In the Barque Picton Castle, on a long voyage, we engage a range of approaches to learning for the crew, absorbing and teaching about ships and the sea. At the beginning of a voyage, before sailing while alongside the wharf, it’s all hands at important basic group instruction and then practice: names of sails, bracing, emergency drills, small boats, plenty of general ship familiarization. Typically, this takes place over a matter of weeks, not just a few days, with a new crew on a new voyage. Then once at sea on watches instruction continues within the watch, followed by much practice until much becomes second nature. Some of the learning takes place quite organically, some with instruction. Books can help too, and we have a list of them, and many are aboard. But no book can make you into a seaman by itself any more than a book can make you into a doctor or airplane pilot, but books can make you a better skilled seafarer (and a better doctor or pilot too!), we are all for “book learnin’.” Photographs of real ships at sea and in ports can help in learning about rigging and sailmaking.
Approaching a port we always give a comprehensive introduction to the place and culture as best we can before heading ashore. Dos and don’ts culturally, a bit of history and context, and probably a few do-not-miss-this highlights on the island, village or port. Any safety issues we are aware of. Best not to overdo this as things change, and after all, this is a voyage of exploration for the gang. They can also discover for themselves. At sea we often hold what we call “workshops” in various and wide-ranging subjects, from the directly practical, to simply enriching or maybe just interesting. These are lectures and demonstrations on various subjects, usually taking place in the afternoon. Learning by experience, of course, is paramount yet any number of these angles can aid and help in expanding one’s skill set.
Here are some of the instructions, lectures and workshops we carry out as time, passage-making and conditions allow. Truth be told, we do not always get to all of these, certainly not in one leg of a voyage, but over time. Some are more critical than others. Some are just enrichment.
- Learn your lines, all 205 of them (there is a pattern, it’s not that hard…)
- The 23 sails, associated yards, booms, gaffs and masts
- Learn your way around the ship, on deck and below
- Belaying lines
- Man overboard, fire, abandon ship drills
- Working aloft safely, and proper use of harness
- Know your sails and how to set and take them in, then furl them
- Bending sail, square-sail, fore and aft, etc
- Steering and look-out forward
- Sending yards and topmasts up and down
- Knots, whippings and splices
- Making and overhauling wire rigging
- Compass and point system
- Small boat handling under sail, oars and power
- Launching and hoisting boats at sea and in port
- Celestial navigation with sextant, sun and stars: latitude by meridian passage of sun, Lines of Position, star sights. We have ten good sextants aboard
- Paint and coatings, prep and clean, varnishing and painting steel or wood
- Tackles and blocks
- On rope, lots on rope
- Stoppers
- Seizings in fiber and lashings
- Wire work: mousings, seizings in wire, wire splicing, care and feeding of same
- Painting wire seizings
- Studding sails
- Development of square-rig and ships
- Polynesian sky navigation and ocean piloting, “way-finding”. We teach in principle only. Cannot teach mastery.
- Anchors and anchoring, and kedge anchor too
- Rules Of The Road
- Outboards, care and feeding, troubleshooting and operations
- Squalls and managing the ship in and near them
- Oceans winds and weather
- Ocean currents
- The night stars
- Polishing brass, yep, it’s a skill
- Kerosene lamps, also a thing to be learned
- Modern and old time ship types
- Lead line
- Heaving line
- Bosun’s chair
- Baggywrinkle and setting it in place where it can do some good
- Tarring and goops; what and why and how…
- Knife sharpening
- History of “Sail Training”
- Ditty bags and canvas and leather
- Sail-making in canvas and synthetic
- Tropical revolving storms
- Heavy weather gear
- Heavy weather, prep, and protocols and how to manage
- Using the VHF radio
- Captain Moreland’s history of Picton Castle from concept to today: 1991-2024
- Introductions to ports and countries and societies we meet; context and essential history
- Piloting: charts, sextant angles, bearings, soundings etc
