All sails are set, our course is west, as Peter Pan says “second star to the right and straight on ’til morning”, leaving Vanuatu in our wake. It would be impossible for me to capture all that we experienced and soaked up from our amazing stay island hopping through Vanuatu. During World War II the …
The Picton Castle sailed into Luganville, Santo, Vanuatu after a decent six-day passage under sail from Fiji. A beautiful approach between all the islands on a sunny morning as we sailed past “Million Dollar Point” the wreck of the SS Coolidge, the WWII transport ship that hit a mine at the entrance and was rammed …
A lovely Tuesday on board, the sun is bright and the sky is painted blue with collections of cumulus clouds. In order to arrive at Vanuatu by tomorrow, the Captain ordered our main engine to be fired up at 0600. Lots of work to be done today, the spots on the foremast that were rust …
It’s Monday morning on board the Picton Castle and we’re back to our schedule of ship’s work to keep us busy on watch and, of course, to keep our lovely ship in good shape. Our engineer, Deyan of Switzerland, measured the monkey deck ladder with the help of his new assistant Kevin, of Sweden. Deyan …
Sunday at sea and a true one at that! Even the sun took some rest by sleeping in. An overcast start to the day set the tone for a relaxed day. After a busy time in port, getting the ship ready for sea and setting out again the calm day was much appreciated by all. …
We sail along on a port tack, calmly through the South Pacific seas, with light winds today. Bustling crew members on deck work under the bright tropical sun; it’s a contest who can sport the biggest hat. The shroud seizings are being painted a fresh coat of white, to Niko’s enjoyment the foremast is being …
After nearly three weeks anchored in Suva, the capital city of Fiji, we’re off on our merry way again. Yesterday at 10:30 am we sailed off the hook and sailed out of Suva Harbour past fishing boats and misty mountains in the background. Our time in Fiji was well spent, the ship was hauled out …
Both prudent ship management and logical marine regulation call for ships to be drydocked from time to time and have their hulls inspected and looked after. This is only natural as most vessels are in a somewhat corrosive environment of salt water. Freshwater is different and much kinder to steel, not so much to wood, …
Monday morning and we’re back at it full swing. The 4-8 watch set all sails as the sun glowing orange and yellow rose on the eastern horizon. After that, we sent them all to deck. Yes, that is correct. We unbent our sails, depowering our natural form of transportation and fired up the engine. It …
It was a quiet Sunday at Sea for those not cooking away in the warm galley, it was a relaxing, rainy Sunday. Everyone needs that once in a while. Crew members were huddled together over a laptop in the shelter of the salon enjoying entertaining television shows. Yes, we sailors do enjoy a great series …
