Early Saturday morning, Wayne, my driver (along with his sidekick, Tiffany the Westie), picked me up for the hour and a bit drive to Lunenburg. He was my driver the first time I came to Nova Scotia and was willing to drive me the second time around. After all the anticipation and preparation of the past few weeks, I found myself eager just to get here, get settled and meet the rest of the crew.
Since Picton was scheduled to go to dry dock on Monday morning, we've all been put up in other ships for the time being. My vessel is called the Cape Chidley (not to be confused with Chibley, the cat - we'll talk more about her at a later date) a big trawler, that's painted a bright blue and yellow - mom would have liked those colors. For the time being, I'm in a small bunk room with two bunks, which is actually not too bad. My bunkmate, Via, is a sweet young-ish lady, such as myself, from Denmark. Meals are eaten aboard my ship or out on the dock, but prepared aboard a vessel called the Zebroid, another smaller trawler, where the other half of the crew are housed.
Since Picton was scheduled to go to dry dock on Monday morning, we've all been put up in other ships for the time being. My vessel is called the Cape Chidley (not to be confused with Chibley, the cat - we'll talk more about her at a later date) a big trawler, that's painted a bright blue and yellow - mom would have liked those colors. For the time being, I'm in a small bunk room with two bunks, which is actually not too bad. My bunkmate, Via, is a sweet young-ish lady, such as myself, from Denmark. Meals are eaten aboard my ship or out on the dock, but prepared aboard a vessel called the Zebroid, another smaller trawler, where the other half of the crew are housed.
There is a great mix of people of all ages, from many different countries and walks of life, but all having one thing in common - the yearning for adventure. I've already made some fabulous friends! Saturday night was trivia night at the local pub called the Grand Banker and our team, the "Terrain E's", beat the crap out of everyone else! Yep, we rocked, if I do say so myself... We're already gearing up for next Saturday night. It's amazing how quickly such a strong comaraderie can be built up among people who just days ago had been complete strangers. There have been loads of laughs, and the teasing and goading have already begun - all in good fun, of course.
Sunday, I decided to walk to find the famous "Frenchy's", a second hand store well known in Eastern Canada. Lunenburg has a small one, but apparently there are bigger stores in Halifax and Bridgewater. It took me about 30 minutes to find it located just on the outskirts of town. A pair of work pants, capris and overall shorts cost me a whopping $11.00! The kind lady who worked there even offered to drive me back to the ship once her shift was over - such hospitality here! I graciously declined, opting to walk back and stop at Tim's along the way for a double-double and a maple donut. Made the walk worth it! Then I followed a scenic path along the water, which wound it's way through Luneburg's 250th Anniversay park and passed by a very old cemetary that had some very unique and elaborate headstones. Lunenburg is such a picturesque community with great architecture and character, although everything is pretty much uphill from the ship... I've been getting a great workout just walking around.
Monday morning dawned bright and early with breakfast at 6:30 and muster at 7am. Muster is a term for gathering everyone together at the same time in one specific spot. We met with Captain Moreland and met the "pro" crew and were then told that we pretty much had the morning to ourselves, since Picton would be moving to dry dock, and that was a very detailed process that needed only pro crew - or crew who had previously sailed aboard PC or a similar vessel. We newbies would only get in the way. So, we all crowded around the end of the dock to watch as she weighed anchor and headed out towards the dry dock station. Then we all herded like sheep to the dry dock to see her hauled up and out of the water. Although it took a couple of hours to do so, (during which me and a few of my fellow crewmates took some time out for a little shopping for foul weather gear) it was still quite a sight to see her up on blocks.
Monday afternoon we broke up into groups to go over our crew handbooks and then to practise/learn different knots needed to know onboard when sailing. I was pleased to know that it didn't take too long for me to remember how to do a bowline, reef knot, clove hitch, sheet bends and a few others. I guess my sailing courses really did pay off! Even though we can't do a lot with the ship, there is still so much to do to get prepared for a long voyage.Tomorrow, I've been told, is a full work day with wake up at 7:15, breakfast a 7:30 and muster a 8am. That means I'll be layering on the clothes - wool, long-sleeve shirt, fleece pullover, fleece jacket and windbreaker over top, long underwear under work pants, along with a touque and gloves. Well, at least the sun has been shining! I'll probably shower at the end of the day, which I do about every other day. And since we're trying to conserve water (and we can't plug in any appliances cuz it pops the breaker) I'll head over to the PC warehouse and shower there. Vanity just doesn't exist here - practicality does. Most of the time it's ponytails and touques, and a touch of mascara. Fine by me!
Anyway, things, so far have been great! I'm enjoying myself, getting great exercise and looking forward to what each day brings! Can't ask for more than that!
