The ship is mostly ready for winter now, she looks quite bare on deck with all of the deck boxes stowed in the warehouse and all of the manilla running rigging sent down. The wooden fore and main t’gallant yards have been sent down for the winter, stowed in the warehouse where they will be overhauled and ready to send back up next spring. The fore and main t’gallant masts have also been sent down, but they were overhauled on the wharf and sent back up. The tops’l yards and the course yards on the fore and main masts, which are made of steel, have been cockbilled and lashed firmly in place for the coming months.

The crew continue to live on board, there is some heat in the Batcave so some of the crew have already moved aft and more will likely do that soon. Chibley, the ship’s cat, also continues to live on board, although she is becoming increasingly interested in curling up in our office and store across the street. With a group of people still on board, the crew are able to make their own fun wherever we go. Sailing on Wednesday nights has continued through the fall, Norm and Steve continue to make the Grand Banker feel like our living room, and we occasionally have special occasions to celebrate. There was a big turkey dinner on board in the main salon for Canadian Thanksgiving and I’m sure we’ll do it again in a few weeks to celebrate with our American friends. With our experience of marlinspike parties on board the ship, dressing up for Hallowe’en was no problem for our crew.

As we enter the last month of our Bosun School program, the ship is pretty much ready for winter. There will be lots to do in order to get the ship ready to sail around the world again, so work will continue with maintaining and overhauling the ship and all her parts.

Andrew, Jack and Dave dig in to lunch

Craig and Sarah learn to build a dory with Jay

empty looking decks and wheel and binnacle covered for the winter

Meredith overhauls a block

the fore yard cockbilled at a sharp angle for the winter

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One of the things we’ve been looking at lately is our own website, trying to figure out what works well and what should be changed. Because we’re so familiar with it, it can be hard to see the site from the perspective of someone who visits it occasionally, or even for the first time. So, we’re asking for some feedback from you. Please send us an email at info@picton-castle.com to let us know what you like about our website, what you don’t like and what you would like to see change. All comments and suggestions are welcome.

The great weather has allowed the Bosun School students as well as the crew to spend a fair amount of time in small boats, sailing on Wednesday evenings for the weekly Hump Cup race as well as other days. Sea Never Dry, the ship’s dory with the pink hull and bright Senegalese cotton sails, along with Mr Bones, the 16 foot wooden boat built on board during the Voyage of the Atlantic with sails made of green and orange tarps, have been seen sailing regularly in Lunenburg harbour. Our crew will also be doing some sailing in Kitty Cochran, the schooner that they helped to rig and launch just recently at the Dory Shop.

Last week, the students and crew had a big schooner sailing experience aboard Bluenose II. They were aboard for the morning sail on the last sailing day of the season, learning how a big, fast schooner sails. Captain Phil Watson was generous with his time to explain some of the workings of the vessel to our students and crew. The strain that some of the lines aboard Bluenose II are under is pretty incredible, and so is the electric winch that helps to raise the enormous mainsail. Bluenose II is scheduled for a major refit, so it was important to get aboard now for a sail.

As always, there are lots of projects going on aboard Picton Castle. The ship looks significantly different now at the end of the month than it did a few weeks ago when we sailed into Lunenburg at the end of the summer voyage. Sails and running rigging have all been sent down and stored in the warehouse for the winter. A lot of the ship’s equipment and supplies have also been moved into the warehouse, to stay safe and dry through the coming months. T’gallant and royal yards have been sent down to be inspected and overhauled, and the most obvious change is that the t’gallant masts have been sent down as well. Without t’gallant masts, the overall height of the rig is reduced by about a third, making Picton Castle look unusually small across the dock from Bluenose II.

Although the days may be getting shorter, we’re doing all we can to make the most of the pleasant fall weather while we have it.

Bluenose II gets off the dock for a daysail

Captain Phil Watson of Bluenose II

Paul, Dave, Craig and Sarah sail the dory

setting sails for Hump Cup

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One of those events was the Bailly’s Fuels Charity Dory Challenge in support of the South Shore Health Foundation. The Picton Castle had a team in the dory challenge, kindly sponsored by the folks at Nova Scotia Building Supplies. There were two other ships teams, one from the schooner Bluenose II and another from the US Coast Guard Cutter Grand Isle (also sponsored by local hardware stores), as well as teams from local businesses.

