Picton Castle‘s Voyage of the Atlantic has begun. The excitement on the dock and aboard the ship is palpable as trainees have now joined the ship, leaving behind their old lives to embark on a new adventure.
This morning was the official start of the voyage, with all hands mustering amidships at 0800. A muster is a mandatory meeting of the crew, all hands refers to the entire ship’s crew. Every morning in port will begin with an all hands muster at 0800. The first task was to break into groups to learn to do domestics (household cleaning of living spaces) and deck wash. These chores are done at the start of every day, regardless of whether the ship is at sea or in port.
At 0900, all hands mustered on the quarterdeck to be welcomed aboard by Captain Moreland and to sign the ship’s Articles of Engagement. This is a legal document that outlines the contract that the ship has with each person aboard. People often refer to “signing on” when they join a ship, we carry on the tradition of actually signing the ship’s Articles when crew members begin their voyage. The entire ship’s complement was called one at a time to sign on and receive a Voyage of the Atlantic crew hat and a ship’s pin from Captain Moreland.
After a brief overview of what this first week will entail, each member of the professional crew took a small group of trainees on a full orientation tour of the ship. In addition to seeing all spaces and parts of the ship, trainees were shown fire fighting equipment and life saving equipment and were introduced to the ship’s standard procedures.
The Voyage of the Atlantic is off to a great start!