From Dreamers to Deckhands: How Bosun School Launches Maritime Careers on the Bluenose II 

The path to a life at sea often begins with a dream, and for many young mariners, that dream becomes reality through the Picton Castle Bosun School and on to a coveted placement aboard Nova Scotia’s iconic schooner, the Bluenose II.

Allison Gibson, 22, of Berwick, Nova Scotia, entered Bosun School with no prior experience, but a lifelong dream to sail. “I didn’t think this world was accessible to someone like me,” she said. “If you can go to Bosun School, it’s such a great starting point. I was able to go on with nothing and come up with so much. I never thought that I could have ever done that.” Now on the Bluenose II, she sees her dream realized daily. “Five-year-old Allie would be like –this is her dream. It’s never too late to start sailing, as long as, like,  you’re willing to put in the work to learn and be open to it.”

For Nicholas Hands, 19, from Bermuda, it was a passion for the ocean and a desire for a seafaring career that led him from free diving to traditional sailing. “I always knew I wanted to work at sea,” he said. Bosun School gave him the hands-on experience to thrive, but also instilled something deeper: humbleness, patience, and the importance of teamwork. “To be less cocky,” he said with a laugh, “and take care of the ship. and take care of your friends.”

Both Nicholas and Allison credit their recent placement on the Bluenose II to the skills and confidence gained at Bosun School—from rope work and maintenance to learning how to live and work under pressure. But perhaps more importantly, they gained perspective, discipline, and a strong sense of crew loyalty.

Dustin Dempsey, Bosun School graduate and now Second Mate on the Bluenose II, remembers being in their shoes. “Nobody’s good at it when you start. It’s not something you are born to do. You’ve got to learn–– to screw up.” For him, the most valuable skill wasn’t technical, it was the ability to have a good attitude, stay calm and solve problems under pressure.

As First Mate Gabriel St. Denis, a long-time Bosun School grad, puts it, “being in that frame of mind is what you want, you’re just open to learning.” Captain Philip Watson agrees, “You can teach nice people to sail, but you can’t always teach sailors to be nice”. He adds, “Leave all your preconceived notions ashore.”

The path from Bosun School to the Bluenose II, offers more than skills:, it offers a way in. Through mentorship, hard work, and hands-on experience, young mariners earn their place and grow from trainees to trusted crew. For those willing to commit, it’s more than a job—it’s a proving ground, where determination, character, and grit set the true course.

If you are interested in learning more about Bosun School and working on the Bluenose II visit these online sites for more information:

https://picton-castle.com/bosun-school/

https://bluenose.novascotia.ca/job-description

Interviews (below) – edited for clarity.

Allison Brena Gibson, 22, from Berwick, NS, Bluenose II first season Deckhand

Anna Gilkerson – How did you find out about the Bosun School? 

Allison Brena Gibson – I’ve always been super interested in sailing. My whole family has, but none of us have ever sailed. It was mainly from my dad, because it was it was one of his dreams, and it was something I heard all growing up. Every time we went drove over a bridge and there were sailboats in the water, he would point them out. I would imagine being out of there. We had this coffee cup all while I was growing up and it had sailboats on it. Every morning, I would always just imagine myself on the little boats.

AG – You are a dreamer.

AB – I am. Very much so. My whole childhood, I heard him say, so my times, “Maybe next year we’re going to get a boat. Maybe next year. I’m like, “There’s still no boat”. He’s retired now. So, I took it upon myself, and it was it wasn’t just his dream, it was also my dream. I love being on the water. 

AG – He encouraged you. He must be so proud of you now.

AB – He’s so excited because now he’s going to get to sail.

AG – How did you hear about the PICTON CASTLE?

AB – During Covid we watched the Tall Ship Chronicles that was filmed on The PICTON CASTLE. From there, I spent a couple of years trying to Google and look into anything that could get me into sailing. I was on the PICTON CASTLE website one day and I emailed Maggie, the director. It said on the website you need to have experience, but I didn’t have any, so I wrote to her and explained my situation. She got back to me and encouraged me to still apply to Bosun School, but the odds maybe weren’t great, but it was worth a shot. So then, the next Bosun school happened, she emailed me and encouraged me to apply. So that was when I applied and got in.

