Bound from: Sandy Cay, BVIs; Towards: Charleston, SC

Location: 21° 52.906′N / 71° 19.996′W

This afternoon the Picton Castle is cruising along at a comfortable 7.2 knots of speed. The breeze is a gentle force 3 and the swells are coming from ESE at a height no greater than 2-3 ft. We are braced on a slight port tack and are heading almost directly downwind; our course is NW and the wind is coming from ESE. Square-riggers do not do a great job of sailing dead downwind so we are combining our sails with the main engine to make up what would be lost time if we remained under sail alone. We really have no perspective of how fast we are going or what sort of distance we are covering unless you are responsible for plotting the ship’s position each hour. From deck it looks and feels like we are cutting through the ocean at a nice clip, but we’ve been overtaken by enormous cruise ships twice in the past three days. They travel at rates of speed somewhere around 15-20 knots.

The other night we had a cruise ship overtake us on our starboard side and they remained at a distance of about a mile. We casually acknowledged them amongst ourselves while we ate our dinner on the Aloha Deck, and as they blew past us at a rate of speed that is nothing short of remarkable for a vessel as awkward and mammoth as a cruise ship, I couldn’t help but feel dwarfed and somehow inferior because we were going as fast as we could, and that was no match. I felt myself getting annoyed and when my little internal rant had passed, Donald (our cook from Grenada) pointed out the hundreds of camera flashes that were erupting from all levels of the cruise ship’s decks that faced us. It felt a little bit like we were rare exotic animals and it was feeding time at the zoo, but on the other hand maybe it just implied that not just the Picton Castle crew think that we are the coolest ship … but their ship has chips and goes at warp speed.

So here we are merrily rolling along, happy as clams at low tide in our barque. Around 10 AM we sailed past Grand Turks Island (UK) and now we are just NE of Caicos Islands (UK). Northwest of us lie the Bahamas. It is getting to be summer now and even though we are in the North Atlantic, it was 36°C in the chart house by noon today. Everyone’s sunscreen basically melted off and promptly ran directly into their eyes. By some miracle a few rain clouds rolled in and blotted out the white hot sun and blue reflective sky and it rained long enough for everyone to recover to their former pre-meltdown selves. Night is cool enough to need a shirt with sleeves and I feel more refreshed and energized when I turn in for bed at midnight than I do after having slept all night and then work until noon.

I had the 10-11AM trick on helm this morning and while I was concentrating on getting the ship back on my ordered course, I did not notice Captain Moreland approach until he was standing before me. He pointed to a streak in the sky and asked me what I thought it was. I guessed it was the air stream left behind from a jet that must have flown over. “Erin, have you ever seen a jet leave a trail that large?” No, I hadn’t. He gestured to some far-away land a few points off the port bow. “That is Cape Canaveral,” he said, tracing his finger in the air along the path the aircraft had made. “A rocket launch?” I asked, “When did that happen?” Captain shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sometime this morning.” Then he walked forward and got Bosun Lynsey to come away from whatever chore had brought her into the chart house and he showed her the rocket’s trail. It was the highlight of my morning: here I was, standing at the helm of a square-rigged ship that is as traditional and authentic as a ship 100 years her senior, steering a course that led us directly under the trail of a rocket’s path into outer space. It’s pretty surreal when you think about it.

Despite the heat our crew happily went about checking off the projects that appeared on Bosun Lynsey’s list of ship’s work for today. Before their watch, Katie and Nadja were crowded together over the starboard aft table in the main salon. Katie (Chicago) was showing Nadja (Spain) how to use the ship’s sewing machine so that Nadja could take in a new batik dress that she had bought in Dominica. Natasha (Alberta), Brownwen (NS) and I (NS) were sharing a bag of letter stencils and were busy labelling things on the ship that had recently received a fresh coat of paint. I labeled the paint slops barrel and Brownwen stenciled a warning inside the bow of the skiff indicating its max capacity is 10 persons. When our watch was stood down for lunch, Natasha had just begun stenciling the ship’s name and port of registration on the Monomoy. Katie and Jack (Florida) were busy preparing to paint a second coat of buff on the main mast. As Jack rigged the bosun’s chair on a gantline, Katie perched herself on a craneline to reach some spots while she had time to spare. The puppies were busy burying their bones underneath coils that had been capsized on deck for sail handling. They really enjoy having the ship for a playground. They chase one another up and down the decks on the swells and then they collapse in the most random places to take a nap. They’ve learned Chibley is the boss, but she doesn’t care much for two-month-old puppies. She has been spending these hot days napping in breezy dark places. We thought the heat had caused her to lose her appetite, but on ship check someone caught her in the hold eating the puppies’ food out of a bag that she had torn open.

