Volunteers are working hard to restore an old sailing ship in time for a visit by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to Pictou, Nova Scotia this month.
Anchored at Pictou, it’s actually a relatively new old ship; it’s the Hector, a three-masted replica of the original Hector that brought 189 Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia in 1773. They landed at Brown’s Point, just west of present day Pictou.
The replica Hector was built in 2000 as a project by descendants, but then ran out of money before it was completed.
Now, volunteers are putting in long days to get the ship back together and tidied for the royal visit.
Last year, the ship had it’s three huge, heavy masts removed in order to rebuild the complex rigging, which had not been maintained due to money issues.
On Wednesday, the Hector Heritage Quay Society which has been working to get the ship ready, completed re-installation of the masts, the tallest of which stands 31 metres.
One of the volunteers working on the is a rigger from England who came last year to help with the removal of the masts, and this year’s re-installation.
He says the maze of lines, shrouds, and pulleys should last another 13 years.
The ship, a copy of the original built in Holland sometime before 1750, is 25.9 metres long, with a beam of 6.7metre
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are expected to visit on May 19.
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