Picton Pause

An unexpected stopover in Burgeo, Newfoundland for the crew of Picton Castle. The tallship hauled in to wait out Hurricane Bill over the weekend. Captain Daniel Moreland says it wasn't a port they were planning on visiting as they were wrapping up their latest voyage. But he says all the same, it was a delightful visit. In the past 15 months, Picton Castle and her crew have visited 65 ports of call in 28 countries, traveling more than 18,000 nautical miles. Now homeward bound, Picton Castle is expected to arrive in Lunenburg on Saturday (August 29th) where she will spend the winter before embarking on a fifth voyage around the world in May 2010.

Shipshape Help Wanted

Lunenburg will be the only tall ships stop on the South Shore. And organizers expect a very busy two-day festival of historic sailing ships, displays, musical entertainment and a variety of family activities. Because of that, they are looking for help. Linda Baker of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic says there were more than 50 volunteers at the 2007 event. They took on roles including shuttle drivers, security, staffing admission gates and retail sales. Baker says if you have an hour or two to spare, they could use your help. All you have to do is get in touch with the museum in Lunenburg. The 2009 Lunenburg Tall Ships Festival is a partnership of the Town of Lunenburg, the Lunenburg Board of Trade and the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Picton Arriving

2009-05-21 06:29:00

Picton Castle will be returning to Lunenburg this Saturday, having completed a year-long voyage around the Atlantic Ocean. The ship is expected  to round Battery Point at about 2 o'clock. After a few weeks refit she'll embark on a nine-week summer program sailing along the coast of the Eastern United States and Canada.   In the United Kingdom, the Picton Castle visited ports from the ship's past as a North Sea fishing trawler and World War II minesweeper. Crew members also visited the ship's namesake castle. In Northern Europe, she attended Tall Ship events, then it was on to  Sainte Nazaire, France, where in 1942 she was one of a convey of vessels to participate in a successful raid on a Nazi-held shipyard there. That visit was followed by calls in Spain, Portugal, the island of Mallorca,  Morocco, the Canaries, Senegal and Cape Verde before making passage to the Caribbean where the Picton Castle has been island hopping for the last number of weeks.  The next big adventure for the sail training ship  will be fifth circumnavigation of the world beginning in May, 2010.