Historic Naval Vessel Quays in Windsor during the Great Lakes Tour

On board the oldest and oldest ship in the Royal Canadian Navy: HMCS Oriole, a 31-meter sailing ketch, stopped in Windsor for the weekend.

This 97-year-old ship stops along major cities during her deployment to the Great Lakes. He left his new Halifax port of call in April

. "It was a bit difficult to get used to the boat initially," said Master Seaman Chris Jack, who has been sailing for 25 years, mainly to the east. Coast, where his family lives.

Last year, the historic ship traveled from Esquimalt, British Columbia, to the east coast, where he made several stops marking the celebrations of Canada 150 The trip took the ship on the Pacific coast and through the Panama Cbad, and totaled 33,000 kilometers.

Jack, who is visiting Windsor for the first time, said his trip to the Great Lakes was relatively calm. "We were very lucky the other night, we were anchored and we had a bit of hail and wind, and we were often greeted," he said. "We did a good job."

But, he admits, the engine room where Jack spends most of his time is not the most comfortable. "I've already lost 20 pounds this trip – I've always been hot."

Leading Seaman Chris Jack says that the engine room of HMCS Oriole is still hot because it does not look hot. there is no air conditioning. [19659013] (Flora Pan / CBC)

Naval Recruitment

HMCS Oriole travels with a land partner: A naval bus that recruits at each stop in the city.

While the crew pauses "

Alishia Reid has been sailing since 2011 and is part of the HMCS Hunter Reserve in Windsor. Working as a naval communicator, Reid says she's interested in reservations after the beautiful uniforms caught her eye when she was traveling through the University of Windsor.

"And they said," we help pay for college and university studies. That's what has been most important to me, "Reid said, noting that she attended her training in Victoria and Halifax.

HMCS Hunter also began recruiting in high schools in the city through a co-op placement – the first naval unit in southern Ontario to do this, according to a spokesman.

Alishia Reid, 27 years old, was born and raised in Windsor and has been sailing for eight years (Flora Pan / CBC)

Her stay in the Navy brought her to places where she lived. she could never have seen anything else. At 27, she has traveled to more than 20 countries in the last eight years.

"I have always loved the water, but to be in the middle of the ocean and not see the earth for a good week or two – that is, she said:

HMCS Oriole will travel to Port Colborne, Ontario on Monday for the four-day Marine Heritage Festival