Picton Castle is cruising along with all sails set, we would be a glorious sight for an onlooker in a passing ship. All four headsails stretched up along their stays, all five sails on the fore and main full with the wind. Alas there are no onlookers in sight, all blue ocean for the eye to see. We sit roughly 60 miles north west of Jamaica, close enough to tune into the morning Jamaican radio, not close enough to get a cell signal. Who wants to stare into a cellphone screen anyway when there are much more exciting activities and opportunities to learn right at your finger tips?
Ship’s work: Overhauling the port breezeway head continues; all fixtures, sink, toilet, shower and shelf have been removed to allow the bulkheads (the term for walls on a ship) to be scraped of the multiple layers of paint. The teak door is being removed to be sanded and applied with a fresh coats of varnish. The wooden door frame is also removed to be replaced and to allow for work to be done on the steel underneath. Doors are not often closed in this ship, although the ship does in fact have doors for all heads and all sleeping quarters, it’s a rare sight to see them actually shut. Being that the ship mostly sails in tropical weather, closing doors to these spaces would be intensely hot. Instead layered curtains are used to obtain privacy. This allows for air to travel freely throughout the ship while still maintaining privacy. We as crew members follow the strict code of conduct of the “Iron Curtain”, when a curtain is drawn closed it is not to be opened. A good shipmate respects the privacy and personal space of their shipmates. Not always easily obtained for new trainees coming on board a 179′ vessel with 46 other bodies, but quickly learned.
From: New Orleans
Towards: Panama
Date: May 15 2018
Noon Position: 18 52,0’N – 079 15,5’W
Course + Speed: S 1/2 W + 3.0 kts
Wind direction + Force: SE x E + 3
Swell Height + Direction: 1m + SExE
Weather: Bright + Sunny
Day’s Run: 159.4 nm
Passage Log: 73.1 nm
Distance to Port: 567 nm
Voyage: 1308.4 nm
Sail Set: All sails set