Picton Castle is scheduled to set sail on her eighth world circumnavigation voyage shortly. We had hoped, almost expected, to be able to begin the voyage this autumn, but travel restrictions and advisories currently in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic mean that sadly, we must postpone the start of this voyage until the spring of […]
Why the change from the Atlantic to the South Pacific? Captain Daniel D. Moreland At the Picton Castle office and aboard the ship here in wintery Lunenburg everyone is pretty excited about the change from sailing to Europe to sailing to the South Pacific. Europe would have been great, but it takes more than me
One of my favourite parts of my job is working with Captain Moreland to plan Picton Castle’s voyage itineraries. It’s a fairly long process to get it just right, which means we’ll draft something, review it, amend it, review it again, then amend and review a few more times before we are happy with it
by Arne Stefferud “Arne has been a steady hand the whole voyage. Below are a few of his perspectives.” Captain Daniel Moreland As I near the end of World Voyage 7, I reflect on the places I’ve traveled to and the people I’ve sailed with. Descriptions of the places have been covered in other entries
If you’ve been with us a while, you know we don’t often send out cheesy requests that you purchase our merchandise. It’s always available, but we usually sell it on the ship. Christmas is nearly here, though, and we have some of our super popular “We May Be Slow” shirts available. At only $25CAD each
Christmas is on its way – Need a last minute gift idea? Read More »
The crew of Picton Castle were shocked and saddened by the news of the vast destruction reportedly caused by Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam to the tiny and beautiful island nation of Vanuatu. It wasn’t so long ago that we were last there, trading clothes, knives and pots and pans for fresh fruit, handmade baskets and
South Pacific south-east tradewinds, as pleasent and fine to sail in as they are, and depend on them we do to get across this ocean, are not quite as reliable as say South Atlantic tradewinds, which never seem to quit. Due to a low between two highs far to our south, yesterday the wind built
Mid-day, 20-16s/141-46w The Picton Castle is about 400 miles NE of Manga Reva sailing along in strong NNEly winds. Seas are moderate and not too lumpy. The ship is shortened down to upper topsails and still we>are making a comfortable and swift steady 7-8 knots. I suppose that we can expect the breeze to die
Passage To Rarotonga, Strong Tradewinds still with us #2 Read More »
21-12S / 139-23W The Picton Castle is sailing strong out here in the South Pacific Ocean – as I write we are under all plain sail in force 5 tradewinds blowing in from the NE. With Manga Reva well astern we are steering northwest around the infamous French nuclear test site atoll, Marururoa about 20
By Joanna Clark and Mike “Fred” Weiss Picton Castle crew members enjoyed sailing the 22′ dory Sea Never Dry and the 23′ monomoy longboat during the small boat expedition to the island of Akmaru, located about 5nm away from Mangareva. For beginners to small boat sailing, the first few days were an abrupt introduction, as
