At daybreak, the call came to loose the square sails. Crew climbed aloft in the rigging, pulling themselves up the shrouds, laying out onto the yards and loosing the furled sail. By 0800, the watches on deck hauled on lines, yanked on braces and heaved on halyards, setting our eight current square sails (our royals …
The Picton Castle has had a nice long visit in Bali. Plenty good stories to tell. Some crew coming and going. Lots of nasi goreng, mei goreng, no shortage of Bintang and Bali Kopi, even cat-poo-chino. Lots of beautiful carvings, ebony boxes, batik sarongs and more. But now it was time to sail onward to …
Having sailed in to Bali from the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea two weeks ago, the crew of the Picton Castle is getting ready to sail for Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. I am pretty sure everyone loves Bali. We have only ever had one crew member not like Bali some …
Serangan Bay, day three in Bali, Picton Castle halfway around the world. The day here at anchor in Serangan comes in with a tropical rain shower – the monsoon change is upon us – followed by clearing and then a fine view of the Mount Agung volcano well to our north, for a while anyway …
Yesterday the Picton Castle steamed into Serangan just to the north of Benoa, the large commercial port on the southern tip of Bali, Indonesia. We had a very good passage the 3,000 miles from Vanuatu. An excellent sailing passage of 1,500 miles from Santo to Cape York, the northernmost tip of Australia, followed by a …
A gorgeous Saturday at sea aboard the Picton Castle. We couldn’t ask for better weather, the hot sun shines politely down on deck as a cool constant breeze runs over our suntanned skin. This morning a team of sailmaking helpers, including Sue, Braham, and Erin, assisted the ship’s sailmaker John by seaming together a new …
Picton Castle’s World Voyage itinerary is full of exotic place names, including some you may never have heard of before. We specialize in visiting exotic tropical ports, taking our ship and crew to some unique, remote places. But that doesn’t mean it’s difficult to make travel arrangements to join the ship for a leg of …
By Kate “Bob” Addison Monday October 6th, 2014 Monday morning finds Picton Castle at anchor in Benoa Harbour, Bali. After the four week passage from Vanuatu, we have finally reached land and find ourselves in another world. It’s a bit of a shock to the system to look around from the quarterdeck and see land …
The crew also found inner balance during their stay – by exploring Bali, while exploring their own passions. Frankie went diving near Lembongan and discovered a reef still rich and teeming with life. Joh, Brad, Dave, Shawn and Siri continued their bargaining spree in Mas where they found sea chests and commissioned carvings and tools. …
When the Picton Castle crew described their stories to me they all expressed a similar awe that they were able to find peace in the midst of chaos. Kuta, for example, is absolute insanity. It is a mecca for tourists and partygoers and shopaholics and surfers. During the day the shops regurgitate their wares onto …
