It’s Monday morning on board Picton Castle, the deck brushes were in use this morning, scrubbing away grime that builds up quickly. Just like that, we are back into the swing of things at sea. The sailmakers are set up on the hatch, with their sailmaking benches, needles and palms in hand they seam away …
The Picton Castle has had a nice long visit in Bali. Plenty good stories to tell. Some crew coming and going. Lots of nasi goreng, mei goreng, no shortage of Bintang and Bali Kopi, even cat-poo-chino. Lots of beautiful carvings, ebony boxes, batik sarongs and more. But now it was time to sail onward to …
Wow! After two weeks in amazing Bali this is our first full day at sea. It’s a Sunday and it’s our dear shipmate Niko’s birthday. Niko has sailed with Picton Castle on a number of voyages since 2009 when he joined in Grenada. Since then he has been known for his delicious efforts in the galley, …
All hands on deck, 0800 muster, sea watches posted, the crew worked through the intense Bali heat to heave up anchor, get the last of the provisions onboard and lash down or stow any moveable object on deck. Customs and immigration gave us the go ahead, stamping our passports and we hoisted the skiff. Hoisting …
Having sailed in to Bali from the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea two weeks ago, the crew of the Picton Castle is getting ready to sail for Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. I am pretty sure everyone loves Bali. We have only ever had one crew member not like Bali some …
Greetings from Picton Castle’s shore office in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada! The ship is currently in Bali, Indonesia and the Captain and crew are busy getting things checked off the pre-departure list. The next passage is a long one, about a month at sea, as Picton Castle sails across the Indian Ocean from Bali to …
Serangan Bay, day three in Bali, Picton Castle halfway around the world. The day here at anchor in Serangan comes in with a tropical rain shower – the monsoon change is upon us – followed by clearing and then a fine view of the Mount Agung volcano well to our north, for a while anyway …
Yesterday the Picton Castle steamed into Serangan just to the north of Benoa, the large commercial port on the southern tip of Bali, Indonesia. We had a very good passage the 3,000 miles from Vanuatu. An excellent sailing passage of 1,500 miles from Santo to Cape York, the northernmost tip of Australia, followed by a …
Indian Ocean Bound for Bali, south of Sumbawa, west of Sumba After another evening of half the crew sleeping soundly on the hatch, Monday morning started with a hot sunrise on our backs as the crew sipped their morning coffee on the aloha deck. After breakfast our avid fisherman Colin spent his morning untangling his …
Sunday at Sea, there is a calm feeling in the atmosphere. Despite the heat, crew members are enjoying their relaxing day after this morning’s up and stow; always a nice start to the day: to climb freshly out of bed and keep climbing up through the rigging, laying out onto the yard and busting up …
