By Chelsea McBroom March 16th, 2014 On Thursday it began to pour in Papeete, where the Picton Castle was alongside. Even if the rain became lighter, it seemed to always be raining and for two days following. I know it’s just water but it seems to make everything more difficult; it ruins any plans to …
By Chelsea McBroom March 14th, 2014 Grocery shopping in other parts of the world is not like grocery shopping in North America. The Picton Castle‘s agent here in Papeete drove me, our new cook Lily, Anne-Laure (apprentice and our French translator for the day) and Maria to the Carrefour – the biggest grocery store in …
By Maria Andersen, apprentice from Denmark March 13th, 2014 I was woken up by a loud voice calling down to the batcave telling us that they needed all hands to harbour stow sails and getting the ship ready for port, so on deck we went with harness, shoes and a proper shirt so the people …
By Chelsea McBroom March 12th, 2014 The Picton Castle starboard watch’s day off was very quiet, the streets were clear, being a Sunday. The shops were closed with their garage-like doors covered in graffiti. As we walked towards the town centre where the farmers market is, the streets became crowded and busy. I worried I’d …
By Chelsea McBroom March 12th, 2014 It’s been a while since the Picton Castle pulled up alongside at a destination. We arrived in the port of Papeete at the island of Tahiti and the swell was high outside the harbour. It wasn’t until we moved in closer that the pilot boat could come alongside and …
By Chelsea McBroom March 8th, 2014 Finally there was a good breeze blowing through the foc’sle of the Picton Castle during the night – in fact at one point I may have even put a blanket over me and the last time I can recall doing that was sometime around New Zealand. I can recall …
By Chelsea McBroom March 7th, 2014 Yesterday at 16:30 aboard the Picton Castle we had a workshop on stowing or furling sails. The Captain began by explaining that the difference between ‘stowing’ and ‘furling’ is that ‘furling’ is often the prettier version or the ‘harbour stow’, and ‘stowing’ is often used to refer to the …
By Chelsea McBroom March 6th, 2013 I was woken up this morning at 3:30am aboard the Picton Castle by Simon with, “It’s moist with a chance of rain.” After asking him to repeat himself while in the dark foc’sle with a surprised “What did you say?!”, I giggled, still half asleep. The word ‘moist’ happens …
By Anne-Laure Barberis, apprentice from France If you listen carefully, you’ll hear them. In the middle of the night, barely audible above the sound of waves crashing on the ship and wind howling in the stays, I heard them. Very faintly at first, then, as my ear grew accustomed to the voices, I could make …
You’ve heard some of the names of the crew of the Picton Castle in these Captain’s Logs, here’s a fun way to get to know some of them better. Trainee Lily has a good sense of humour and has written limericks about many of her shipmates. These were shared aboard and got quite a laugh, …
