By Kate “Bob” Addison Monday July 15th, 2013 At 1000 hours this Monday morning Picton Castle is at position 17°25’S 158°52’W in the Cook Islands, making northing under square sails to t’gallants, staysails and spanker. The wind is a fresh force five, and the day is a bright active one, with cumulus clouds rushing across […]
By Kate “Bob” Addison July 12th, 2013 Barque Picton Castle is just twenty miles off Atiu, a raised atoll in the southern Cook islands, the first island call of this cargo and passenger run to the outer Cook Islands. We departed from Avatiu harbour, Rarotonga yesterday morning to start this second inter-island voyage; this time
By Kate “Bob” Addison 1st July 2013 It’s Monday the 1st July, so Picton Castle would like to wish a very happy Canada Day to all our friends back home in Lunenburg and across Canada! We plan to celebrate this evening with a nice BBQ mahi mahi, ice cream for all hands and maybe even
By Kate “Bob” Addison Pukapuka is marked on our chart as ‘Danger Island’. The ominous name was given by a British ship in the 18th century due to the large, encompassing reef that extends far past the visible motus and frequent high surf and current. Picton Castle approached at midday, which is the only way
By Supercargo Katie Bruce 22 June 2013 As we approached Nassau under full sail, there was much to be anticipated of this small coral cay surrounded entirely by a narrow reef. Nassau, sometimes described as a suburb of Pukapuka, has a somewhat transient population of approximately 100 people, many who come from Pukapuka to tend
By Kate “Bob” Addison 15 June 2013 Most people in the world never get to visit Palmerston Island, but thanks to the Picton Castle I find myself here for the second time in just a few months. And this time we had the privilege to carry ten Palmerstonians home with us from Rarotonga as well
By Captain Michael Moreland June 12, 2013 Picton Castle slipped her lines today from the wharf in Avatiu, nearly full of cargo in our 100 ton cargo hold and inter-island passengers bound for Palmerston, Nassau, and Pukapuka. It was a day with a hectic pace and plenty of hard work, with the mates Paul and
By Kate “Bob” Addison Wednesday June 5, 2013 It’s Wednesday night here in Rarotonga and there are just a few stars peeking out from the black black sky. The day was a big muggy, but now it’s cooler and quite lovely, though still warm enough to be in shorts and t-shirt on deck. I’m perched
Editor’s note: Apologies for not keeping you fully up to date in the Captain’s Log. We’ve wrapped up the South Pacific Voyage and are just beginning the Aloha Polynesia Voyage which will see Picton Castle sailing entirely within the Cook Islands, offering our award-winning sail training program while we deliver cargo and passengers between the
By Kate “Bob” Addison Thursday May 9, 2013 20-25’S 159-08’W Picton Castle is sailing along, steering full-and-by the wind, which is an east by south Force 4. We’re 60 miles NE of Rarotonga, our home port and also the final port of this seven month South Pacific Voyage. The plan is to arrive soon after
