Billy Campbell, actor, sailor, adventurer and owner of one of our twin schooners, has been hanging out in Lunenburg these last few weeks filming a new movie.
The Disappeared, written and directed by Canadian-born Shandi Mitchell, is a psychological drama about six fishermen fighting to survive after their swordfishing boat goes down during the night in the North Atlantic.
The entire film takes place in the two small dories from which the men abandon their sinking ship. It’s being shot just off the coast here in Lunenburg Bay with cast and crew working long, often wet and tiring days on the ocean. But that’s just fine by Billy, who considers himself lucky to be able to work here.
“What’s not to like about this town?” says the actor, currently appearing in the hit AMC drama The Killing. “I go to work off the railway wharf, right between The Dory Shop [where he can see Dave and the gang working on his schooner] and the Barque Picton Castle,” on which he has made two world voyages – one of the few people beyond the Captain and the ship's cat to do so!
Billy’s also a great fit for the film, in which he plays Mannie, the vessel’s second mate. After two world circumnavigations, he’s certainly an experienced seafarer who’s also up to the physical task of rowing the nearly 20-foot, 500-pound Trawl dories in which the tale is set, not to mention working on the exhausting platform of a rolling ocean for hours at a time.
Filming has taken place in all manner of weather, including heavy wind and rain overnight last night. It wraps up this week and before you know it Billy will be headed to Vancouver to shoot season 2 of The Killing.
The Disappeared hits the big screen next year.
Canadian musican David Wilcox sang about "laying pipe all night long," but for the twin schooner gang it's hanging plank all day long. And wow, are they making progress! Check out these latest shots from down in the Dory Shop Boatyard and remember you can click on the photo for an enlarged view.
Just a couple of pictures of the ongoing planking of our beautiful twin schooners on this sunny day at The Dory Shop in Lunenburg!
It seems like forever since we have posted anything to this Twin Schooner blog. And in fact it has been a month and a half.
That changes now that Dave is back at work (and so happy to have a camera in his face as you can see at below) and planking can begin in earnest.
Over the summer, Bub did a superb job finishing the decks, by the way. We also had a couple of hatches made by Kevin at Lahave Marine Woodworking. Constructed of Wana with Purpleheart runners, they're really gorgeous and work like a charm. 
An email over the weekend asked what was up with the lack of new photographs here on the Twin Schooners construction blog. "Is it vacation time?," it asked. 
