A valuable and essential tool in advancing the learning of seamanship, and an integral part of Lunenburg’s Bosun School, is small boat work. Understanding and competently working small boats is essential in becoming a proper seaman and, eventually, a Bosun. And a Captain for that matter. All the decisions made by the small boat skipper […]
It is now mid-October, the Picton Castle is back from her very successful tour of the Great Lakes with the grand fleet of Tall Ships Challenge®, a hurricane has come and gone, and the eighth session of the Bosun School of Lunenburg is well underway at our wharf in this old seafaring town. We have
The Bosun School at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia- 2019 Read More »
Today we’re wishing that smell-o-vision was a thing. As I walked through the gate towards the warehouse, I could smell the most lovely, smoky aroma that could only be one thing – Swedish pine tar. Pine tar is used liberally in Picton Castle’s rigging maintenance, it coats various parts of the standing rigging and helps
After a week or so of site preparation, Bosun School students started downrigging Picton Castle last week. All sails were sent down, then much of the running rigging. Sails came down quite quickly, it didn’t take much more than a day to get them all down to deck, bundled up properly, and stowed in our
One of my favourite parts of my job is working with Captain Moreland to plan Picton Castle’s voyage itineraries. It’s a fairly long process to get it just right, which means we’ll draft something, review it, amend it, review it again, then amend and review a few more times before we are happy with it
Lunenburg is known for many things, not least of which is rum-running. Those days are long gone, and while rum-running is no longer a part of our daily life here in Lunenburg, we certainly consider this to be a nod to our former glory days. Since shortly before Picton Castle sailed from Lunenburg back in
Captain’s Log Over the past few weeks, my social media feeds have been filled with photos of adorable kids heading to school for the first time, or heading back to school, to a fresh start for a new year. September brings a sense of starting anew, and that’s no different here in Lunenburg. Picton Castle
Monday September 9, 2019 Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Hurricane Dorian blew through here over the weekend. A beautiful sunny day here in Lunenburg. Cool fresh west wind blows across the harbour. Streets are getting cleaned up of branches and gravel. Power has been back on since last night in many places. The weather forecasting for this
After a busy and exciting summer visiting ports in four of the five Great Lakes, Picton Castle is on the final leg of this voyage, bound down the St Lawrence seaway for Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. In fact, we visited nine lakes this summer (Lakes Michigan, Huron, St Clair, Erie, Ontario, St Francis, St Pierre, St
If you happened to be on social media on 29 or 30 August, you no doubt will have read Fiji’s latest tale. For those of you who don’t know (though considering her fame I imagine there are few who do not) Fiji is our ship’s cat. She first joined the ship at the magical island
