The Picton Castle is at anchor at Bounty Bay, Pitcairn Island, South Pacific Ocean.
We let go the starboard anchor of the Picton Castle at about nine o’clock last night. This put an end to a 3,000 miles passage from the Galapagos Islands. We were 27 days sailing here. A good, if at times strenuous, passage.
It happened that it looked like we were going to make a night landfall. This is unusual. I make some effort to get to places in daytime. Under other circumstances I may, in fact most assuredly, would have waited until daylight to approach this island to anchor. If we were in, say a mere force 3, 4 or even 5, waiting for dawn would be just the thing. But we were looking at heaving-to in some seriously big seas, with a sharp frontal passage barrelling through that night and the island would provide a nice lee if I could sort out anchoring there somewhere. So in we went.
Some friends on the island lit up the island as much as they could, gave some advice, mostly telling me not to ram the jetty, so cheeky, and we nosed our way in slowly towards Bounty Bay until we found the right depths and then let go. Turns out that we found an odd pinnacle to drop the lead line on and were still too far out, so I had to re-anchor. That was a chore. By 2200 we were re-anchored, secured and tired. The gang stowed all the sail up on the yards and jibboom and by the time they came down from the rig all the lights were out on Pitcairn Island as the community generator shuts down at 2200.
Then there was nothing easier than imagining that this dark jagged island looming overhead, blocking stars to the south, and so close to us, would have looked no different in 1790 when the Bounty showed up with her motley crew nine months after after giving Bligh the heave-ho off Tonga – to eventually ram the Bounty ashore nearby, settle and live out their lives far from much of anything else. That, of course, is another story. With the island lights off as well as ours, the night sky was just spattered with stars. We did set a modest anchor light. But I was not overly worried about passing ship traffic getting too close.
Anchor watches last night were simply the sea watches, carried on. The entire watch remained on deck with their watch leaders. Sure, they could nap on the hatch but – all were on standby – just in case. When dawn started to radiate on the island the 4-8 watch turned to and started to get the ship ready to discharge the supplies in the cargo hold we had brought from Nova Scotia to the island: lawn mowers, ride ’em lawn mowers, a wood chipper, some boxes of plates that had been missed the last time. All sorts of odds and ends to be sent ashore. We gave the island a big 400 litre freezer we had gotten in New Zealand some years ago too, which we could no longer use.
Must rig up tires to fend off the hefty 40′ aluminium launches as they would lurch alongside in the considerable swell and surge, and strong hawsers as tie ups for this tough and heavy workboat. Rig up tackles aloft on the main yard and mainstay to hoist gear up and over into the boat. By 0830 we were ready and we could see the big beefy launch plowing out of the little harbour and headed our way. Soon enough Moss was alongside with Shawn and Randy at the controls. And big greetings all around. Tammy, Dirk, Donald and Dawson have been to the island several times and for Dustin this is his second. I like to say that the only thing better than visting Pitcairn once is coming back for a second time – and so it is.
With the island long-boat careening alongside the ship in the bright blue swell, soon shouts, big hugs and hand shakes with Steve, Brenda, Dennis, Randy, Shawn, Mike, Torika, Charlene, Daralyn and Simon, the Mayor, and a few others I did not know. Brenda hopped aboard and got the ship cleared in with Tammy. Torika handed me a bag of fresh baked rolls or bread sticks – they all know I love those things! Soon the boat was loaded up with all the goods we had brought some six thousand miles – and Moss roared off the scant 1,200 feet into the landing, unloaded same unto the jetty, and pounded back out to pick up the first batch of crew headed ashore.
We split up into two watches. One day onboard, one day on the island. There are more Picton Castle crew than there are residents on the island! It would be cruel indeed for us all to head ashore at once. What could they do with us all? In any case, the ship needs her crew too, to stay safe. So we go half and half. It looks like we have four good days of weather just now. The thing of it is, had we made it to Pitcairn anytime in the last month or so, we would not have been able to stay hardly at all, the weather has been so poor lately. I count us lucky that it looks like we are getting four days here. We hope so anyway. Sometimes ships and yacht get here and cannot get ashore at all and must sail on.
With a gutteral chortling roar Moss shoved off and pulled away from the modestly pitching and rolling ship about 1000 with a boat full of smiles and disappeared behind the jetty. Donald, Dirk, Tammy, Dawson (headed into a birthday celebration just for him), Dustin, Leo (who is offering his dentistry to the island), Pol, Sara, Lisa, Toad, Dan, George, Oliver, Liam, Andreas, Lyra, Zoe, Rachel, Julian, Julien, Eden and Nick were all aboard. To mount bikes and clamber up the “Hill Of Difficulty” into the settlement and for their day ashore to begin.
Quiet onboard once again, just the booming of the surf crashing on the Bounty‘s old bones, the duty watch laid into putting the ship back to rights after the night arrival and the off-loading of supplies. Hatch battened down again, boat hawsers adjusted, anchor light re-rigged and so on. Bosun Line from Denmark is quite pleased to have some room again in the cargo hold now. She did a marvelous job of re-organizing it today. At some point we should probably talk about Picton Castle‘s cargo hold and the cargo and supplies she has carried all over. In this day of admiration for cargo-under-sail this ship can load 100 tons of bulk to take under sail. And has done so many times all across the South Pacific.
Later in this bright day we found the 1,000 pound starboard anchor was dragging slowly through the sand, even with three shots of heavy chain out. A west wind was whipping around the corner of Youngs Rocks, past Down Isaac and buffeting the ship pretty hard at times. So other than heaving up and getting under way and heading back to sea in 20′ swell and a howling west wind, we steamed ahead and set the port anchor as well. No dragging now. The winds are forecast to go more southerly allowing the island to give us more of a lee. All for that.
Despite the challenge of sailing here, and being anchored off Pitcairn Island in a strong breeze of wind and lumpy seas, it is simply just magical. Tropics birds in pairs flew by the ship and over to the peaks of the island. They just dance in the sky.
