We sailed out of Luganville Harbour in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu on October 28th bound for Bali, Indonesia. Sailing between Cape York, Australia and Papua New Guinea through the Torres Strait it should take us approximately 3-4 weeks to find our way to that storied isle. Everybody was excited to be on our way, but it …
The Picton Castle crew love to celebrate the holidays – and they do it well. Preparations for the Halloween marlinspike began on October 30th. Georgie, our party planner extraordinaire, came up with the brilliant idea of having a Halloween Twister game. Using an old sheet from the linen chest she and Alex began their furious …
We sailed through the night back to the island of Espiritu Santo. The winds were a bit shifty, the threat of rain hung thick in the air and the currents strong. The Captain decided it would be best to anchor on the other side of the bay – in the lee of Aore Island across …
Asanvari Bay truly is an idyllic tropical paradise. It is an absolutely stunning spot. It was late afternoon by the time we motored around the corner, past a small island bluff and into the bay. The sun hovered calmly over the densely vegetated mountains which sloped steeply down to the sandy cresent moon shoreline. A …
If you have never had kava before, it is a flavour experience that is hard to describe. It is earthy. It tastes of root with a hint of spice and pepper. It will numb your mouth and lips instantly. You don’t want to sip the stuff. It is not like a fine Muscadadu from Sardinia. …
The skiff dropped us off on a sandy beach after expertly manoeuvring through the coral heads near the beach in Banam Bay. Stretching, we looked around. The trunks of palm trees and the branches of mahogany trees bent and sheltered the shore – offering us a canopy as the rain began to pelt down -warm …
The town of Luganville in Espiritu Santo was our first stop in Vanuatu and it would also be out last after we made our round to some of the outer islands. Vanuatu is an archipelago comprised of 83 islands, but you can only clear in and clear out of the country at a few of …
Despite the ticking of the clocks one now finds across the world, despite the ringing of bells or alarms reminding us of places we need to be and things we need to be doing when we get to these places, time never feels the same. Some days seem to ooze or drip by and others …
The Picton Castle boasts nationalities from around the world. We have Canadians and Americans, Norwegians and Germans, Dutch and Grenadians, Swiss and Bermudians, Pitcairners and Palmerstonians, Irish and British. We also have South Africans. Since we enjoy celebrating all of our national holidays aboard we were excited to see what our South African representatives had …
A few days before we sailed into Suva harbour the Captain held a muster on the quarter deck to talk about Fiji. Some of the crew, including Mate Mike, Rebecca, Ollie and Logan, had been to Fiji before and they regaled the crew with stories of past adventures, recommendations for sightseeing, and general tidbits and …