Wake ups are happening now for a rope work and splicing workshop to take place on the main hatch in ten minutes. So it’s off with this computer and back to traditional seafaring! We’ve got the best of both worlds!

Erin and the rocket trail

Katie aloft

May 11 rocket trail

Natasha stencils

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Location: 16° 38.196′ N / 62° 52.135′ W (about parallel to Montserrat, UK)
Ordered Course: N x W

Yesterday was nothing short of a flurry of activity aboard the barque Picton Castle! Over a 24-hour period, our crew was joined by (lucky) 13 new trainees who are aboard for this three-week passage bound for adventure and ultimately for Charleston, South Carolina. At anchor in St. Pierre, Martinique, the crew spent a wickedly hot day (it is summer now in the Caribbean and it is hot!) rust-busting, priming, painting, preparing the ship for sea and allowing the new trainees to become familiar with their surroundings (and get a little sunburned). The workday came to an appropriate end around 1645 (4:45 PM) when the Captain announced a swim call. Virtually all hands appeared on deck in their suits and were over the rail the instant the ladders and life rings were made fast.

At 1715 (5:15 PM) Captain Moreland called a muster amidships and introduced the professional crew to the new trainees before going over some details about the upcoming passages and places we will visit. When all questions had been answered, the Captain gave the order, “Hands to hoist the skiff!” The new trainees caught on quickly and fell in line behind the professional crew as they scrambled to the boat falls on the starboard side of the Quarterdeck. Those who were wandering about lost and confused were quickly rounded up and given a task. Next the yards were braced up sharp on a starboard tack and by 1740 the engineers had fired up the main engine and First Mate Mikkel oversaw the crew on the foc’s’l head as they heaved up the starboard anchor. Within ten minutes the Picton Castle was underway once again and bound for Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands! Though JVD is Captain Moreland’s favourite British virgin Island, several of our ship’s crew have visited the island several times before and are eager to get back to Foxy’s Tamarind Calypso Bar and Ivan’s “Stress Free” beach. For those among us who have never had the pleasure of meeting our friends on Jost or of truly “living the island life,” they are in for a treat! Foxy sings calypso with plenty of political and social commentary jabs, and, of course, the Piña Coladas and Jamaican Red Stripe go down pretty well while swinging in a rope hammock strung between two palms next to the turquoise water’s edge!

Once we were underway, the heads’ls, main topmast stays’l, spanker, and the lower tops’ls were set and dinner was served. Almost immediately after dinner was finished, the crew broke into sea watches. When Bosun Lynsey’s 4-8 Watch took the deck, the members of the other watches trickled below to nap or rested on the main hatch amidships until bouts of sea sickness subsided.

The crew passed the night with a beautiful, bright moon overhead to light the things on deck that typically lurk in the shadows waiting to stub an unsuspecting toe. The trainees learned to keep a good lookout and experienced their first trick on helm. The weather was warm with only 1/8 cumulus cloud cover to steer by and a gentle breeze filled our sails to help speed us along through the low 1-2 foot swell. At one point, the ship was making as many as 10 knots of speed when motoring with some sails set! We were screaming along but the motion was so regular and gentle that it was difficult to guess the speed without looking at the GPS. Regardless of the low swell there were still a number of green hands seasick. The wind and swell have piped up more today and the green hands who were not sick last night are a little green in the face today.

We are making great time and rumour has it we may arrive at Jost as early as tomorrow! In the meantime, the watches began their first official day of ship’s work at sea with a good deck wash at 6 AM. The 8-12 Watch turned-to on domestics (cleaning living spaces and heads) and then continued with yesterday’s projects: sealing, priming and painting rails, and scraping the decks to prepare for a much-needed coat of linseed oil mixed with kerosene. Oiling the decks is an important part of ship’s maintenance because it protects the wood from the wear and tear of foot traffic and also from the extremes of sea water and the damaging rays of the sun. The infamous Galley Duty roster has been posted, and one person from each watch has been appointed daily to assist Chief Cook Donald (Grenada) with meal preparations and clean-up.

