Plenty of bright stars and a crescent moon above us at dawn this morning, before a gorgeous sunrise dead astern. We were heading south out of the tropics and now have turned west for Pitcairn Island. Captain Moreland has informed us that the calm seas and light winds we’ve been luckily enjoying this passage will change. Nothing the ship or crew can’t handle, it’s always good to be prepared by practicing faster line handling and repeating orders.
Ship’s work: This morning’s watch unbent the stuns’ls from their bamboo spars, stowing them in our hold while other crew members unlashed the stuns’l booms from the yards and sent them down to deck. The stuns’ls were fun while they lasted, everyone enjoyed the new challenge. They will go back up later.
Preparations for our arrival to Pitcairn have begun. The rigging team, Vaiufia of Tonga and Anne-Laure of France, are rigging up the two tackles, the stay tackle and the yard tackle that we will use to unload the cargo from our hold into the 40′ aluminum boats at Pitcairn. Scraping of the oars continued this morning, light rain sent any work on deck to seek shelter.
Squally weather lies ahead, rain makes for a busy watch, taking in and setting sails, slacking lines. Picton Castle is rigged with manila lines, and when manila becomes wet it tightens immensely; therefore the lines must have slack put into them. When the rain decides to quit and the lines dry, they become loose again and the extra slack must be taken out.
Logistics for Pitcairn are on everyone’s minds. Our cook Donald of Grenada will be sending each crew member ashore with provisions. Seeing as we will double the size of the island’s population, we do not want to deplete all of their resources. It’s all very exciting! The feeling is as though we are going to grandmother’s house for the weekend – anticipation is building.
From: Galapagos
Towards: Pitcairn
Date: July 16, 2018
Noon Position: 23°53.9′ S x 125°23.5′ W
Course + Speed: WSW + 4.1 knots
Wind direction + Force: NWxN + 3
Swell Height + Direction: 3m + NNE
Weather: Overcast, squally
Day’s Run: 92.8 nm
Passage Log: 2481 nm
Distance to Port: 266 nm
Voyage: 5967.8 nm
Sails Set: Square sails, main t’gallant staysail