AG – So, you basically started with no knowledge. 

AB – I started with nothing. Zero experience. As someone who always wanted to sail and I felt like I would never get the opportunity, it just wasn’t in the cards for me. A lot of like the people that I knew that sailed were more well off and they could afford to go and do fancy sailing schools, and they could pay to go on a voyage and train which, I just never thought was an option for me, I just thought that it was unattainable. 

AG – Is that what you initially perceived the sailing world to be? 

AB – A lot, not completely, but to a certain extent. I had spent a couple years really trying to get into sailing unsuccessfully, I was turned away at every door. I needed something to offer. I tried to do everything to get that experience. I worked as a tree planter for three seasons. It’s so different from sailing, but it’s so similar in a lot of ways. You’re in remote wilderness for weeks at a time with no connection to civilization. You’re doing hard work. It’s long days. You’re out of the elements. Everybody has to hold their weight. You have to learn to live in those rough conditions and you’re out planting in thunder, lightning, snowstorms, heat waves, everything. 

AG – So that probably helped because they saw that effort.

AB – It did and that’s what I used in my application. I never expected to get in Bosun School because I didn’t have the experience it required, but I wrote this four-page cover letter, basically begging them to give me a chance and I wrote like in depth about my tree planting experience. I know it’s not sailing but this proves that I can upstand those conditions and that lifestyle, and I just need the education to be able to pursue it. Captain Morland took a chance on me.

AG – What have you learned at Bosun School? 

AB – I’ve learned a lot. Not so much active sailing skills because we were in port the entire time, but I learned splicing, all kinds of rope work, I learned like how to use block and tackles. I learned small boat handling and rowing, and a ton of maintenance and bosun skills. How to take care of the ship. 

AG – What’s a Bosun’s job? What are the main duties? 

AB – It’s their job to make sure everything is running (on the ship), maintenance wise. The captain’s in charge of the crew, the bosun’s in charge of the ship, the vessel. 

AG – What would you say was the most important thing you learned at most at Bosun School? 

AB – That I could do it, because it put me in situations where I was like, I can’t do this. I don’t know how to do this. It was just kind of like, figure it out. Then I would figure it out, and I would stand back and be like, wow, I never, in a million years thought that I could have ever done that. There’s a lot of independence in it. It was up to you how you would use the information, the knowledge that you were given to actually act on it. So, it definitely encouraged me to realize that I could do a lot of stuff I didn’t think I could do. 

AG – What is your one biggest takeaway from Bosun school? 

AB – It’s never too late to start sailing. As long as like you’re willing to put in the work to learn and be open to it.

AG – What made you want to work on the Bluenose II? 

AB – I have always wanted to. There (wasn’t) a time in my life that I have not wanted to work on the Bluenose II. In my bunk on the ship right now, I have a picture of me in preschool. I look at it every morning and I get up, remember, if I have a hard day or something, I’m like, five-year-old Allie would be like, this is her dream, you know? So, it makes me appreciate it. 

AG – You’re Nova Scotia girl. You obviously grew up with the Bluenose II the most famous ship in Nova Scotia. 

AB – Yeah, like every summer my mom and dad would take me to Lunenburg to the Fisheries Museum, and I would walk the decks on the Bluenose II.

AG – What does a Bluenose II deckhand do on the ship? What are your main duties? 

AB – So we do a lot of basic deckhand duties, maintenance, we polish the brass every day and do the deck wash every day, we had our two-month maintenance period before our sailing season started. We oiled the decks. We varnished everything. We fixed things that were broken. We got the sails back on the ship.

AG – So how has it been so far? 

AB – It’s been really good. It’s been hard, definitely, it’s been a lot of learning. I’ve learned more than I thought I would. I came in and being like, oh, I know all this stuff, but I don’t really know anything about sailing, because I’ve still never sailed. I lived on PICTON CASTLE for ten or eleven months. I’ve been on a ship for so long, you know, I’m on ship again (but) I don’t know how to sail. I don’t know how to do any of this, but at the same time, this is what they were talking about the whole time, a lot of the verbal kind of came into action. It’s been really great. 

