It was busy in the Bosun’s domain on the well deck today as the good weather allowed rigging projects to get going. The small seas and sunshine were a delight for the navigators and sailmakers too – noon sights were satisfyingly accurate today, and the Captain brought a sail up to the quarterdeck to work […]
Another gorgeous day of sunshine and a good sailing breeze. With better weather we can get on with rigging projects: Captain took a small group of people with some rigging experience to show them how to ‘rattle down’ properly so we can get on with replacing ratlines as needed under the eye of the Bosun,
A beautiful sailing day with a moderate breeze, blue skies and puffy white clouds. As the winds come lighter so it’s time to bend more sail to maintain our speed. In the age of sail it would have been standard practice to bend royals and kites at sea as needed – why waste time bending
Another good day’s sailing. The air has quite a chill following the passage of the cold front, but the water is warm so full foul-weather gear with bare feet is the fashion of the day. We’re making tracks across the Atlantic, the crew concentrating on learning weather observations, steering better and tending to the rigging.
It’s difficult to take pictures of heavy weather at sea. Braced against the rail with the wind singing in the rigging and the decks lurching under you as she dances along, skipping over 10 foot swell with the white water churning under the bow and sloshing across the main deck and salt spray in your
One week out of Lunenburg and PICTON CASTLE is about half way to the Azores. Time is doing its usual deep-sea warping, what with two watches to stand and two sleeps a day, nobody really seems to know what day of the week it is. Sailing along out here, time is measured by the sun
Fairly big seas today, the final remnants of last night’s strong winds. Some water sloshing across the main deck and out through the freeing ports. Occasionally a bigger wave comes over the rail and you can hear where it hit by the sound of the shriek – unless the watch were quick enough to get
This afternoon’s workshop was a passage and weather update from the Captain. He explained that we’re making good progress, both in miles logged and in the developing competence of the crew. The watches were focussed on the mainsail today as we set it and took it in plenty of times depending on the wind: aloft
A squally day of sunshine, showers and rainbows. Squalls are unpredictable and can bring rain, strong winds and wind-shifts so the Mate of the watch is constantly on the alert for them, scanning the weather horizon and the radar to get as much warning as possible. Then they have time to call the Captain, make
The watches are working on steering, lookout and lines – especially taking in the mainsail and spanker quickly, they are finding out how much harder it is to find the right line in the dark with the decks rolling under you. All hands are doing well. Chief Mate took us through an introduction to the
