In 12+ years with Picton Castle, I’ve learned that the itinerary of a sailing ship is always flexible and that anything can change at any moment. So, when we were approached by Tall Ships America with an invitation to participate in the Tall Ships Challenge in the Gulf of Mexico this April, we didn’t immediately …
We’ve been fortunate to have great weather this fall, which is all the better for rigging lessons! As with most other topics at Bosun School, we’ve been learning, then practicing, then applying the skills. Having learned and been practicing seizings, splices and servings, it’s now time to cement the knowledge by using it to make …
Lunenburg was alive with festive spirit this weekend and the Bosun School students took part in the celebrations. On Friday evening, people gathered on the waterfront to see the lighting of the vessels. Vessels at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and Adams & Knickle usually participate, along with Bluenose II, and this year we …
One of the fun things about sailing with an international crew is celebrating holidays from different countries. It’s the same in Bosun School, with students of a number of different nationalities. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving back in October, and are celebrating American Thanksgiving today. Niko is busy cooking up a big delicious dinner and we’ve …
Picton Castle is now accepting applications for Mates/Watch Officers for the upcoming voyage. The voyage begins early 2018 and runs until May 2019. This is a sail training voyage for adults and will consist of significant blue-water passages. Qualification requirements vary by position, but all professional crew must have STCW Basic Safety Training and extensive …
When vessels come alongside to dock, they need to get lines ashore in order to tie the vessel to the wharf. Big ships need big lines. It’s not possible to throw these lines because they’re so heavy, so a lighter weight line is tied to the mooring line. These lighter weight lines, called heaving lines, …
Each Picton Castle voyage has its own character, its own inside jokes, its own on-board culture. One of the exciting parts of planning a voyage is putting together the crew and trying to imagine how everyone will interact together. While there are different individuals on each voyage, there are some common themes. People who sail …
Students at Picton Castle‘s Bosun School have been learning to splice wire this week. Captain Moreland started by demonstrating the method, then the students paired up to work on splicing their own wires together. After each pair had completed their splice, Captain Moreland did a second demonstration of the technique, now that the students had …
Back in the summer of 2016, Picton Castle sailed on a transatlantic voyage where we filmed a television series on the way from La Rochelle, France to Quebec City, Canada. The show was called La Grande Traversée and followed the lives of 10 “colonists” who lived life on board as it would have been for …
People ask all sorts of questions when they’re considering signing on board Picton Castle as a trainee. One we’ve been hearing a lot lately is about laundry. How do trainees wash their clothes on the voyage? There is no washing machine on board, so any laundry you do on the ship needs to be done …