AG – So not having sailed much before and getting onto the Bluenose II, what was that process like? 

AB – The PICTON CASTLE has a really good relationship with the Bluenose II, so during Bosun School, I got kind of familiar with the ship and met some of the crew. We would hang out, so I learned a lot about her that way. During Bosun School they took us for free on a sail, all the Bosun School students. I got to meet everybody, the mates, the captain. Two of the mates currently are from the PICTON CASTLE. So, there was a lot of connections. They knew what they were getting with me, even though like I didn’t have as much experience. They knew I did Bosun School, so I was able to make it through that and be successful. 

AG – What would you say are some of the new things you have learned in the past few weeks on the ship? Also, what’s been your biggest takeaway? 

AB – Definitely sailing. Seeing how much goes into to just setting sail. It’s like, it takes a full crew, and everybody has their job and there’s so many moving parts. I struggled with what to know, what to do, and then to understand what I’m doing. I feel like I’m finally getting to that point where I’m understanding what I’m doing, because we haven’t sailed very much yet. I’ve only done three sails. When we were still training, we would set the sails but in port, one at a time. So, I was getting it, but now that I’m seeing it all in motion, I can see what each line does and I’m trying to understand it. Which is good. 

AG – Do you think you’ll go into another year?

AB – I hope so, if I get back in time, I’m going on a PICTON CASTLE Voyage. We’re supposed to get back in July. I hope so. 

AG – That’s a whole different experience. You’re going to get to finally sail on the PICTON CASTLE, do a world voyage. Are you a working crew then as well? 

AB – I’ll be a trainee, but I’ll get a scholarship. 

AG – So where are you most excited to go visit? 

AB – Pitcairn Island and Easter Island. 

AG – What advice would you give someone interested in seafaring?

AB – Going into a program like Bosun School. They take people from all over the world. If you can go to Bosun School, it’s such a great starting point. I was able to go on with nothing and come up with so much. 

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Nicholas Hands, 19, from Bermuda, Bluenose II first season Deckhand

AG – How did you find out about the Bosun School? 

Nicholas Hands – I found out through my dad, he had mentioned it. I looked at it, I thought it was cool. At the time, I was sailing with Class Afloat. I mentioned it to a few of my shipmates and a few of them knew the name PICTON CASTLE and they had friends who worked on board, so they spoke very highly of it. I was pretty much convinced from there. I did the interviews, got through, and then I got here, and I really loved it. I like being in Nova Scotia. I really wanted to continue to try (this) to be a career. Like, have a career at sea, here. I want to do a mix of yachting and tall ships. 

AG – When did you decide you wanted to get into that? 

NH – Uh, like Marine World or tall ships. 

AG – At what age? 

NH – Well, I always knew I wanted to work in the sea since I was young. I just love the sea. My main hobby is like free diving. I (was part of) aquatic groups and we would take out school kids and teach them how to free dive and about marine life and corals, and how to dive safely, how to respect the land we’re on, stuff like that. I do that volunteering and stuff. 

AG – How long have you been here for? When did you start school? 

NH – I got here in August, last year. I’ve been here ever since, except for a three-month period during winter. From December to February, and then I came back for two months, right before Bluenose started. 

AG – How long was the Bosun School program? 

NH – It’s around roughly three months, but I stayed after the program had ended to just be a general ship keeper. I had to work on (her) even longer just because I like the experience. I liked living on board. I liked the food.

AG – What have you learned at the Bosun school and what’s the most important thing you took away? 

NH – Well, obviously, all the seamanship aspects, before, I had worked on Class Afloat, and it’s a good experience, but it feels more like a cruise ship than it does a tall ship at times, and it’s very ‘hand holdy’ there. (This) was a bit more independent. We were told what to do. We were taught it, and then sometimes we’d go off and do it by ourselves. It felt like I was learning skills and applying them. Also learning how to live in rougher conditions on the PICTON CASTLE, that’s her thing, being rough and traditional. Her sails, you know, the sails are not easy to handle or her rope, it’s natural, so it breaks easier. So, it’s just a lot of patience. Learning to do a good job, because if you don’t, then you just have to do it again. 