Lunch is finished now and the decks are quiet as members of 2nd Mate Rebecca’s 12-4 Watch go silently about their work. The other watches are below now catching up on lost sleep or frantically studying their Crew Manuals so they can figure out that funny seafaring language we speak on deck. This afternoon we will continue the safety orientation that has been ongoing since early yesterday, and we will likely run through a complete set of Fire and Man Overboard drills to make sure that everyone is familiar with the equipment, the locations of the safety gear, and the procedures that we follow.

Main topmast-stays l

Port forward from amidships

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Donald Church, cook on the Picton Castle, is from Grenada. He worked as chef on eight cruise ships over a 20-year period. We met him through the Captain’s mutual friends when we were looking to hire a cook in the beginning of January while the ship was in Grenada. Having a cook from the Caribbean is a huge benefit for us for several reasons. Donald knows the local ingredients and how to use them to make tasty dishes. Not only does he know what to do with foods like soursop, plantain, sweet potato, and coconuts, he also uses lots of different spices to flavour his dishes. He knows the appropriate price to pay for fruit and veggies in the markets, and if the price is too high he can bargain or walk away, knowing that he’ll get the same thing for a better price elsewhere. He still talks about the outrageous price of coconuts in Antigua, $5 EC for one there and $1 EC almost anywhere else in the Caribbean. EC is Eastern Caribbean currency, which is about $2.50 to $1 Canadian.

Donald has developed a few signature dishes—things he makes often and well. He prefers to cook chicken and fish over beef or other red meats. Donald’s fried chicken is legendary amongst the crew, as are the potato wedges he often makes to go with it. Rice and peas are a Caribbean staple, as is cabbage salad. Plantain can be fried, baked or boiled (in the skin). Macaroni and cheese, which Donald calls “macaroni pie,” is often served for lunch. He almost always cuts up fruit to serve with breakfast, including grapefruit, oranges, soursop, watermelon, mangoes, papaya or whatever else we have at the time. Nadja showed him how to make crepes, which he often does along with oatmeal or cornmeal porridge.

Every meal has a great variety of things to eat. The long counters on top of the veggie lockers on the aloha deck are brimming with bowls and pans of different things; there’s hardly enough space for it all. Meals on the Picton Castle are served buffet style, starting with cutlery and plates or bowls (most people choose bowls, especially on swelly days at sea, so they can keep their meal from sliding off), then all the different dishes that make up the meal with serving spoons so we can choose what we want and serve ourselves. The scullery is full of a variety of condiments, everything from hot sauce to chutney, salt and pepper to salad dressing—anything someone could possibly want to add to their food. Condiments appropriate for the meal go at the end of the buffet line. It’s always interesting to see how people combine what’s offered at each meal, and it’s rare for two bowls or plates to look the same.

To give you an example of what the crew eats, here’s what was served today:

Breakfast

• orange wedges
• grapefruit wedges
• watermelon slices
• crepes
• hard boiled eggs
• garlic toast (a bit unconventional, but really tasty)

Lunch

• macaroni pie
• mixed beans
• leftover cabbage salad with pickles
• leftover couscous
• canned peaches

Supper

• rice and black beans
• mixed beans with tomato and onion
• boiled plantains in the skin
• plantain cake with raisins
• fruit cocktail
• leftover macaroni pie
• leftover cabbage salad
• leftover couscous

And we may see some awesome fried chicken…

And Mr. church is a great shipmate to boot!

Donald in the scullery

Donald negotiates in the market

macaroni pie, boiled plantain, and plantain cake

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A good duty day in port is one when work ends early enough for a swim call. The fore yard is braced slightly on a starboard tack so that the swing rope can be rigged, inflatable water toys are blown up, proper ladders or scramble nets are rigged over the side, and life rings are put out to float astern of the ship. Crew put on their bathing suits, some even bring their shampoo or soap for a salt water bath. Once lookouts have been posted, it’s time to enjoy a refreshing plunge.

