0630 – The day comes in cool and mostly cloudy in the Picton Castle. A small moon and a few stars poked through the clouds earlier on. Winds are southeasterly at about force 4-5 and seas are small with scattered whitecaps. The ship is braced up on the starboard tack with the yards off the …
By Chelsea McBroom We finally had a sunny day anchored in New Zealand to organize the sole – not that we were looking forward to it, people were afraid of what lurked down below – but it needed to be done and the crew finally had the opportunity. The ‘sole’ is the deck or floor …
By Chelsea McBroom I’ve been told I have terrible sea legs aboard the Picton Castle, but I’ve gotten used to never standing still for a moment, always stumbling around from pin rail to hand rail. I probably did a better job of walking when Pania (one of the lead seamen) and I pretended to be …
By Chelsea McBroom “This is what sailors or ships hoped for in winds in this part of the ocean” Captain says, standing before his 4-8 watch on the quarter deck of the Picton Castle. “This is the roaring 40’s, they’d sail like this for days. We have and we will.” We had a small gale …
By apprentice Amy (aka Beamy) from Bristol, UK Hmmm… when does my day begin? I am on the 12 to 4 watch. Night and day. I think I’ll start when I have breakfast. I usually wake up 10 minutes early, before midnight, so I can fuel up for my night watch. I can be found …
By trainee Hannah, age 19, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada After spending almost two months sailing around the Hauraki Golf and Bay of Islands New Zealand in our Picton Castle, I was very excited (and a little nervous) to get back sailing deep sea. My sea legs had disappeared and I had forgotten what it …
By Chelsea McBroom January 8th, 2014 It feels like the ship is trapped in time and space; waking up for each watch and looking around at the same endless (but incredible) view of sea and sky, you’d never know we were a third of the way to Pitcairn. Long rolling seas, sometimes grey with a …
By Chelsea McBroom January 6th, 2014 Since the first day of the New Year in the Picton Castle, we have caught four very large fish. We have spoiled ourselves with ceviche (aka poisson cru, raw tuna with coconut milk), baked and fried fish that Donald has magically created. The crew that were with us from …
8 Days and 900 Nautical Miles From Cape Brett, New Zealand Read More »
“Running down your easting” is an old sailing ship mariners’ phrase used to describe the path of a wind ship, usually in the Great Southern Ocean, when making the long passage from either the Cape of Good Hope in the Southern Indian Ocean east to Australia, or from Australia, New Zealand or really anywhere in …
By Chelsea McBroom Anchored at small Roberton Island in the Bay of Islands, where Endeavour anchored and Cook went ashore, our Secret Picton Castle Christmas Committee set up a schedule in advance for Christmas Day. The crew was able to sleep in for a couple hours before brunch. The majority of the crew had stayed …