AG – What sort of seafaring lessons did you take in? Specifically. 

NH – It was a lot of small boat handling, like rowing. I did a lot of splicing, rope handling whippings, seizings, lashings, a lot of stuff that we do here, I learned at Bosun School. 

AG – So you were able to take a lot of that from there and apply it to here? 

NH – It was a was a bit of a hiatus in between, so it took me a second to get it back, but once I got it, it was pretty easy for me. 

AG – What was your biggest takeaway from Bosun School?

NH – Learning to respect people higher up and realizing how much more work they do than us how we can’t see it. 

AG – What made you want to work on the Bluenose II? 

NH – I always saw her right next door and before I come to the PICTON CASTLE, I didn’t really know much. I knew she was a Schooner. I knew she was on the dime, but that was about it, I didn’t know if she did cruises. She was such a big deal and whatnot. Once I got here, I got to see (that) she’s the main focus of the town. She’s a big thing in Nova Scotia, all this rich history. I got all her history, somewhat firsthand, from a few of the last year crew; We hung out a bit. I really got to learn how much work and how excited people find the Bluenose II and how much people just love her. Then I sort of fell in love with her, looking across, I mean, she’s just a pretty ship to see it in the sunset and whatnot, in the evening. I saw how often people would come out (on the) wharf at ask questions her and I saw how much she made people smile. I also learned about all the work that you do. Which I thought was really cool. 

AG – What would you say Bluenose II deckhands do on the ship? What are your main duties right now? 

NH – General maintenance, cleaning. There’s work to be done, and it’s not like super technical, super dangerous, since we are still relatively new, if there’s something that needs to be done, that’s not so intuitive they’ll send in the second year or (the senior officers or the bosun) they’ll do it themselves (and get) a second year to help them and they will take us. Just because we’re not as confident. I generally get up, have breakfast, and then you just get straight to work. It’s kind of no nonsense. 

AG – So basically, you’re the lowest on the totem pole.

NH – You do a lot of work, but you also watch and learn, you get more confident as you go. The first day we got here, we were immediately put to work, and we learned skills. It’s a very hands-on learning experience. They teach you and then you do it ten times and then they teach you it again and then you do it another ten times. There’s always room for improvement, nobody’s perfect. I thought I would find it really easy, because I thought, you know, I already did some of this work. It would be what we used to learn and then, you know, I figured I would remember. I haven’t done this in like seven months. I’m still learning. You can sail your whole life and still learn. The best Captains know that there’s no one who’s perfect. 

AG – That’s a good attitude.

NH – Definitely, learning to be less cocky. [Laughs]

AG – How’s it felt so far? 

NH – I’d say it’s been a blast. Now that we’re through (what) I consider what most people would say, the rough patch, It’s mostly like ten and twelve-hour days. Now that we’re actually sailing, we get to sea (and) see how free it is, and you get to see how much the tourists appreciate it. Obviously, they don’t know how much work goes into it. They also don’t see all the picky spots that don’t look great, they just see (the ship) and it makes you feel really good. 

AG – What’s it like working with tourists on board the ship? 

NH – I really like it. I like talking to the public. I’ve only done one sail (with them). Tough, but so far, I really enjoy talking to the public. I’ve already met some really cool people. Some of the people in Lunenburg, they already had a good relationship with. (They) bring us gifts. 

AG – How is the food? 

NH – Oh, the food is the best part. Probably the best food I’ve had consistently in my life. It’s amazing. Yeah, it’s definitely the best part.

AG – Do you get paid as well now that you’re working on the ship? 

NH- Yeah, the pay is good. 

AG – What would you say are some of the biggest things you’ve learned just in the last few weeks that you’ve been working here? 