The more timid people climb down the ladder into the ocean (there aren’t too many of those aboard). Some jump from the rail by the well deck. The more daring jump from the end of the bowsprit. And the most adventurous try the rope swing. The long rope with knots in the bottom for gripping is rigged from the starboard end of the fore yard. There’s usually a line up of people on the foc’sle head, and when it’s your turn you use the tag line attached to pull the rope up to you, then climb over the rail and stand on the cathead to prepare for your swing. Being careful to hold on tight and not get tangled in the tag line, when you’re ready you launch yourself away from the ship and out over the water. At the height of your swing you let go and fly through the air before dropping into the azure water.

Rope swinging is definitely a spectator sport. Watching is almost as good as swinging yourself. Some of the crew can do back flips. Others like to flail their arms and legs around after they let go of the rope. Some are completely graceful, making almost no splash at all as they enter the water. Some have notorious “signature” leaps. From time to time things don’t go as planned and someone ends up in a giant belly flop. Spectators on board and in the water cheer and cringe appropriately.

Even if the rope swing isn’t for everyone, floating around in the water after a long, hot, sweaty day is. Many of the crew have their own inflatable water toys, like Lynsey with her swimming bee and John with his small blue dinghy. Katie jumped in wearing a life jacket upside down like a diaper to keep her afloat sitting up. The water temperature in the Caribbean averages about 27 degrees Celsius, which is just about perfect; warm enough to be comfortable but cooler than the air so it’s refreshing. There’s no better end to a duty day in port in the Tropics.

Back flip off the rope swing

Ben launches himself off the rope swing

John relaxes at swim call

Lynsey, Finn, Andrea, Kelly and Nadja enjoy swim call

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Bequia is truly one of the most beautiful islands around, and the Picton Castle has had the pleasure of putting in there twice this winter. We sail into Admiralty Bay and head for our “usual parking spot,” which we have found empty and waiting for us on both visits. Several ferries run between Bequia and St. Vincent, so all vessels must keep the channel clear for them. On either side of the channel there are many vessels anchored, everything from tiny sailboats to ships bigger than we are. On our first visit this winter we happened to anchor next to a yacht flying a Nova Scotia flag, so we had a visit and chat. Bequia attracts sailors from all around the world, and it is often a first port for those making trans-Atlantic passages. As such it has a number of marine chandleries, an excellent sail loft (Aleck’s) and other businesses that cater to people who sail and live on boats. Many a night islanders gather at the beachfront “Frangipani,” where a big three-masted schooner was built, to listen and sway to the excellent and exuberant steel band playing in the evenings from time to time.

The Friendship Rose is a Caribbean schooner that calls Bequia home, and when she’s not out on day sails she moors close to the beach in Admiralty Bay. With a wooden hull painted a vibrant light blue and wooden masts, Friendship Rose stands out from the rest. She used to be the main form of transportation for passengers and cargo between Bequia and St. Vincent in the days before the modern ferries, but now she does lots of charters (particularly weddings) and day sails where the public can buy tickets and sail to Mustique or Tobago Cays for the day. It’s a long, full day leaving at 7 AM and not returning until 5 PM with plenty of sailing, swimming, snorkeling, and gourmet eating. The ship was built as a cargo schooner under the palm trees in Friendship Bay, Bequia, in 1967 by local craftsmen and is a well-kept example of a typical work boat built in the Grenadines with a rounded wooden hull and wide beam.

Bequia has a laid back attitude, but also has enough going on to be interesting and exciting. The main street of Port Elizabeth runs along the water and has two cement lanes divided by colourful tropical gardens. One side is for cars, the other is for pedestrians. There are a number of shops and restaurants along the main street, most of which are multipurpose. There’s the internet-restaurant/laundry-real estate-car and bike rental place, the restaurant-grocery store, the tourist souvenir-clothing-FedEx depot and many more. Browsing in all the shops—especially the book shop, with its interesting titles and beautiful scrimshaw knives—is a good way to spend an hour or two ashore. From the main dock heading left, you reach the two markets. The first is filled with tourist t-shirts that say things like “Sail Fast, Live Slow,” as well as jewelry, local jams, jellies and preserves. The second market has tables laden with delicious-looking produce (mangos, lettuce, pineapples, coconuts, cassava, christophene, yams, onions, potatoes, cabbage, stalks of sugar cane…) and very insistent but cool Rastafarian salesmen. We have learned from experience that it’s best to spread our business around, if possible, and buy a few items from everyone. As soon as they know we’re there to provision for the ship we get almost physically pulled from table to table by each shopkeeper who will try and convince us that everything they have is the best. At the produce market they also sell the bags that so many of our crew have bought and carry regularly; they’re made from grain sacks with a colourful fabric edge on the top and industrial strength straps that are comfortable to carry. They hold all a sailor needs on a day off (bathing suit, towel, change of clothes, snacks, a book, wallet, camera, etc) with room to spare, or are great to take to the grocery store. We bought a few to bring home with us and sell in The Sea Chest, the Picton Castle’s store in Lunenburg. They will fly off the shelves. All the crew got one.

