As I write this our Picton Castle is under all plain sail to the royals, steering west in a modest easterly tradewind about 300 miles west of the island of Espritu Santo in Vanuatu – we have just sailed through a minor line squall which brought with it a wind shift of about 90 degrees. …
Despite the ticking of the clocks one now finds across the world, despite the ringing of bells or alarms reminding us of places we need to be and things we need to be doing when we get to these places, time never feels the same. Some days seem to ooze or drip by and others …
The Picton Castle boasts nationalities from around the world. We have Canadians and Americans, Norwegians and Germans, Dutch and Grenadians, Swiss and Bermudians, Pitcairners and Palmerstonians, Irish and British. We also have South Africans. Since we enjoy celebrating all of our national holidays aboard we were excited to see what our South African representatives had …
A few days before we sailed into Suva harbour the Captain held a muster on the quarter deck to talk about Fiji. Some of the crew, including Mate Mike, Rebecca, Ollie and Logan, had been to Fiji before and they regaled the crew with stories of past adventures, recommendations for sightseeing, and general tidbits and …
As the Picton Castle sailed into Suva Harbour on the 25th of September, after a sweet sailing passage from Pukapuka in the northern Cook Islands, the crew could not help but remark that it was strange and somewhat surreal to see big city lights once more. In sailing across the South Pacific it had been …
An open letter to Sail Training International: We are now 1/3rd of the way and 10,000 miles along in this, Picton Castle‘s fifth voyage around the world. This really has been an excellent voyage thus far with truly a great gang, officers and trainees alike; set out in May south to the Caribbean no problems …
We all gathered on the quarterdeck for a muster with the Captain on our third day of sailing since leaving Pukapuka. The sun was shining brightly on the wood of the decks, on our backs and on the calm ocean – causing the small breaking crests to sparkle. The wind was strong and fair and …
As we sailed from Pukapuka on September 16 our laughter could almost be heard above the ships horn which signalled our away. We were giddy for a variety of reasons. For one, we’d had a great couple of days enjoying the hospitality of the people of Pukapuka. Among the highlights for us were the cross …
By Chief Mate Michael Moreland “Danger Island” hove into sight in the early morning hours after five rough and wet days sailing from Palmerston. No sleeping on the hatch for our 13 passengers bound back to the island, otherwise known as Pukapuka, but we were able to make up comfortable accommodations throughout the ship. Now, …
By Shawn Anderson The other day the Captain remarked ¨Beautiful day, calm sea, trade winds, sailing under full sail, including stuns’ls; this doesn’t get better.¨ Now usually I am inclined to agree with the Captain, but there is one more thing to add to this scenario: catching fish. Today we landed one of the largest …
