Saturday July 6, 2024 – Penno’s Wharf, St George’s, Bermuda
The day came in nice with light easterly winds as I went off down the waterfront to clear the ship out at Customs & Immigration at their Ordinance Island office, a ten-minute walk from Penno’s Wharf. The folks there could not be nicer. All done and dusted soon. The USCG Cutter Barque Eagle was anchored nearby, and we were hoping to rendezvous with that great ship if we could.
Last minute emails and weather downloads. The crew got the chafe gear off the hawsers, singled up the moorings, hoisted the dory and warmed up the trusty Alpha main engine. At 1004, after looking after the Eagle, Pilot Rico boarded and we got going. Backing down on a stern spring and with the skiff pushing the bow to port. Needed to clear some buoys close on port. Last line off in a couple minutes and we were headed for St George’s Cut and to sea once again. Friends and relatives of crew waved us off at the Cut. Just as we got through the Cut a modest rain squall bore down on us from the east. Our excellent Pilot got off near the sea buoy onto the big and well-handled pilot boat and we shaped Picton Castle to head NNE as the skies cleared up into a pleasant day once again. No wind to fill the sails so we kept pushing for a while. We watched our squall with its piled up clouds amble off to the west.
In due course a light southeasterly breeze made up and soon the gang was loosing and setting all sail. Time to scrub off the dust of town and dry all the hawsers up on the galley before stowing them in the chain locker. In the late afternoon we held a passage discussion about the 700 miles ahead of us on this, our last passage of this 30,000 miles voyage. The Picton Castle and her veteran square-rigger crew sailed through the night sweetly.
At Noon 32-29.3N / 064-32W. 8.7 miles from Bermuda. 707 miles to Lunenburg. Fair winds, fair skies, small seas, not so bad.
Dawn: Sunday July 7, 2024
Day comes in with a fresh southerly breeze fine on the port quarter, Force 3-4. Yards just off square. Fair skies, looks like rain astern making up. Sunrise soon come on starboard bow. The seas, of about 4-6 feet, have a different feeling to them from tradewind seas. A range of different cross-seas gives the ship something of a random motion. We are enjoying the excellent fresh provisions from farmer Tom Wadson. Not only very fresh and locally grown in Bermuda but never having been refrigerated they will last longer. When we get things like apples and potatoes and vegetables that have been refrigerated a long time in transport and storage, they come aboard nice enough but spoil all too quickly. This being another reason for us to buy local as much as we can, especially before long passages. On this passage of about one week this factor is less important, but makes a difference anyway.
Late morning. Beautiful sailing with wind astern. Sea at 76F. Homeward Bound pennant to be made. Last Sunday at sea – we hope!
Noon: 34-09N / 063-41W 120 miles away from Bermuda; 610 miles to Lunenburg. Fair weather and fair winds and still flying fish about, skittering across the seas.
Carried out heavy weather drills and practices this afternoon. Nets up over the rail amidships and around aft, all watertight closures like all portholes, skylights, hatches and doors as well as the big hatch down to the salon exercised.
Line and Spring put together an extra special Sunday afternoon “marlinespike” with signal flags about the main deck and various games like charades and such. Nicely dressed as well. Dawson’s team won. The team name was “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner.” Sure, why not? The other teams’ names were, and I quote: “Option 3” (huh?) and “The Losers.” They lost so, not a problem really.
Dawn: Monday July 8, 2024
In these latitudes this time of year the sun rises not in the east but the north-east. Seas are small, southerly winds astern at Force 3, and we making 4 knots comfortably.
Dan working on the quarterdeck with a new plank. All other jobs stopped in order to rig up for and set stuns’ls.
Bosun Line gearing up to set studding sails. Why not?
Noon: 35-48N and 063-32W – winds south at Force 4 – fair weather and skies, seas small. Distance to Lunenburg 510 miles. From Bermuda 215 miles. Water temperature is 77F, up a degree. Stuns’l booms up and in their irons. Stuns’ls bent to their yards, running rigging getting rove off. Puppy wants to be with the gang wherever they are. Nutmeg gets all whimpery when alone and watching from the bridge deck.
Then we rolled into exposure suit drill and practice. Stuns’ls and drilling in cold water exposure suits at the same time, or same day? A first.
Thinking about the work we need to do once back in Lunenburg.
Mush down rigging to do after such a voyage, and sorting too.
- Send down all sail once dry
- Lines? Blocks?
- Clean all bunks
- BIG laundry
- Big ship clean
- Gut under the salon sole – stow at warehouse
- Gut the hold – same
- Boats ashore
- Port midships bitt, re-install w/3/4” carriage bolts – look for alternative bitt in warehouse
- Finish quarterdeck planks
- Finish t’gallant yard
- Re-side chart house
- Scrub and paint galley
- Prep and paint ship’s carpentry shop
- Tar rig
- Grease masts
- Set up for Bosun School
- Get boats out of warehouse
- Clear out building bay
- Clear out carpentry shop
Tuesday July 9, 2024 – early morning
As the sky glows lighter in the east the stuns’ls get reset by the watch after taking them in last night. Re-lead the topmast stuns’l tack as it was fouled about the port fore lift and lower topsail tack. Our studding sails are patched. Few ships carry studding sails these days. Which of them that do have actual well-worn and patched studding sails? Wash-down hose going, deck fresh water pump clanking away, lines getting a tug after the night. Donald in his galley is conjuring up a crew favorite, hot cinnamon buns. Winds southerly in small seas. The stuns’ls give us maybe an extra half knot. Not bad in these conditions. A few white caps making up here at 0630. Bosun Line sits on a bench with me to discuss her day’s plan, but we also talk about the work we need to do once in Lunenburg. Then she takes the wheel to keep her steering up. Dawson packs up his mattress from the quarterdeck and heads down to his bunk. He likes sleeping on deck. He also likes to be where people are. And that’s where people are at night.
