After Picton Castle’s departure from Gloucester was delayed by weather on Tuesday, we got underway early on Wednesday morning to sail into Boston on time for our docking schedule. We had a few new faces on board for this passage as we had a crew exchange with the Dutch Navy ketch Urania. We welcomed Marc, …
Once we told Ally O’Connor we were coming to Gloucester on our way to Boston, she wrangled more vessels to join us in Gloucester, including the Dutch Navy sail training vessel Urania , the Dutch barque Europa and Tecla , a vessel our crew first saw at the Tall Ship Races in Europe last summer. … For many of our new crew, this was the first time they were involved in public deck tours and it was a good warm-up for the big city tall ship events to come in Boston and Halifax.
Our passage from Lunenburg to Gloucester has been foggy, thick, thick fog all the time. But the winds were fair and we sailed along our way. Finally, yesterday, it began to clear as the ship sailed into Ipswich Bay on the coast of Cape Ann. We arrived in time that we could have gone into …
Sailin’ in a tick dungeon o’fog…cut it with a knife you could…Just now the Barque Picton Castle is off Brazil Rocks near the southern tip of Nova Scotia steering to pass just north of Georges Banks. Back in the day of fishing schooners and fog much of the navigation was enriched guess work. That so …
A new Picton Castle voyage is about to begin. New trainees arrived in Lunenburg over the last few days to throw their bags over the rail and join us on this summer seafaring adventure. Immediately they began their orientations to the ship, her routines, rigging and safety orientations and drills, lots to learn. As I …
Picton Castle crew could make tourism commercials for Dominica. Every crew member I have spoken with thinks this is one of the most beautiful and unique islands in the world. I continually hear comments about how friendly the people are, how many different activities and sights there are to do and see, and about the …
As I write this log, we are about 50nm west of Guadeloupe, motoring towards Dominica. Most of the day was spent under sail, with the helmsman steering full and by, meaning to sail as close to the wind as possible while still keeping the sails full. To do this, the helmsman keeps an eye on …
All hands mustered this morning, after some of the off-duty watch returned to the ship, to prepare to get underway and sail away from Anguilla. The crew seem to have enjoyed their stay in Anguilla, relaxing on beautiful beaches and taking in the annual Moonsplash reggae music festival. Lots of work was done on board …
I arrived in Anguilla just in time to see Picton Castle sail into the anchorage at Road Bay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the ship sail up to an anchorage from the shore perspective before, so it was interesting to see it from another angle. Once the ship was anchored, the skiff came in …
This may be the first Captain’s Log written on board an airplane. While we’re breaking with tradition, I should explain that I’m not the Captain, either. I do, however, plan to write some Captain’s Logs over the next two weeks as I sail aboard Picton Castle in the Caribbean. My usual work location these days …
