Captain's LogThe crew were close at hand on standby last night, anticipating sail handling under the dark, cloudy sky with groups of stars peering through, as the moon beamed through the cumulonimbus clouds with a gorgeous orange/yellow colour. This morning has come in overcast and we had slight periods of rain, which stopped the sailmakers’ work […]
Whilst our North American loved ones are getting ready for Halloween and fall activities back home, we here on the Picton Castle are enjoying the weather that we’ve been so blessed with. The sun is powerfully hot, yet not the hottest we’ve endured on this voyage, luckily the wind is constant, and if you’re lucky […]
Yesterday’s Halloween festivities went off without a hitch! After lunch the crew worked together and transformed below decks into a haunted house. Cobwebs, spiders, ghosts, goblins and ghouls took over our ship. Dawson, age 6, dressed as a Super Gekko and bravely charged through the scary obstacles in order to collect as much candy as […]
It’s Monday morning on board the Picton Castle and we’re back to our schedule of ship’s work to keep us busy on watch and, of course, to keep our lovely ship in good shape. Our engineer, Deyan of Switzerland, measured the monkey deck ladder with the help of his new assistant Kevin, of Sweden. Deyan […]
Picton Castle sails along on a westerly course, rolling side to side through the South Pacific waters with a beautifully painted hull. A fresh coat of white paint was added in Mangareva. Wind filling our canvas, a breeze blows across the deck and to living quarters below as the sun shines down warming our tanned […]
Pitcairn Island is a pretty small spot on a very big ocean. First discovered by Europeans in 1767 and named for the midshipman who sighted it. They came close, looked about, recorded its location inaccurately due to not having sorted longitude quite yet. By the time Bounty sailed this had been solved. The island had […]
Blue sky, seas laid down, a tropic bird passing over head, easy winds, ocean for as far as the eye can see on this clear South Pacific day. The wind has calmed down today, the ship is sailing at a speed of about 4-5 knots. Work on deck is in full swing, calmer seas allows […]
Only 2,000 miles to go to Pitcairn Island. Misty rain squalls that leave us rolling in short calms and put a damper on paint projects as well as slow down the sailmaking. But all is good enough. We are headed the right direction with warm fair winds. Lots of rigging, sailmaking and small carpentry jobs […]
The sound of scuffing sandpaper on mahogany and teak and the smell of varnish is abundant on deck on this beautiful sunny morning. The lee side of the galley house and the double doors of the salon received another coat of varnish – you can never have too many coats. The quarterdeck is covered with […]
A blue whale swam by the ship this morning. The Picton Castle is sailing deeper and deeper into the South Pacific Ocean. After a few days of overcast and light squalls not far from the Equator we now are sailing along with a fresh beam breeze to port heeling the ship a little to starboard. […]