The small problem was that the dory challenge was scheduled to begin at 1:30 and at 1 p.m. the schooner had not yet been launched. Our crew not only worked to put the schooner’s masts in place – without a crane, no less – but also worked to rig the boat, so everyone wanted to be on hand for the launch. Add to that the fact that it was the dad of one of our rowers who built the boat and you can imagine that no one was going anywhere until the Kitty Cochran was in the water. Thankfully that happened just before the half hour and our rowers, Kyle Westergaard and Ollie Stiler-Cote, were able to hightail it to the other end of the waterfront for the challenge. Which they won!

We honestly don’t know what was more entertaining – the fine show of rowing skills or members of our crew all decked out in hats and dresses from the schooner launch cheering from the bowsprit of the Bluenose II. However it was a great event and our team was proud to bring their trophy back down to the Dory Shop for celebrations that carried on well into the night.

charity challenge dory champs

PC rowers in dory challenge

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One of the first things we did was send the sails down. After the rain we got from Tropical Storm Danny they were quite wet, so we loosed them two days in a row to dry them. Our sails are made of cotton canvas, so they must be dried when they are wet, otherwise they will rot and tear. They certainly have to be dry before we put them away for the winter so they will be in good shape when we bring them out and send them back up next spring. With chief mate Mike and sailmaker David on deck, the rest of the crew, including our Bosun School students, worked aloft to cut the sails away from their yards and send them down to deck. Gantlines, lines that are used to carry things up and down from aloft, were rigged and the crew were split into two teams per mast, with one team working on the royal and t’gallant and the other working on the upper and lower tops’ls and the course. This job goes surprisingly quickly and all of the sails were sent down in record time.

Most of the running rigging was sent down the next day, then measured, inspected, coiled neatly and tagged to spend a winter in our warehouse. The running rigging is all manilla rope, a natural fibre. It shrinks up as it gets wet and lengthens as it dries, so it also had to be dry to be measured and put away. With less lines on the pins, it makes it easier to get to the pin rails to sand and varnish them, getting lots of coats on to protect the wood over the winter. The rest of the ship will get extra coats of paint, tar, grease and oil as appropriate to make sure that things are well-covered for the coming months.

In addition to ship’s work, the crew are enjoying being part of the community in Lunenburg. Both Sea Never Dry, our tropical-coloured dory with sails made of Senegalese fabric, and Mr Bones, the Grenadian skiff built aboard during the Voyage of the Atlantic with tarp sails made this summer, were out sailing last Wednesday night in the weekly small boat races. According to the folks who have been racing every week this summer, this past Wednesday had the best wind of the whole season. Forgetaboutit, a sweet little boat built by Dave Westergaard and owned by crew member Ollie Campbell, and Mr Bones made an appearance in the Martin’s River Regatta this past Saturday, the first time that any of our crew have participated in that event. Dave Westergaard is currently finishing building another boat, Kitty Cochrane at the Dory Shop, preparing it to be launched on Saturday. The crew assisted with stepping the masts for this 33-foot schooner yesterday, bringing it closer to completion.

crew clean up after stepping masts in Kitty Cochrane

Marie sends down the lower tops l

moving big spars at the Dory Shop

Paul and Kappy send down the t gallant

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Picton Castle motored into Lunenburg at about 8:00pm last Friday night, completing the 2009 summer voyage. Sailing into Lunenburg is always exciting. The coastline becomes familiar once we spot Cross Island in the distance, then come around into Lunenburg Bay. Crew who have spent some time in Lunenburg point out the communities and features as we sail past them, then the famous waterfront scenery comes into view as the ship approaches Battery Point and its lighthouse.

While Lunenburg is a great port, it is particularly significant in our voyages because of what it represents. Sailing into Lunenburg is the closing of one chapter and the start of a new one, of saying goodbye to shipmates and looking forward to the next adventure, whether that takes place in Lunenburg or elsewhere. Even for the crew members who had never been here before, they feel some sort of attachment to the place because it marks a milestone.

Lunenburg is, of course, also a great town to visit. We had a small but enthusiastic crowd on the wharf on Friday night to welcome us home a day earlier than scheduled. The Captain made the decision to bring the ship in early in order to allow us a bit more time to prepare for Tropical Storm Danny, forecast to arrive on Saturday evening. After the ship was safely tied to the wharf and everything was stowed, the crew greeted the crowd on the dock and headed up to the Grand Banker, our favourite place ashore to get a cold drink, where we said hello to more familiar faces.

Saturday morning was spent getting the ship ready for Tropical Storm Danny. We put out extra dock lines and added extra layers of chafe gear to all the dock lines. We were expecting the strongest wind from the southeast, which is the wind direction that creates the most swell in Lunenburg harbour. We also added extra gaskets to the stowed sails to keep them securely held to the yards. The afternoon brought overcast skies and rain, then the wind started in the evening as Danny approached. The strongest winds came in the hours after midnight, but the ship was secure with the duty watch looking after her.