NH – It’s hard to remember that everyone’s having the same time as you, a lot of people are having difficulties, so you don’t want to snap at somebody because you’re having a bad time. Remembering how hard the second years’ work compared to us, like the deckhands were here before us, they have a lot more responsibilities than we do because they’re seeing what the officers look to when they teach something to us. They’ll try teaching us first if we need help. We’ll go to them first, and then the officers. So, they bear a lot more responsibility than us. So being humble and thinking about your mates and your crew members. That’s important. That’s key. Take care of the ship. and take care of your friends, your friends, take care of you. 

AG – What advice would you give to someone interested in seafaring or working on ships in particular? 

NH – I’d say expect the unexpected. You know, you’re not getting into this career for money initially, you’re not going to make money until the way down the road. When I was working on the PICTON CASTLE, I wasn’t paid. (There) was free bed, free food, but I wasn’t paid at all. A lot of tall ships offer positions where they do pay you, but it’s very low. You’re learning, so it’s like school in a way. 

AG – Did you pay for Bosun School? 

NH – Yes. It was only $1,500, which is quite the bargain. It was cheaper for me to pay that then it would to be a living at home. 

AG – Did you feel you had an advantage getting a gig on the Bluenose II by training on the PICTON CASTLE? 

NH – I definitely attribute it because (it’s) a competitive process. It’s a lot of (Bosun School) alumni, a lot of connections. I think working on PICTON CASTLE (helped) my odds of getting on the Bluenose II. 

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Dustin Dempsey, from Spryfield, NS, first season Second Mate Bluenose II

AG – You initially trained through the Bosun school on The PICTON CASTLE. When did you go through that program? 

Dustin Dempsey – I did Bosun School in 2018 to 2019. I also did a rigging school with them in 2011.

AG – Tell me more about Bosun School.

DD – I got to learn wire splicing, wire seizing, knots, rigging work, moving spires off the masts.  We took the top mizen off, cut down the lower yards and put them all on the dock, prepped them all up. We got to a bunch of small boats sailing. So, it was fun. 

AG – So you felt pretty prepared. 

DD – Yeah, I felt I was ready for the next step in my career. I applied to Bluenose II to diversify my portfolio a little bit. 

AG – What got you into sailing? 

DD – I went to the Nautical Institute in Port Hawkesbury. All my family sailed. I sailed on the PICTON CASTLE in 2016 before I did Bosun School. I did the Trans-Atlantic (voyage).

AG – You were trainee on the ship before you did Bosun School? 

DD – Yeah, and then right after Bosun School I did the World Voyage on the PICTON CASTLE in 2018 and then the Great Lakes Voyage in 2019 and then the Bosun School (again), and then the Rigging School, and then the next world voyage as well. In between there, I was a deckhand for the Bluenose II for two years. I could have gone (the) commercial (route) but this is more fun.

AG – You grew up in Spryfield. 

DD – Yeah, that’s where I’m originally from. I didn’t sail at the yacht club or anything like that. I had a small sailboat at our family cottage.

AG – So that’s how you were introduced because your family sailed and had a little vessel.

DD – That’s where it came from. Yeah, a 420 (sloop sailboat).

AG – How do you feel the Bosun School helped you prepare for what you do now? 

DD – It gave me the ability to troubleshoot problems. If something isn’t working to not give up and come up with solutions.

AG – Critical thinking. 

DD – Yeah, thinking for yourself and not just going, well, it was done this way but right now it’s not working. You can’t just stop and not do anything. You’ve got to take a step back and think. 

AG – Now you’re in charge of people, so would you say that that’s a lot more pressure?

DD – Yes, so right now definitely now when I’m running different jobs, I’ve got to make sure that my body isn’t moving faster than my mind. It took me a while. But to be like, all right, I can just run and do it, or I can sit there, and I can tell them what to do and how to do it, using my previous knowledge.

AG – It’s amazing to listen to the deckhands and hear about your path and the path that they’re taking. The confidence that it takes to start doing something like this. 