It is lovely to sail back to places we know; it is sweet to sail back into Port Elizabeth in the sailor’s isle of Bequia.

Anchorage at Admiralty Bay, Bequia

Friendship Rose

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The Picton Castle got underway yesterday afternoon from Nevis by sailing off the hook. This means that the ship sailed away from being at anchor entirely under wind, sail and crew power, the engine was not used at all. It wasn’t even on. We had the fore yards braced on a starboard tack and the main yards on a port tack and all the sails loosed before we started heaving up the anchor. There is no electric windlass on the Picton Castle; the anchor is heaved up using a hand-powered windlass. We put five or six crew members on each side and they alternate pumping up and down, which turns the wild-cat that pulls in the chain. Each shot of 1-1/4″ chain is 90 feet, and we had two shots out. This means that the crew had 180 feet of heavy chain to pull up, as well as a 1,200 pound anchor. Heaving up the anchor is hot, sweaty work. Once the anchor was most of the way up, we took in the spanker and started setting sails on the foremast. This pushed the bow around and once we had turned, the fore yards were braced on a port tack to match the main yards. Less than half an hour later, we had set all sails and the ship was starting to pick up speed as we got farther out of the lee of the island.

Sailing off the hook is a great exercise in seamanship and sail handling, as orders must be carried out quickly and correctly. It usually seems a bit chaotic at the time with people dashing around the deck from line to line and hauling, easing or tending it as required, but yesterday afternoon everything went very smoothly and felt relaxed. One of the best parts of sailing off the hook is that we don’t have the noise of the engine. The silence allows us to hear other noises of the ship—the jangle of the lower tops’l sheets as the sail is set, the sound of the hanks of the heads’ls sliding up the stays, and the flapping of canvas as the giant mains’l and fores’l are set. It was a lovely trade-wind afternoon, bound for a couple days at sea under canvas alone.

Anchor chain and windlass

Hauling fore upper tops l halyard

Under full sail

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The Picton Castle’s newly repaired skiff was launched last Friday morning. It was a grand occasion with all the crew onboard, hauling on tackles to lift it off the cargo hatch and over the rail into the water. The new and improved skiff is one in which we can be proud to pull up at any yacht club dock. It is sturdy and seaworthy, more spacious and comfortable than the spare one we have been using while this boat was being repaired. But the spare did a good job and we are glad to have her standing by. Just as the Picton Castle looks different from all the sleek, shiny, modern boats that are often our neighbors at anchor, our skiff stands out from all the grey rubber inflatable boats that everyone else uses as tenders. Carpenter Joe has done a fantastic job of repairing the skiff using metres of fiberglass cloth, gallons of fiberglass resin, metres of lumber, boxes of screws and all sorts of stainless steel and galvanized steel hardware.

After leaving Dominica the Picton Castle sailed to Iles Des Saintes, a group of small French islands that are part of Guadeloupe. Quaint is a good way to describe the Saintes, with a pretty main street with a variety of small businesses that cater to tourists. The streets are filled with rented scooters, except in the centre of town, which is designated for pedestrians only. Many of our crew rented scooters to check out the island. Ky in particular had a great time scooting around. The island has many beaches, most within easy walking distance of the main town. Our crew also found one of the best ice cream shops we’ve ever been to, with a wide variety of homemade flavours. There’s nothing wrong with eating two or three ice cream cones on your day off, is there?