Except to dry and stow sails, the crew had Sunday and Monday off to relax and enjoy being ashore. While some people used the internet or went to the library, others went surfing, visited the museum, took naps and went for bike rides. Even Donald, our fantastic cook, had days off, so Julie’s mom brought a huge turkey dinner to the ship on Sunday night.

Returning to Lunenburg brings a change of pace for the ship as well. This fall, we have five students joining us for the months of September, October and November to participate in the Bosun School, a land-based skills development program for experienced young mariners. They will assist with downrigging the ship, learning valuable skills along the way, then branch out to study rigging, sailmaking, carpentry, small boat handling and a variety of other skill sets. The Bosun School began this Tuesday, September 1, and we’re glad to have Craig, Sarah, Jack, Andrew and Dave with us.

Our focus over the fall and winter will shift increasingly to the next world voyage. Applications are already being accepted and considered, with a number of trainee applicants arriving in the next few weeks for their in-person interviews. We’re looking forward to meeting them and building a great crew for this incredible voyage. While the ship won’t be sailing for a while, there is still lots going on. Stay tuned for ongoing stories from Lunenburg…

D. Moreland

…………………………………………………..

As of 1630 UTC – 1400 NFLD Time 2009-08-23 – Burgeo, Newfoundland Canada – light SEly winds fog and light rain – 12 M, up to 26M seas reported at La Have Banks bouy – DM

Hurricane BILL and storm preparations for PICTON CASTLE

On Monday August 17 while at anchor at Cap aux Meules, Magalene Islands we became aware (through communications with our office and NOAA weather fax maps as well as e-mails from fellow mariners) that there was a TS well east of the Caribbean developing into a Hurricane that could possibly become a concern for vessels operating in the NW Atlantic region. We began to examine possibilities, options and issues to do with preparation for such a storm. Informed crew of the possibility of such a storm, and its implications for the ship.

On Tuesday August 18 decided that the best course of action was to find a secure berth in a well protected port.

Began examining the possibilities of putting into Port Hawkesbury, Sydney, Port Aux Basques, Burgeo, St Pierre, Gaultois and Fortune.

On Wednesday August 18 after examining charts and Sailing Directions settled on trying Burgeo in south western Newfoundland first in that if it was unsuitable for any reason then there would still be time to seek alternative shelter prior to predicted arrival of hurricane between 22-24.

On Thursday August 20 sailed into Port Burgeo in thick fog and made contact with locals regarding berth at old fish plant in Short Reach – confirmed our intentions with Port Aux Basques Coast Guard. Fish Plant berth in narrow well protected cove of Short Reach confirmed as both a good heavy weather berth and available so proceeded to that berth and moored.

Monitored BILL’s track and forecasts by way of Atlantic Briefing fax maps, VHF radio forecasts, contact w/staff at office, consultation with local mariners and mariners at sea and along the coast, TV and internet information.

On Saturday August 22 continuing 23, commenced direct ship preparations including

- orientation of situation to crew and updates

- communications with office and ships complement

- securing safe storm berth

- extra mooring lines

- chafe gear

- extra fenders

- swept wharf to remove debris

- extra gaskets on all sails – two blocked some halyards to reduce chafe

- nipping running rigging to reduce chafe

- removal of flags

- extra lashings about ship

- securing of ships boats by hauling them up ashore nearby

- continue to monitor all WX forecasting and reporting sources

- log WX changes and Barometric changes through out period

- consider possible medical implications with Doctor

Procedures during storm

- WT doors, hatches and portholes – remove gangway

- watches

- bracing yards to the wind direction to reduce windage

- emergency evacuation if needed

So all is well and the ship and crew are fine. But the story isn’t over…

FROM SHIP TO OFFICE Aug 24 2009

‘Morning,

Nothing really to report from last night – all is well. There was quite a bit of wind but this is a pretty protected spot so we didn’t see much in the way of surge or swell. The crew are in good spirits, the ship’s fine, all is well. We’re all hands this morning to work on downrigging hurricane precautions – getting extra gaskets and heavy duty chafe gear off, getting heads’l halyards and stay and fish tackles rigged up again. Current weather is warm and sunny, a little bit of wind from the north and the sky is clearing. There’s a weather station here, I’m curious to see what the max wind speed was here last night – will check it out and let you know. Maggie

FROM SHIP TO OFFICE same day

Plan to get going tomorrow – still 6-8m sea out there today – might spend a night at a nearby island, maybe not – need to start heading SW towards the Burg – ship and crew fine – this will be the true end of the Voyage of the Atlantic here this weekend. Need to get in on Saturday, some flts on Sunday – dm

