40-01N / 034-37W 0448, dawn: Overnight the mates have been doing their jobs, calling me from time to time as wind and sea conditions pick up. Winds are now blowing from the south at about 25-30 knots, gusty. Seas are moderate but have been building, blue with plenty of churning white-caps. We are steering east …
Pretty much an ideal perfect day here in the Picton Castle. We are about 1100 miles from Lunenburg getting close to the Azores. Skies are blue, seas small and sun spangled. The barometer is high. The watch is reeveing off new t’gallant and upper-topsail braces from fresh manila rope and bending on the main royal …
The Picton Castle is having a typical North Atlantic passage. Maybe better than ‘typical’, so far. Right now we are at 42-18N / 045-00W sailing due east. That’s about 900 miles from Lunenburg and 1550 miles from Ireland. The trick is to not get too deep into the fairly stationary high pressure system that tends …
What follows below are the first Captain’s Logs that were written back when just getting the ship and working at seeing this dream come true. The story begins in Norway in May of 1993. We hope you enjoy the tale. The Story of the Picton Castle The Captain’s Running Letter Captain Daniel D. Moreland Chapter …
Our barque Picton Castle is sailing along about 400 miles ESE of Lunenburg. We continue to steer for a point just south of “the Tail of the Grand Banks”. Sea temperature is now up from 5c to about 10c (50F) and every degree it goes up we sense and it feels better every day. Seas …
Lat- 42-54N Long-58-08W The Picton Castle sails along under main t’gallant in light overcast making about 6-7 knots in under 20 knots of wind abeam. Seas are under a metre. We are steering ESE for south of the tail of the Grand Banks, with the objective in mind of avoiding too much fog and icebergs …
Lat 43-29N, Long 061-21W Course: ESE Speed: 5 knots Weather: fair and clear, SW winds force 4 Seas: less than one metre In the Picton Castle we could not wish for a better start to a transatlantic passage bound for Europe. The one week delay in Lunenburg has given us perfect conditions to sail eastward …
A great deal of thought and effort goes into the weather planning prior to a Trans-Atlantic passage in a ship like the Picton Castle. Well prior to sailing, the approximate departure date/time is established by consulting pilot charts, studying the Sailing Directions and consulting with professional and experienced masters who have significant experience in the …
Here on our wharf in Lunenburg The Bosun School is in full swing and the gang has been busy, very busy. We have had six weeks of almost perfect weather at the ideal time of year. So often we find ourselves working in the cold rain and even snow while we down rig or up …
The next morning everyone was up unusually early (before their third wakeup), seabags packed and ready to go. We trooped down the street, hopped the fence at the Fisheries Museum, scampered down the ladder on the dock, and threw our gear aboard Pride of Baltimore II. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I was …
