The original Hector arrived at Pictou Harbor on September 15, 1773, bringing 189 settlers from Scotland to their new home. The historic voyage marked the beginning of a huge wave of immigration that turned Pictou into the birthplace of Nova Scotia, earning the ship the nickname of Canada’s Mayflower. A complete replica of the ship was built in the 1990s, but 30 years later it needed major repairs. The vessel was raised from the water in June 2020 to begin restoration. Delays due to COVID-19 and supply chain issues are part of the problem in getting the job done. Then came post-tropical storm Fiona, which knocked out power to the site for nearly two weeks. The deck covering that had been tied to protect the ship blew up in the storm. But this setback kept Hector’s small work crew busy in other ways. “One of the board members called us and said he had some trees down and wanted to know if we could use them,” said Vern Shea, director of the Hector ship restoration project. “That really made me think there’s a lot of wood down there and we could go get some of that wood.” Two large piles of wood salvaged from Pictou County properties after post-tropical storm Fiona sit at the construction site on the Pictou waterfront. (Paul Palmer/CBC) So that’s what Hector’s work crew did. They didn’t have to go far to find downed trees and people wanting to remove those trees from their property. “We went around and basically became loggers for two weeks,” Shea said. “It really helped because it turned a bad thing into something good.” With the branches removed, there are now dozens of large logs in two separate piles next to the tall ship replica. “They’ll all get used and save us a lot of money in materials,” Shea said. The original settlers from the Hector spent 11 weeks living on the ship as it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. Then they built new houses from the forest. “When it’s done, a lot of the wood inside the boat will have come from the lands where these people settled,” Shea said. The Hector restoration project has been plagued by many delays. (Paul Palmer/CBC) Logs still need to be sanded and will be put to good use. The many different types of wood, including cherry and olive, will be cut to order for the interior finish. “Some of these trees are 150 to 250 years old, so there’s quite a bit of timber here,” said site manager Ray MacPhail. “We’ll saw them down and use certain trees for certain areas of the ship.” While the planks continue to be hammered into place on the ship, there is a deadline they hope to meet. The plan is to raise the vessel back into the water on September 15, 2023. That day will mark the 250th anniversary of Hector’s arrival in Pictou. “It doesn’t look too bad as long as we get the hull done and the propeller shafts in,” Shea said. “I’m pretty confident we’ll make it as long as we don’t run into supply problems, which we’ve already run into.”
