in scaffold wrap, keeping out wind and weather.
How to create a sun trap: Aloha deck enclosed in scaffold wrap.
As Christmas approached, the grime, dust and mess usually associated with shipyard had been dealt with. The ship was clean and tidy, the decks clear, sail had been sent down and dried, and covers had been draped over sensitive gear such as binnacle and engine controls. The funnel was shrouded in a tarp.
Fit for a Christmas inspection as we did not at all entertain the idea of leaving the ship in a normal work-a-day mess while the gang went off to celebrate the Season with their families or shipmates.
Fit for a Christmas inspection? Not one bit! as a vital piece was missing to set the scene: The Christmas tree, of course! We did not forget. On the main hatch, well stayed against the fierce winter gales it went up:
Directly after Christmas, a smaller gang returned from the festivities in Lunenburg to a ship that sat in stark relief against a wintry sky, high and dry. And COLD.
Undeterred, we set to with a will. The rest of the gang would return soon enough, after a well deserved break.
The weather continued cold and sometimes wet. Heaters were placed throughout the ship, and the aft ship was made warm and snug: The newly renovated scullery and the Captain’s Mess were a welcome refuge from the general chill, and the Batcave was kept positively toasty for those who stayed on board.
Frosty days and nights meant that painting, even on the inside, was becoming more and more difficult, particularly on bare steel. Condensation formed on the inside of uninsulated parts of the hull, sometimes freezing, making application of paint impossible. Work planning, timing and weather forecast were integral to making the best out of an inclement environment.
The 19’ semidory (our spare rescue, push and general work boat) received a loving makeover and is now resplendent in its finished livery of Surf Grey, Signal Green, Stone and white, with the bilge a tarry black and the underwater hull red. Very smart. Leo, who undertook the work, is under no illusion that the boat has been, is, and will remain, a pure work boat. Shiny though it may be at present, chips and bumps and scratches are bound to be its patina. The never-ending cycle of upkeep, maintenance and use of a training ship’s small boat will continue.
In general, the love-up of internal spaces continues. Priming, painting, varnishing. And on exceptionally warm days, the gang ventures outside to continue the cosmetic upgrades our ship very much deserves. Other, less apparent, works also continue on deck, such as caulking and paying deck seams, oiling and otherwise sealing the decks to prevent moisture ingress and frost damage. In the breezeways and on the Aloha deck, rust remediation on the aft cabin trunk and on the bulwarks continues. Well may we remind ourselves, while we are chipping away at rust flakes in wintry Nova Scotia, that this was ship’s work that we had planned for long tropical passages, wearing shorts and t-shirts.
On the inside, the gang continues to brighten up the spaces. A fresh lick of paint goes a long way indeed.
The Focs’l.
The Cook’s cabin.
As both spurling pipes were being replaced, the internal fitout in the Cook’s cabin had to come out to allow access and hotwork. And while it would have been easy enough to simply restore the cabin to its previous utilitarian state using the items we had carefully removed, it soon became apparent that a change of layout would be in order, providing more comfort and usable space.
The Mate’s cabin.
Similar to the Cook’s cabin, the fitout of the Mate’s cabin had to come out. Necessary deck renewals demanded the removal of the bunk and settee. Then of course, it all has to go back. And nicely too.
It is surprising what a small and determined gang can accomplish. The above gives but a fleeting impression of what is happening aboard. This could be a photo essay filling page after page after page without repetition or getting boring.
As a list, other work undertaken reads just as impressively:
Empty out, de-scale, prime and paint the chain locker; de-scale, prime and paint the inside hull in hard-to-access spaces in the engine room; paint the battery locker; paint the fiddley; de-scale, repair, prime and paint the aft cabin trunk; commence repair of charthouse; clean and paint DC freezers; and so it goes.
But all is not work, and work is not all here in Shelburne.
The gang are based at “The House”, located about a 30-minute drive from the shipyard.
Hanging out in front of a cozy woodfire, going out on walks on the beach, you name it. And while up to now you may have thought the Shelburne gang of PICTON CASTLE is involved in secret business, or simply just sitting around drinking champagne, you now get a much better idea of the goings-on. And, be it said, the only bubbly known to be stocked at The House is this:
