Aloha Polynesia

Aitutaki and Home

By Kate “Bob” Addison August 8th, 2013 It’s 0800 on Thursday the 8th August 2013, and Picton Castle is steaming towards Rarotonga. The familiar rolling emerald mountains are dead ahead, and looming larger every minute. It’s the end of another voyage, a voyage of almost four thousand miles offshore sailing around the Cook Islands. It’s …

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Penrhyn to Manihiki

By Kate “Bob” Addison Thursday August 1st, 2013 This is a bit of a catch up log, which takes Picton Castle from her anchorage in Penrhyn lagoon to Manihiki, our last island call of the Northern Group of the Cook Islands. The saga starts in Penrhyn where our shipmate Tom had to be flown back …

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Penrhyn aka Tongareva

By Kate “Bob” Addison 25th July 2013 Penrhyn Island is named for the British ship Lady Penrhyn which arrived here in 1788. Its Maori name is Tongareva, which translates as Land Floating in the South. We came ashore on Monday morning with our small consignment of cargo for Penrhyn wrapped in tarps to keep it …

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Welcome to Penrhyn!

By Kate “Bob” Addison The lagoon at Penrhyn Island is enormous; it looks like you could arrange all of the other Cook Islands inside the fringing coral reef and still have clear water to go snorkeling. From where Picton Castle was anchored at the northwest corner of the lagoon you couldn’t even see the reef …

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Arriving at Penrhyn

By Kate “Bob” Addison Sunday July 21st, 2013 Picton Castle is at anchor inside Penrhyn Lagoon at a position of 8°59’S 158°05’W. It’s a very calm and beautiful spot. The port admiralty pattern anchor is holding well in nine fathoms of water, and the ship is still and quiet. The lagoon here is huge so …

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Amazing Atiu

By Kate “Bob” Addison Monday July 15th, 2013 At 1000 hours this Monday morning Picton Castle is at position 17°25’S 158°52’W in the Cook Islands, making northing under square sails to t’gallants, staysails and spanker. The wind is a fresh force five, and the day is a bright active one, with cumulus clouds rushing across …

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Seeking Ship’s Doctor, Mate and Lead Seaman

Aboard the Picton Castle, new trainees and crew are settling in and getting oriented to their new surroundings. The ship is currently alongside the wharf at Avatiu Harbour on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. We’re spending a few days in port between Leg 1 and Leg 2 of the Aloha Polynesia Voyage …

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