Leaving Port Huron on Monday morning meant the completion of the main part of the PictonCastle's summer voyage. We have been part of a fleet of tall ships for the past six weeks, and we all went our different ways as we parted company in Port Huron. We have successfully completed our Tall Ship festival circuit, with over 60,000 visitors touring the decks. The ship is sure to seem quieter as we make our journey home to Lunenburg.
After delaying our departure from Chicago by a day due to weather, the PictonCastle finally left Navy Pier and headed out into Lake Michigan on Friday morning.
Dawn had just broken as I returned home to the Picton Castle after an early morning errand, and somehow the walk down Navy Pier seemed almost tranquil. As I walked past the man with the power washer hosing down the sidewalks, getting ready for another busy day here...
Green Bay is more proud of their football team than any other city could be proud of their local sports team. So proud, in fact, that the Captains’ Breakfast (a big event where the captains of all the tall ships in the festival meet) was held at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. I don't know how many tall ship captains are also football fans, but it seemed to work. And a city that loves its NFL entry also loves their tall ships....
We left Bay City as scheduled on Monday morning, and we were sad to leave. The whole crew had a fantastic time there, and we found the people of Bay City to be amongst the friendliest anywhere....
The PictonCastle has had an astounding welcome into Bay City, Michigan, up on the west side of Lake Huron, as they hosted their third Tall Ship event. Situated up the meandering Saginaw river, it is a maze of navigation through lift bridges, and people lined the way as the ships came into Bay City on Thursday, horns and cheering, and we of course blew our horn back!
Life on board the Picton Castle has been very busy in the past week. Usually we are busy at sea with sail handling, workshops and maintenance projects but over the past week we have been a different kind of busy with the end of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a quick stop in Erie, Pennsylvania, and then our first Tall Ship festival of the summer in Cleveland. But let me go back a week or so to tell you what we've been up to. . . .
