Captain of “Picton Castle” Daniel Moreland (left), Chief Mate and Alternate Captain Dirk Lorenzen (centre), and Donald Church from Grenada who has been “Picton Castle’s” cook for the past 17 years. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--The tall ship Picton Castle departed St. Martin last weekend, after a brief stopover at the Galisbay commercial pier to prepare for the sail training vessel’s eighth around the world voyage, after numerous postponements.
She is a long standing Caribbean Sail Training (CST) member vessel and frequent visitor to St. Martin. This was the first re-fuelling and provisioning stop since leaving Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on May 10.
On board are 41 sailors, a dozen of whom are certified mariners and the rest trainees. Half of the trainees are doing the entire circumnavigation and others three to four month legs. The itinerary is Panama, Galapagos Islands, Pitcairn Island, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Bali, Reunion Island, Capetown, St. Helena and the Lesser Antilles.
Following a successful season in the Great Lakes in late 2019, the ship’s future voyages were rudely interrupted when COVID-19 arrived in March 2020, the pandemic shutting down the whole world and the ship’s operations.
Her base in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, was locked down and no major improvements or maintenance could be done. It wasn’t until travel restrictions were lifted that planning could start again and in late 2022 crew and trainees were recalled. June 2022 was when maintenance and preparations started in earnest.
Some of the trainees had signed up already in 2019 and some in 2020 and their lives were also on hold but they stayed loyal to the ship. Most had signed up two to three years before and finally now they could depart on this world circumnavigation and opportunity of a lifetime.
But disaster struck Picton Castle again in November 2022 when the ship was booked to be hauled out at a shipyard in Sheldon, Nova Scotia, for hull plate inspections, painting etcetera. Just when she was ready to be relaunched the winch for hauling vessels in and out of the water broke, leaving the ship stuck for another six months until that was repaired and the ship could return to Lunenburg.
“The last four years has been a very trying time for the ship,” admitted Chief Mate and Alternate Captain Dirk Lorenzen, who was standing in briefly for Captain Daniel Moreland who was supervising some trainee manoeuvres. Dirk was born in Hamburg but lives in Australia.
“Actually we made a stop in Anguilla because after a harsh winter in Nova Scotia and because our gang had been so good sticking with the ship, we felt they deserved some sunshine and tropical waters and sand to dip their toes into,” Dirk added. “They really enjoyed it.”
Built in 1928, the ship has seen life as a North Sea fishing trawler, a minesweeper in World War II, to a trading ship and finally a sail training vessel. Captain Daniel Moreland has been the Master of Picton Castle since he acquired her in 1993 to set up his training project. The first voyage was in 1997 and he has been the skipper ever since. She is part-owned by a group of non-profit shareholders.
Few adventurers can boast sailing around the world seven times and for Captain Moreland the magic of visiting exotic destinations is still very much there on each voyage.
“My main joy is to see what the young people get out of it and that’s always a sight to behold,”
he says. “I’m very pleased with that, I like what it does for the crew and what they get out of it. I see it, and I know what’s going to happen.
“It’s no small thing going around the world, nothing routine about it. It’s like a trip to the moon. Not easy but we have good officers and a good gang on board.”
Trainees learn seamanship on an authentic square rigger, seafaring, island culture, and they see the world. “Inevitably they grow as citizens,” Moreland adds, noting the majority stick with the ship. A quarter to a third will want to be professional seamen, another third will enter the yachting industry, and for the remainder it’s an adventure of a lifetime they will remember fondly.
He describes Picton Castle as a “strong, stable and very seaworthy” ship. “We have a saying, we may be slow but we get around. She’s never let me down.”
Moreland disclosed that Dirk Lorenzen will be taking over as captain on the next voyage. He is not retiring, he insists, but will be working in the back ground. Voyages and new programmes are evolving.
“It’s time for a younger captain to take over but I will still be working full time.”
The Port of St. Martin and Director Albéric Ellis hosts CST member vessels without charging port or harbour fees. Yacht Assistance also provides free services to CST member vessels.
