We sailed from St Pierre, Martinique on a bright morning and made our way north and to windward of the next island, Dominica, as to go to leeward would mean pretty much losing the wind and the ability to sail. Over night we had plenty of squalls, some even pulling the wind into a westerly […]
The Picton Castle gang up on the focsle head hove up the anchor at St Pierre and we rounded the northern tip of lava and ash (and jungle) covered Martinique, bound towards Antigua in lovely warm easterly trade winds. Our plan is to sail north along the windward sides of Dominica and Guadeloupe. To attempt
Dominica, where to begin? We had a decent sail down from Anguilla – we sailed off the hook in Road Bay, rounded the west end of Anguilla, sailed past St Martin with beautiful sunny skies. Past Saba, slipped under Statia, sailed in the lee of St Kitts and Nevis. We got buzzed by a multinational
We are under way the 200 miles from Anguilla for Dominica, just now off the island of Nevis. The Picton Castle is braced sharp up on the port tack with royals stowed in these fresh and warm winds. We had NNE head winds heading up, now we have ESE head winds headed down islands –
It is often said around the Picton Castle that we only have a 300-ton barque in order to carry wonderful small boats around. This is only half a joke. Being competent at small boat handling is an essential component of being a good seaman therefore we have been on the lookout for a good place
The Picton Castle sailed into Hillsborough Bay, Carriacou – a part of Grenada in the Windward Islands – after a superb trade-wind passage from Brazil. We made landfall in the Caribbean at dawn with Petty Martinique, Carriacou and Union islands in sight ahead. Winds were strong, a steady force six and seas piling up as
We must be near land… Early this morning the Picton Castle has a few small birds flying near by. These little birds swoop and dart over the steep rolling peaks and troughs of the large seas rolling along with our ship as we make good time NW towards the Caribbean . These little guys do
Our day comes in fair and clear with a nice Force 4 trade-wind on the starboard beam of the Picton Castle . White caps are all around and they allude to the 15 or so knots of wind that is flowing over us and sending us along our way. The sky is a fulsome blue
A Stunningly Beautiful Day off the Coast of Surinam Read More »
Our passage from the Cape Verde islands off West Africa to Fernando de Noronha , Brazil was just about as perfect a sailing ship passage as one could ask for. We started off with strong winds, which then moderated, later got calm and picked up again but under sail almost every inch. If Columbus had
On Monday January 26 we sailed from Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde Islands bound for Fernando de Noronha, Brazil. It had been blowing extremely strongly for many days but now it was laying down to under 30 knots. After clearing out with Immigration and the Marine Police the gang loosed sail, braced yards aback and