Antigua was the next stop for us, and we found a space to anchor in Falmouth Harbour. There are two major harbours very close to each other, Falmouth Harbour and English Harbour, separated by a peninsula only a few hundred metres wide at its narrowest point. We found ourselves in very interesting company in Falmouth, with most of our neighbors being shiny superyachts. Several had their own helicopters, and on one there was a 42-foot sailboat on deck that you hardly noticed at first. The same one with the sailboat also had a sort of garage that opened up to reveal a whole stable of jet skis, speed boats, bicycles, and other fun toys. Le Grand Bleu, supposed to be owned by some Russian oil guy. We also saw Maltese Falcon, the most modern square-rigger imaginable. Instead of bracing the yards individually the entire mast turns, and the sails are stowed inside the masts, set by pulling them out to the ends of the yardarms like a shower curtain. We are told that she cost $280 million—wow! We stayed in Antigua a week and a lot of work got done on the ship. In addition to completing the skiff, Joe has started to make dutchmen in the quarter deck, replacing sections that are gouged. There were some major painting projects happening, particularly the bulwarks and stanchions on the main deck as well as the topsides. Pin rails on the quarterdeck were sanded and varnished. We got a lot done ashore as well, including some marine shopping at the island’s many chandleries—Second Mate Lynsey had a list as long as her arm—and the usual laundry and provisioning.

We launched the Monomoy and spent some time learning and practicing how to row. It’s great physical exercise, but more important, it teaches us about working together to move the boat through the water. The person on the port side all the way aft is the stroke oar, the rower who sets the pace that everyone else must match. Trying to row on your own agenda just won’t work because the oars get tangled and you annoy your boat-mates. When all the rowers work together they pull the boat through the water almost magically; when they don’t, it looks like a drunk spider with uncoordinated legs. The first few minutes in the Monomoy are often a little chaotic until the group finds its pace, and we saw huge improvements over the few days of rowing.

During their time off, crew went exploring to discover the best of the island. We met a local guy with a bus, “Sarge,” who took two different groups of people on an island tour. We saw everything from the bustling market in St. John to the most well-landscaped international airport around. The Caribbean plays host to the Cricket World Cup this year with many different islands each hosting a pool of teams in the earlier rounds. Matches begin in Antigua at the end of March. They are very proud of their brand-new stadium, which I hope they finish in time; the stadium is done, but the infrastructure around it (roads, parking lots, etc) still needs some work. The stadium will be named for Sir Vivian Richards, one of the best batters around and a former captain of the West Indies team, who is a national hero in Antigua.

Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour was another interesting place to explore, as its modern yacht facilities occupy the former British Navy base. The thick stone walls that once were the home of Lord Nelson himself now house restaurants, shops, a bakery, the customs office, a bank and a post office. Many boats tie up stern-to around the same dock to which British ships would have come for repairs and maintenance. The Dockyard certainly has its modern uses but has not forgotten its history, with informative signs and interpreters who guide visitors around and explain what things were like there 200 years ago.

We hauled up the anchor early this morning, and as I write we are moving along at about 4 knots under full sail. A whale was spotted, breaching, a short while ago. There are some flying fish to watch, the volcano on Montserrat is spitting a constant white cloud, and we hear the gentle sounds of sapphire blue water lapping against the hull. As I have heard Captain Moreland say, it’s not so bad to be us.

Anchor at Nelson s Dockyard, Antigua

Launching the skiff, Antigua

Maltese Falcon, Antigua

Monomoy rowing exercise, Antigua

PC at anchor at Iles des Saintes

PC at anchor in Antigua, dwarfed by superyacht

Quaint shops in centre of town, Saintes

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Shopping at the market in the West Indies with the Picton Castle’s Grenadian cook, Donald, is a whirlwind experience. We had been told by everyone we asked that Friday and Saturday were the best days of the week to shop at the fresh produce market in Roseau, Dominica. Our driver first suggested he pick us up at 0600 because all the best fruits and vegetables were available first thing in the morning, but we compromised and went after breakfast. Asking around paid off as we found the market was full of vendors and shoppers on Friday morning. There were a number of cement buildings, but most stands were outdoors under brightly coloured patio umbrellas. Each vendor had a table about 6 x 6 feet, piled high with fruits and vegetables of all sizes and shapes. In and amongst the stands were crowds of people—those busy selling their wares and those even more busy buying. Donald got right to work, spying some good-looking cabbage and watermelon at a stand in the middle of the action. He negotiated while the vendors weighed what he chose, each tomato and pepper picked out because it was the best in the bunch. I followed along behind, distracted by all the noise of people asking how much for a bunch of this or a kilogram of that, paying for our purchases, and helping to carry the growing number of bags. We bought everything from parsley to hot peppers, watermelon to watercress. Our final purchase was a branch of 18 young coconuts, filled with sweet coconut water.

