17 October 2013 All day the winds have blown a steady Force 4 to 5 just aft of the port beam of the Barque Picton Castle as we sail east. Our ship has been making a steady six to seven knots under topgallants and all plain sail on a cobalt blue-sky day. The gang has […]
16 October 2013 Coming on deck of our barque this morning for the morning watch of 4 to 8 we find the Picton Castle sailing along with fair winds just aft of the port beam. The ship is sailing east in the Tasman Sea along the 34th parallel south of the equator at about 163
By Cheri Davidson 14 October 2013 We’ve heard stories of Picton Castle being a tough sea-going sailing ship, but now we know first-hand and have our own stories to tell. After sailing from Sydney Harbour in the company of 15 other ships, six of us are continuing on to New Zealand as part of the
By Cheri Davidson Picton Castle is now on her way through the Tasman Sea, bound from Sydney, Australia to more Tall Ship festivities in New Zealand. We spent a whole week in Sydney, and it was such a hub of activity with both ship related work, as well as having fun on our time off.
Those of you who have been following the Tall Ships Regatta race across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand may have noticed that our race status is “retired”. We assure you that all is well aboard. Last night the wind was calm and the sea state was lumpy and we had almost no
We sailed from Newcastle, just 60 miles up the coast, for Sydney to join in with a large Naval Review celebrating the founding of Australia’s Navy 100 years ago. Picton Castle and 15 other sailing ships boarded excellent pilots and steamed in the long winding channel under power in freezing cold rain to dock at
September 30, 2013 After pushing pretty hard against stiff headwinds most of the day we picked up our pilot 2 miles off the breakwater to the entrance of Newcastle Harbour. I wanted to get in to spare the gang a night of being hove-to in 25 knot winds and 5 metre seas. At dusk our
By Cheri Davidson 29-04 S, 166-53 E – Steering SWxW What could be better for a bunch of sailors in a deep water square-rigger on a long sea passage than a beautiful Sunday at sea? As in ships of old, Picton Castle crew work hard all week, but on a lovely, sunny Sunday like today,
By Cheri Davidson 25-56 S, 174-03 E At Sea 19 September 2013 It’s just after 12 midnight on the Picton Castle and the Starboard Watch has gone to sleep. Port Watch now has the decks and are waking up with cups of tea and coffee. Night watch can get pretty chilly. When we are woken
21-05 south latitude / 176-15 west longitude Steering SW under all sail The Picton Castle and crew are, at this writing, a day at sea after sailing from Neiafu, Vava’u, Kindom of Tonga yesterday. We are making good time with fresh SE trade winds pulling us along at 7 knots at times. Seas are moderate
