Picton Castle’s stay in Panama was an absolute whirlwind. You’ll have to forgive the lack of Captain’s Logs for the duration of our visit, we’ve been so busy with sourcing, shopping, buying, delivering, organizing, stowing and sailmaking that there has been little time left for writing about it all. On Wednesday afternoon we finally sailed …
The pilot decided that our captain would keep the con, which is pretty unusual, and steering was entrusted to in-port helmsman, Nadja, who steered us through all of the locks at the captain’s direction, and we had some of our other more experienced helmsmen, including Logan, Meredith, Siri, Sophie, Julie and Brad, steering through Lake …
The Picton Castle crew had an early start on the morning of Wednesday June 9, with all hands waking up at 0345 in order to be ready for the scheduled arrival of our pilot at 0430 (they often arrive early). We had shifted within Anchorage Area F on Tuesday afternoon in preparation, getting to the …
Wednesday June 9, 2010 All hands worked yesterday to prepare the ship for transit through the Panama Canal. We were at anchor in Anchorage Area B, at the northwest corner of the harbour. We came through the giant breakwater on Monday afternoon to anchor, surrounded by lots of ships, some many times our size. In …
We now have our transit in the Panama Canal confirmed for Thursday June 10 (that’s tomorrow). You can watch Picton Castle on the webcams on the Panama Canal website. While schedules are always subject to change, our scheduled arrival at the Gatun Locks is set for 0602 local time and our scheduled departure from the …
Friday June 4, 2010 A power shower, followed by part two of the splicing workshop, was the highlight of the afternoon for most of the crew. It’s really hot, hotter than usual at 33 degrees Celsius all day in the shade, and we’re all a bit on the sweaty side, so a power shower late …
Thursday June 3, 2010 Today is our first full day back at sea after leaving Bonaire yesterday, and our first full day under sail since before Anguilla. True to the forecasts, the wind continues to blow consistently from the east between Force 5 and 6, and we’re sailing along between 5.5 and 8.5 knots. We’re …
Wednesday June 2, 2010 As forecast, we had fresh easterly winds this morning, classic trade-winds, perfect for sailing the Picton Castle off the dock. As the Captain and I made our rounds of Customs and Immigration to get our outward clearance, the rest of the crew prepared to get underway. Sails up to t’gallants were …
Tuesday June 1, 2010 Picton Castle sailed in to Bonaire on Sunday, a last-minute surprise decision to pull into port and wait for better winds on our passage from Anguilla to Panama. Trade winds are usually consistent from the east in the Caribbean Sea, but we had been having very light winds and EVEN headwinds, …
Sunday May 30, 2010 We’ve been motoring since we left Anguilla, making our way south through the Caribbean Sea before turning west toward Panama. The Captain says that this is ridiculous. Normally this would be a passage done almost entirely under sail – the trade winds in the Caribbean Sea are usually so consistent at …
