Picton Castle left her wharf for the first time since July 2007 today, being towed a few hundred metres away to the drydock at Lunenburg Industrial Foundry and Engineering. Instead of using her main engine, the ship was manoeuvred with the help of three tugboats. They pulled the ship away from the wharf, along the …
A week ago, the final instalment of the trainee fee was due for those trainees joining Picton Castle for the full year or Leg 1 of the Voyage of the Atlantic. Making that final payment represents a real commitment, and also a huge leap of faith. As a former trainee, I remember the combination of …
Picton Castle has a temporary addition that makes her look quite different when walking down the dock. Because the ship’s stern is closest to the shore, it’s impossible to miss the cover over the quarterdeck. Made of plastic sheeting fastened over a wooden frame, this cover will help keep the quarterdeck dry and protected so …
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 …
“Your dinner aboard the ship is some expensive,” said the woman sitting across from me in the doctor’s office waiting room. Dinner aboard the ship, I wondered. Huh? “Oh, you mean the dinner that’s being auctioned off in support of LaHave Manor.” “Fifty dollars a ticket, prepared by the Captain, served on the ship,’ she …
As I write this Captain’s log the Picton Castle is tugging on her moorings at her old wharf in Lunenburg with a southeasterly gale roaring along the coast. The fishing vessels Primo and Zebroid, who share our wharf, do the same. Violent rain squalls are blowing hard horizontally across the harbour. Skies and white-cap-spattered seas …