The Picton Castle is anchored just south of Roseau, the capital city of the island nation of Dominica. The anchorage is a bit difficult because the bottom is very deep, even close to shore. Logan took sounding after sounding on the way into the anchorage, the end of the lead line not even touching bottom until a couple of hundred feet off shore. We were guided to the only spot that would be suitable for us by some local guys who came out to meet us in their small but fast motorboat. (Sea Cloud, a four-masted barque, was anchored here when we arrived on Wednesday afternoon but left that same evening.) We finally found a useable anchorage and the off watch wasted no time getting ashore. We found out that the big party that evening was going to be at a hotel right near where we anchored, and it featured live calypso music by a band warming up for Carnival. The biggest, month-long event on the island begins on Saturday evening with a huge party in the streets of Roseau and runs through until just before Ash Wednesday with competitions for bands, beauty pageants, and “jump-ups.” We have seen preparations for Carnival everywhere—people walking through the streets with shiny costumes in hand, fields being turned into music stages.

Dominica’s best asset, besides the people, is its natural environment, with 365 rivers on the island and plenty of freshwater lakes, waterfalls, and hot springs. Many of our crew have been to see Trafalgar Falls, the biggest on the island. It features two natural pools right near each other, one with cool refreshing waterfall water, and one with warm relaxing water from a hot spring. Trois Pitons, a national park right outside of Roseau, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island is extremely mountainous and lush, with very few people living in the interior. One of the island’s most famous features is the boiling lake; to hike to it and back takes a full day.

There has been plenty of action on the ship for the crew on watch. We all take turns looking after the ship on anchor watches at night, and we have been particularly vigilant here because of our proximity to land. During the days we have had a variety of projects going on. Joe continues to work on the ship’s main skiff, making repairs with body filler and fiberglass. A number of crew were in the spare skiff today, painting along the waterline. Emma has scraped, sanded and varnished the wheel box cover. New hands received instruction in tackles as we shifted boats on top of the galley house. Chief Engineer MacGregor went for a swim to examine the propeller, while Andrea has done a monthly check on the batteries. Nadja continues to practice her boat-driving skills as the coxswain of the skiff. All of this has happened as crew are continually standing by in this unusually deep anchorage close to the shore. It is beautiful here under the tall mountains covered with jungle.

Donald in the galley, Martiniqe

Kip at the wheel with Sea Cloud behind us

PC at anchor, Dominica

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The Picton Castle sits at anchor off St. Pierre, Martinique, very close to the wrecks of eleven ships that were lost in 1902 along with about 30,000 residents of the city when the local volcano, Mont Pele, erupted. Local dive outfitters seem quite busy, judging by the amount of boats filled with people in wetsuits cruising by. Ashore, there is a mix of old and new as the now less populated town has developed around the ruins. Many old stone walls and foundations still sit empty, even in the town centre. Looming over the town and the anchorage is Mont Pele itself, its peak mostly shrouded in clouds and grey mist even when the rest of the sky is clear. Our arrival in Martinique marks the end of one leg of our Caribbean voyage and the start of a new one. The leg we just finished began in early January at St. George’s, Grenada. On that leg the Picton Castle called in the ports of Tyrrel Bay, Hillsborough and Sandy Island on Carriacou; Petite Martinique; and Bequia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Ashore we have had the chance to check out boat building, snorkeling, island tours, a turtle sanctuary, local live music, beach front bars, mountain hikes and more. We have sailed mostly in the day, traveling from island to island and anchoring at night. With a large group of mostly new trainees we wore ship twice, and made one overnight sail from Bequia to Martinique.