DD – And nobody’s good at it when you start. It’s not something you are born to do. You’ve got to learn–– to screw up. A ship that’s rougher around the edges you get to learn more and do more stuff. Things break and you have to learn how to fix it.

AG – The PICTON CASTLE was probably a good foray then. 

DD – Yeah, you get your hands little dirty. We do all the painting, varnishing, tarring and stuff. This is no booze cruise. We say to the paying customers, here’s a toilet brush go clean the head and here’s a scraper go scape it down. Grind it, paint it. 

AG – What’s it like working with deckhands, balancing a whole crew, but then also working with the public?

DD – I love it. PR is everything. You’ve got to chat with them. They have a lot to say, usually when the public comes on board and you’re working, they’re interested in what’s going on. 

AG – So, you interact with them.

DD – Yes, you’ve got to interact with them but at the same time, if we’re doing something critical, we’re not going to have the public on board. 

AG – You have a lot of sailing experience from previous, so you’ve been able to take that to the Bluenose II. 

DD – Yeah. It’s a little different because they’re different rigs. A square rigger to a schooner, (schooners) go a lot faster and are a lot larger. It’s all relative. It’s the skills you learn and the skills you put on say every ship. 

AG – What did you need, to come on to work on the ship in the position that you’re in now? 

DD – I needed a watch keeping mates license and then I needed experience on traditionally rigged vessels. I had an interview, I had all the certifications needed and a few other people, they knew me, but I still had to work hard for it.

AG – What advice would you give to someone interested in working on the Bluenose II? 

DD – It’s not for everyone. Give it a try. Come with an open mind, and do it, apply, do at least one season, see how it makes you feel. It’s not all rainbows and sunsets. You’re going to be working; you’re going to be talking a lot. It’s going to be long days at first. But at the end of the day, it’s worth it. You’re going to have the best time of your life. It’s not for everyone.

AG – What would be your biggest word of advice to the deckhands? 

DD – Just give it your all and it’s okay if you screw up. We don’t expect you just to know everything, just as long as you’re willing to learn, that’s all we ask. 

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Gabriel St-Denis, from Huxbury Ontario, First Mate Bluenose II

AG – When did you go through the Bosun School program? 

Gabriel St-Denis – In 2011, 2012. I didn’t actually start sailing with them, but that was like the start of my professional career. 

AG – When did you start sailing?

GSD – I was with Class Afloat, as a student. It was expensive. I wondered if there was a way to do this for money or for free and that brought me to the PICTON CASTLE. I wanted to be there, and I didn’t care what I had to do to do it. It’s work, (you) clean, cook, learn to do things. I was just exploring. 

AG – What were your first impressions of the PICTON CASTLE? 

GSD – It was really imposing. Everyone there had this hardened metal look. They were all sun tanned, they all had knives with intricate lanyards. There was painting and scraping, and the ship was in post voyage mode. I had three teachers that really helped. A lot of this job is dynamics and interactions.

AG – What was the most important lesson that Bosun School prepared you for where you are now?

GSD – The very first time that we went sailing was a disaster, a complete disaster. We were on the sailing boat that the school uses to train on, to practice sailing. We ran aground. And that was a super big moment. First of all, your teachers are good, they’re better than you, but they’re not like, on a different planet. You could be that person. Not long after, I was in that exact situation, and I did better. And the reason was, I thought you only have so much time, use it wisely; make a decision now. An acceptable decision now is better than the perfect decision too late. It’s tough conditions for people that are completely green. You have to be decisive; you have to be able to see the big picture and you have to familiarize yourself with the nuclear option. What does your nuclear option look like right now? And what is the result of hitting that button? If (you) capsize, it’s shallow water or you run aground. Both of those are okay, you know, they’re relatively the same thing. 

AG – Tell me about your path from the PICTON CASTLE. 

GSD – I went to the Bosun school, loved it and wanted to stay in town. 

AG – Why did you want to stay in town? What do you love about Lunenberg? 

