Asanvari Bay truly is an idyllic tropical paradise. It is an absolutely stunning spot. It was late afternoon by the time we motored around the corner, past a small island bluff and into the bay. The sun hovered calmly over the densely vegetated mountains which sloped steeply down to the sandy cresent moon shoreline. A […]
By Chief Mate Michael Moreland The village of Bwatnapne, on the island of Pentecost in the Vanuatu Group, rests in a valley on a large swath of lush flatlands with dramatic but gentle tropical cliffs overhanging and a long crescent coral beach that the village overlooks out to sea on the lee side of the
If you have never had kava before, it is a flavour experience that is hard to describe. It is earthy. It tastes of root with a hint of spice and pepper. It will numb your mouth and lips instantly. You don’t want to sip the stuff. It is not like a fine Muscadadu from Sardinia.
The skiff dropped us off on a sandy beach after expertly manoeuvring through the coral heads near the beach in Banam Bay. Stretching, we looked around. The trunks of palm trees and the branches of mahogany trees bent and sheltered the shore – offering us a canopy as the rain began to pelt down -warm
The town of Luganville in Espiritu Santo was our first stop in Vanuatu and it would also be out last after we made our round to some of the outer islands. Vanuatu is an archipelago comprised of 83 islands, but you can only clear in and clear out of the country at a few of
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
