By Allison Steele
Tuesday May 23, 2017
After a 10 day passage the crew were excited to stop at our first port of call this summer and join an international fleet of tall ships in Charleston South Carolina, USA. The Picton Castle saw over 3,000 visitors during the three-day event and reveled in the attention. It was a very hot and humid weekend but the crew happily answered countless questions from “where do you eat?” (usually on the Aloha Deck unless its poor weather) to “where do you sleep?” (we have four cabins and four larger bunk-style sleeping areas) to “what is your cat’s name?” (Fiji). During festivals there is still plenty of work to be done but crew are given rotating days off so that we can have time to run errands, connect with family and friends as well as check out the local sites and experience the true Southern hospitality Charleston is famous for!
Several of the crew strolled along the market walk downtown and enjoyed a bit of shopping, architecture, and patios while others stayed close to the ships and met crew from other ships, trading “fish stories” and the like. As the tall ship community is somewhat small, if you have sailed on the Picton Castle before there is a good chance you will know someone in port and if not then you will surely make new friends to visit throughout the summer!
We took on six new crew members at this port and they have hit the ground running. Some are already mariners and others are brand new. Even with experience aboard other ships, each vessel is unique but the basics are the same. Before leaving port the new crew received a general orientation, safety drills, up and over training (for those interested in going aloft) and hearty welcome.
And now we race to Bermuda! Festivals often feature a race between ports and although we may not be the fastest ship, we live up to our slogan “We may be slow but we get around.”