The trainees we have had aboard for the past two weeks have been an enthusiastic bunch. In addition to the individuals who signed up independently, we also had a group of 14 students from Mount Holyoke College, a women’s college in Springfield, Massachusetts. The professional crew were kept on their toes, constantly answering questions, reviewing running rigging, and putting trainees through their paces in sail handling drills. The ship itself has benefited from such an eager crew, receiving a new paint job on the bulwarks, tar on the headrig and main and mizzen shrouds, paint on the t’gallant rail and the taff rail and the rail on the foc’sle head, paint on the overhead in the breezeway, a proper scrubbing on top of the galley house and all around the quarterdeck, new line to replace old line, a cleaning of the stove, and some fresh varnish on the spanker boom. Joe, our Grenadian carpenter, has been hard at work fixing the rescue skiff with a parade of assistants.

The Mount Holyoke students participated in our program as part of their January term, an opportunity for them to earn school credit for something outside of their usual areas of study. As part of their class, they have been writing occasional blog entries, which are currently posted on their site at mhcsailing.wordpress.com. Photos will follow shortly, once they return home and have a chance to choose the best from more than 500 they took. We encourage all our friends and families to check out their blog to learn more about daily life on board.

Becky on the windlass

Bsoun Michael and Sara furl the upper topsail.

Elissa s first time aloft

John tars the mizzen shrouds.

Ky on the peak inhaul.

Logan, Andrea, and Lynsey inside a boat being built at Windward,Carriacou.

On the fore braces.

p and over for the first tie

Rowing at Sandy Island

Sheeting in the spanker to try to tack.

Shirley and Mary Anne sweat while Becky and ea tail

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The sun rose over the crest of the hill ashore, slowly spilling down into the bay. These early morning rays illuminated the white, blue and green hulls, masts of bright colours, and stripes of the local wooden fishing boats anchored nearby. Dawn broke quietly as brisk trade-wind breezes buffeted and soothed the ship. The overcast of the past couple of days has burned away in the strong hot tropical sun. Now we have brilliant blue skies and sun-shining seas.

The Picton Castle is anchored at Petite Martinique, the northernmost of the islands that make the nation of Grenada. A very short skiff-run away is Petite St. Vincent, which is an entirely different country. My guess is that customs and immigration protocols are somewhat relaxed between these two islands. We have a great gang of keen crew aboard including a group of 14 from Mount Holyoke College. Today onboard the watch on duty under 2nd Mate Lynsey are painting the longboat, scraping the spanker boom to get it ready for a fresh coat of varnish, and tarring the mizzen and main shrouds (along with quite a bit of the decks below them as well). Andrea is fixing the port forward head, Maggie is cleaning out the stove with a couple of helpers, and an inner jib that had gotten a big hole in it is being switched out with good one. Our fine new Grenadian ship’s cook, Donald Church, has the day off, so Nadja is pitching in with cooking. She has a barbeque going off the taff-rail and some lovely cold salads are on the way. Ashore the free watch is exploring the island and, I trust, making new acquaintances. There were reports of a new 36-foot wooden fishing boat being launched this morning right after church, a big sports day for the school children, and talks of a barbeque at the “Standing Wave” Supermarket and Bar this evening. Everyone was invited to join these events.

The Picton Castle now sails along in the lee of the chain of islands in the Caribbean known as the Lesser Antilles; this is the string of islands on a curved line stretching north to south from Trinidad just off the coast of South America up to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Anguilla, St. Barts, St. Kitts, Nevis, Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincent, Bequia, and Grenada forge a barrier to the broad Atlantic Ocean, breaking the seas that have been rolling in from Africa for three thousand miles or so. Sometimes, in a “tropical wave,” we will still get a haze in the sky from windborn dust lifted from the distant Sahara. Makes for those brilliant sunsets hereabouts.

She sails in fresh easterly breezes and small seas, although she still has a motion to her. The sun shines off the seas. We are warm in the buffeting trade winds. The anchorages are excellent. The folks ashore are richly engaging and astonishingly generous with themselves, their islands, and their way of life. We are very fortunate to be here.

Boats at Petite Martinique

Even the goats are friendly, Petite Matinique

Footrace, Petite Martinique

Grave markers, Petite Martinique

Island cook Donald Chruch and friend

Petite Martinique

Picton Castle at anchor

Street barbecue, Petite Matinique

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