In a Gale
Captain Daniel D. Moreland
So, we are in a gale. First gale for this Picton Castle crew. We are by and large running with it which serves our course just fine anyway – but it is a gale. Not a very big gale, just over the edge of 35 knots to qualify as a gale, but impressive nonetheless. Nice little gale, crew all excited. Safety grab lines are rigged up, hatch with extra battenings, all things securely lashed. We are under lower topsails, fore-topmast-staysail and main-topmast-staysail. The ship is rolling along fine making 7.5 knots in the right direction – How does she ride? Why, she shames the gulls. It is also very warm now, almost 76F / 25C. Good sized seas, some over 16’ boil along beside us spreading bright white foam across the grey seas. If we were a big 3,000 ton 4-masted barque with a gut full of grain bound for the Horn in the Roaring 40’s (sailing below 40 south latitude) this would just be another fine passage making day, in our case it is as well. A front should pass tonight and then we should get NW winds and clearing – this will continue to send the Picton Castle and her crew along their way to the Caribbean Sea. Supper in the salon – mashed potatoes, corn, ribs and salad, not so bad for a day like today, not so bad on any day…didn’t get that in any old deep laden barque in roaring 40’s…
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