______________________________________________________________________________________________

From: office
Sent: August 25, 2009 1:56 PM
To: ship
Subject: next hurricane in the works

Hi, This shouldn’t affect your passage back to L’burg, but there is a new hurricane brewing just north of the Turks and Caicos. It isn’t a circular storm yet, but NOAA has put the chances of it developing into one in the next 48 hours as high. It turns up on your wx fax maps as ‘gale’ and ‘possible tropical cyclone’, depending on which map you look at. I’ll keep an eye on it. Have you received the recent maps showing the nasty low and cold front going through tomorrow? Lynsey

FROM SHIP TO OFFICE aug 25

Lynsey – Yeah, we have seen that new hurricane developing that BILL paved the way for, looks like it will make same track, but we should be in by then. That nasty low from interior Canada looks like it is getting bumped up a bit and is supposed to pass north of Newfoundland, it will still be a foul wind tomorrow evening but probably not too strong if we are off cape Breton and we might anchor up tomorrow night and let the wind veer to west after the front. Sweet sailing right now, just sailed off the dock in Burgeo and are closed hauled on a starboard tack making south true with sunny skies and a nice swell left over.

See you soon back in Lunenburg

Mike

On Tuesday morning it was time to get underway and sail for Lunenburg. We had a bright clear morning with modest west winds. With an audience of people from Burgeo, we sailed off the dock. First we used the main lower tops’ls with the yards squared to push the ship in astern and away from the wharf, then set a heads’l to help to turn the bow around. Once we were turned, we set more sail and slipped quietly through the channel in Short Reach and away from Burgeo.

We sailed during the day on Tuesday, then took in sails at dusk and turned on the main engine. Keeping an eye on the weather, we wanted to get across the Cabot Strait to the coast of Cape Breton Island so that we could anchor on Wednesday night when a low pressure system with a good bit of wind was due to pass through. We continued under motor on Wednesday, with some lumpy seas (and some of the crew not feeling very well) until we reached Morien Bay in Cape Breton where we anchored for the night. The wind was up to Force 8, but the port anchor dug in and held well with two shots of chain out.

Thursday morning’s wake-up came early, with all hands called at 0530 to get underway by 0600. The wind had laid down overnight and changed direction. The crew heaved up the port anchor and got it properly stowed, and we were underway again, bound for Lunenburg.

Because we’re always watching the weather, we knew about Tropical Storm Danny, brewing off the Bahamas and headed for Cape Hatteras and forecast to head in the direction of Nova Scotia on the weekend. The latest predictions have it making landfall just east of Yarmouth late Saturday evening, on a path up the middle of Nova Scotia. This means strong SE winds for Lunenburg, which can cause a lot of swell in the harbour.

Danny, this latest tropical storm, has us wanting to be tied up safely in port again, so we’re paddling hard to get to Lunenburg on Friday night or Saturday morning. We’d like to be in and securely tied up well before we start to feel the effects of this pesky Danny.

While we all have weather on our minds, Lunenburg also marks the completion of a voyage and a homecoming. Having this summer sailed around Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, to Newfoundland this sailing into Lunenburg marks the true finale of this 20,000 mile Voyage of the Atlantic. As we motor-sail up the coast, thoughts of the crew turn towards flights home and returning to regular life, or, for some, a fall season in Lunenburg filled with evenings at the Grand Banker, warm fires in the woodstove at the Dory Shop and Wednesday night small boat races while working on down-rigging the ship.

leaving Burgeo under sail, photo by Ollie Campbell (25)

leaving Burgeo under sail, photo by Ollie Campbell (45)

leaving Burgeo under sail, photo by Ollie Campbell (7)

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There were a few other options for ports of refuge that we had looked into, but the place that seemed most likely was Burgeo and it was closest. Even so, we arrived early enough that if the wharf was unsuitable or was full because other vessels were tied up there we would have enough time to carry on to one of the other ports on our list and get moored there. As it happened, apart from a few small boats, we are the only vessel at this wharf and we’ve found it a very good place to be.

By getting in and secured here early enough, the crew have also had a chance to explore and check out the fine town of Burgeo. Burgeo is connected to other towns along the south shore by ferry and also has a road that goes inland and connects to the Trans Canada Highway, 150km away. The fish plant here was abandoned in the 1990s, but there is still a part of it being used by a company processing fish meal. Burgeo seems like a self-sustaining community with its own school, town hall, fire department, post office, museum, hardware stores, pharmacy and grocery store. The majority of the adults we have met here have lived in Burgeo most or all of their lives. The museum was nice and very interestingly showed photographs of small schooners from Denmark and England in the harbour, here on some trade.