Here at 0730 we have a couple crossing vessels. The tanker Celest Nova is 1,093 feet long by 197-foot beam and is headed northeasterly towards Rotterdam. That is a very large ship. Picton Castle would fit on deck athwartships with room to spare at either end! The chemical tanker Swan Baltic at a diminutive 381 feet long (81 feet longer than a football field) is headed southwesterly towards Savannah, Georgia. These pop up on AIS on the chartplotter screen but we cannot see them just over the horizon. Later passing ahead was the container ship One Triton, Cayman flagged, bound for Mexico 997 feet by 131-foot beam.
Ship’s work: inside passageway is getting varnished by Nate and Sophia. Zoe is painting the t’gallant rail cap. Sara is roping her jib, and another jib is getting grommets. Donald is considering what to make for lunch. At 1000 it is a beautiful sailing day. Getting the high seas weather forecast over the single-side-band radio – good for the north Atlantic area.
Noon: 37-28N / 063-18W. Steering north. Conditions are fine. Winds from the south have picked so we are making 5-6 knots but still gentle. Looks like we are in the Gulf Stream now. Sea temperature is up to 79.7F, that’s warm. And we are being set to east pretty swiftly too. I expect the stuns’ls will be coming in this PM, and we will run in the booms. Today we will also exercise and put on the exposure suits in preparation for crossing out of the Gulf Stream, and out of 80 degree F water into much colder waters.
1415: winds picking up and veering a bit to more of a SW slant. Braced ahead on port tack. T’gallant stuns’l yard snapped in two. Old bamboo from Pitcairn, kind of dried out. Better when close to green. A good drill to get in. The other stuns’ls coming in soon. Making 6 knots in perfect blue water sailing ship conditions.
Wednesday July 10, 2024 in the Gulf Stream
The day came in squally and much current activity.
And in a counter-current eddy. Making 5 knots through the water but only 3 over the bottom. We can see unlikely whitecaps for the conditions and they even swirl around some – then patches of no white caps at all and seas smooth. Can even hear the hiss of the current against the seas and winds. Nice otherwise. It’s not rough at all, a bit lumpy. Might need to push some to get out of this.
Yes we did. Fired up the main engine to make some tracks – must get to Da Burg on time. Squalls throughout the morning but not bad. Water temperature goes up and down, now its 66 then its 76, from a high of 80.3.
Noon: 322 nautical miles to Lunenburg, 708 nautical miles from Bermuda.
Afternoon sunny and nice. Much cleaning and such going on. Some spoiled flour is headed over the side. Once again Line proving what an excellent Bosun she is.
1930 – at Jan Miles’ waypoint for crossing the Gulf Stream.
Thursday July 11, 2024 – well north of the Gulf Stream – in North Atlantic Nova Scotian waters proper
Not in the tropics anymore. Dots fur shur…. But seems like we kept the tropics with us until yesterday. Water temperature has dropped 17 degrees since a day or so ago, but still not too bad. Some folks still in shorts and t-shirts. However, the sun has become low and its light seems thin even as Sol above the horizon longer during the day – 0500 the sun is making light and it keeps with us to 2100. Air is damp, even in the sunlight, in ways unfamiliar to us flying fish sailors. Seas are a greener sort of dark blue, not the bright royal blue of further south to which was are SO accustomed. We are almost halfway to the North Pole from the equator. Imagine that?
Noon: 41-51N / 063-48W
2038: shut down the Alpha main engine at 2000. Now still making six and a half knots towards Rose Bay 82 miles to our north. Cooled right off it has in the last couple hours. Weak murky sunset off to the NW. Lookouts on the lookout for hi-flyer fishing gear. These are buoys with flags on poles sometimes. A pretty damn fine passage from Bermuda thus far. Took in royals and fore topgallant to slow down from 8 knots to 6.5.
Friday July 12, 2024
Some 36 miles south of Cross Island at the opening to Lunenburg Harbour on this dark early morning mid 12-4 watch. Cold and fog has rolled in – welcome to Nova Scotia. Some fishing boat traffic about, and the Capt Jacques Cartier nearby at 0400. Fog signals activated and watertight doors and hatches closed. I am up in the chart house and quarterdeck and will remain up. Lumpy seas, winds moderated but still fair and making 5 knots for Rose Bay, right next to Lunenburg. At 0500 visibility comes and goes from one to three miles. Tripled up the lookouts and slowed down to 3.5 knots
Water Temp – 54.5F – brrrrrrr….. down 30 degrees from its peak.
Winds on the port quarter picked up and soon making 6.5 knots – thick-a-fog but between the GPS chartplotter showing our track and position and the radar and a certain comfort from knowing my way in we carried on and sailed on. About 1100 we came abeam off Rose Point, rounded up and with the main engine chugging away made our way in to Rose Bay where we were to pick up customs and immigration in the morning. It would be nice to get some sleep and clean up the ship and bunks in advance of their arrival. I suppose we could have stayed at sea and hove-to or something, but we have never done that before. Better to get settled in some quiet cove away from everything for a night. Get showered and shave and some sleep as well for the big day tomorrow.
As we rounded the point we broke through the fog, felt a blast of warm air off the land, the sun burst out and the breeze was redolent of pine and spruce – and it was beautiful. Took in all sail and let go the starboard anchor at 1120 at Rose Bay. Then Line decided we needed a swim call. My goodness. And so it was. We can see the fog bank just hanging out just offshore. Tomorrow we sail for Lunenburg.
Rose Bay, NS