GSD – It wasn’t so much that it was Lunenberg itself. It was that it was the boat place. I thought, if I stick around here, I’ll learn some things, (which) I did. The captain (Moreland) (asked me), “What do you want to do with this career? Can I help you?” And I was like, “Well, building boats sounds good.” I worked on the Twin Schooners. I didn’t really see that you could get a career out of sailing, so I was trying to build skills that (were) sailing adjacent. I thought sailing was like this fun thing you do. But building the sailboats would make money there. 

AG – Tell me about building the twin schooners. 

GSD – There is Martha Seabury and her twin. They were built at the Dory Shop by Dave Westergard, (which) he partnered up with Morland. I had a great time. I would say it was it was that experience, got me to the first layer of being a ships person. By the time that the sailing came around, I already was in perfect headspace. The thing that you need most to be a sailor isn’t the skills, they can teach you the skills. You can’t teach people who don’t want to learn, or who think that they already know everything. I was just a small cog in the machine, and that suited me just fine. Being in that frame of mind is what you want, you’re just open to learning whatever. 

AG – Tell me about your experience working on the Bluenose and getting to where you are.

GSD – For those that are adamant about sailing, it’s really easy. You just have to outlast everybody else. Just stick around. Eventually, you’ll be the best one there. 

AG – What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to work on the Bluenose II?

GSD – Come as you are. Just let us take you along for the ride. Someone who really wants to sail should apply to the Bluenose at the start of their career. That’s the perfect time to come work here. We teach you some things, you get licensed, and then it’s paid for you, and then you move on to wherever you want to go after. It’s still a great path to go to Bosun school and then come to the Bluenose II. You can either come in as a deckhand with zero experience or you come in as a second mate with a licence. When you come in as a deckhand, you work your way up, and then you get through the ranks. 

GSD – The takeaway is, in any career, hop around. They expect you to hop around and to learn different things from different people and consolidate that into your specializations. Don’t stay in one place. Learn what you have to learn in that one place. Steal everything that you can from the people that you work for. Listen to their advice, ignore some of it, but not until you understand and then you have to go somewhere else. Then you pretend that you’ve forgotten all of that. You go to the new place, and you steal everything that they have. But if you go to the second place saying, well, I was on the Bluenose II and I learned everything there is to know about sailing, you’re going to fail. You have to be open.

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Captain Philip Watson Bluenose II

AG – Tell me about your experience with working with Bosun school graduates.

Philip Watson – We’ve got four on board this year. Generally, people that start with us have zero knowledge (but) it’s great to have people that understand rope, wire and coatings and working aloft safely and just basic shipboard life. Plus, they also come with a tremendous amount of small boat knowledge which is very helpful.

AG – Would you say that they may have a little bit of a leg up then? The Bosun school graduates?

PW – Well, they’ve been on a ship before. 

AG – Can you explain the importance of local programs like the Bosun School? 

PW – Oh, incredible. You get people from all over the world to come here. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bosun school or art school or whatever. Its people (that) come from outside and bring their ideas with them and then they take our ideas and spread them back into the world. Anytime you can (get a) pollination of that kind, it’s beneficial to all the communities. 

AG – What do you look for when you hire a deckhand just in general? 

PW – My mantra is, you can teach nice people to sail, but you can’t always teach sailors to be nice. So we’re principally looking for nice young people that will come and help spread the word of the Bluenose II, that they’ll get along together living in a small space, that they’ll interact well with the public, and that they have the work ethic to do the long hours and the days that are needed to get a ship ready and then to sail it. 

AG – Where did they live? 

PW – They live on the ship. They show up here April 1st, off into the snow, and we do our shed work at that time in a rigging shed on the other side of the museum and as the weather gets a little bit nicer, we work in the greenhouse of the ship, and then we take the cover off. 

AG – When you hire, do you look for a certain amount of locally trained crew? 

PW – Yes, for sure. We hire principally Nova Scotians. (You) have to be Canadian to work on board or a commercial vessel. Principally Nova Scotians. It’s the Nova Scotia taxpayers that support the vessel largely and so we try and take their young people. 

AG – What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to someone interested in working on the Bluenose II?

PW – Leave all your preconceived notions ashore. That you’re willing to try and be willing to do the work needed.