The crew have sampled the meals at the three different restaurants in town, made friends with Kenny, who owns the Sea View Lounge, played darts and pool at the Sea View Lounge, visited the museum, walked down to the ferry docks, enjoyed the beaches at the nearby Sand Banks Provincial Park (and did laundry at the coin laundromat there) and walked to the top of the lookout in town. We’ve also been exploring the natural beauty of the area. The landscape is pretty rugged around here, rocky hills covered with spruce, pine and thick under brush. The starboard watch made an expedition in the skiff on Friday, motoring around to check out all the little rocky islands and tiny coves in the area. The town itself is even set among a bunch of meandering small coves. On Saturday the port watch also made an expedition, this one mostly on foot and in the fog to climb a nearby mountain. A few of the crew have rented cars and driven the two and a half hours to Stephenville, the next closest major town by road. It used to be the site of a very large US Air Force base established in the Second World War that closed in the 1960’s, so driving into town past the old airfield and hangars was interesting.

Our 15-foot, built-on-deck, wooden boat MR BONES has made a few sailing trips here in Burgeo. All of the port watch took turns going out for about an hour and a half on Friday. With her two sails, a main and a jib, MR BONES sails quite well and goes to windward very well – her sculling oar is like power steering. After a nice day of enjoying Burgeo in perfect summer weather, without the slightest hint evident that an enormous storm was heading our way, the crew of the Picton Castle set about getting our ship ready for Hurricane Bill off by Bermuda but already promising to be a rough one.

Alex and Donald add chafe gear

getting out extra hawsers

leaving Burgeo under sail

Nadja re-rigs the stay tackle

PICTON CASTLE and MR BONES in Burgeo

Susie sailing in MR BONES

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The ship receives weather forecasts in a few different ways. One is on the weather fax, which prints out large ocean NOAA weather charts. We also get text-only forecasts through our NavTex and by satellite email through Inmarsat-C. Our office ashore can also send the ship weather information by email. This is all in addition to VHF radio weather reports and forecasts

We first saw Hurricane Bill, which was then Tropical Storm Bill east of the Caribbean, on the weather fax while we were in Iles de la Madeleine and have been tracking that bad boy since. It seems to be fairly big and strong and fast, so we’ve been monitoring it closely. As Bill has developed, we have been looking at options for safe harbours on the south shore of Newfoundland so we can tie the ship up and wait for the weather to pass. Hurricanes can be tricky to predict with any real accuracy in the long-term (as can any weather), so while there are all kinds of forecasts, the truth is that nobody knows exactly which way Bill will go and how strong it will be when it gets there. But it looks strong and like it is coming close. Wherever it goes, we can be fairly sure that we’ll feel some effects in strong winds and big seas. In order to keep the ship and the crew safe, we altered course from ports further east on the south coast of Newfoundland to head towards Burgeo, a well-protected harbour with a solid dock we can tie up to. We’re not expecting the effects of Bill here until Sunday or Monday, but by heading here sooner, we can be sure that there’s a safe place to put the ship and time to get the ship well secured and prepared for this sort of destructive weather.

We took in all sail and started motoring Wednesday afternoon and through the night when the wind went light and visibility was poor because of drizzle and fog. We came to the approaches to Burgeo early Thursday morning, then headed in and anchored at Burgeo Port. We launched the skiff and Paul, Alex and Nadja went ashore to seek some local knowledge and take some soundings at the dock. The docks at the centre of town are either too shallow or are used frequently by the ferry, so we motored around to the back of town where there’s an abandoned fish plant with a good solid dock that we tied up to. The dock is at the end of an inlet called Short Reach, the whole area is well protected and will be a good place to ride out Hurricane Bill. Over the next few days we’ll make preparations by adding heavy duty chafe gear to all our dock lines and add a few more lines, we’ll put extra gaskets on the sails to keep them firmly stowed and check everything on deck to make sure it’s lashed down securely.

In the meantime, today is sunny and warm (I was not anticipating wearing shorts in Newfoundland, but I am) and a bunch of the crew are off on an expedition in the skiff to explore some of the small islands that surround us here. MR BONES has been launched and the rig and sails are just being set up, so some of the crew will have her sailing after lunch. We have been welcomed extremely warmly by the people of Burgeo who seem to be as excited to see the ship as we are to see them.

Ferry GALIPOLI through the fog at Burgeo Port

Ollie prepares MR BONES to sail

PICTON CASTLE alongside at fish plant in Burgeo

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