Bequia is truly one of the most beautiful islands around, and the Picton Castle has had the pleasure of putting in there twice this winter. We sail into Admiralty Bay and head for our “usual parking spot,” which we have found empty and waiting for us on both visits. Several ferries run between Bequia and […]
The Picton Castle got underway yesterday afternoon from Nevis by sailing off the hook. This means that the ship sailed away from being at anchor entirely under wind, sail and crew power, the engine was not used at all. It wasn’t even on. We had the fore yards braced on a starboard tack and the
The Picton Castle‘s newly repaired skiff was launched last Friday morning. It was a grand occasion with all the crew onboard, hauling on tackles to lift it off the cargo hatch and over the rail into the water. The new and improved skiff is one in which we can be proud to pull up at
Shopping at the market in the West Indies with the Picton Castle‘s Grenadian cook, Donald, is a whirlwind experience. We had been told by everyone we asked that Friday and Saturday were the best days of the week to shop at the fresh produce market in Roseau, Dominica. Our driver first suggested he pick us
The Picton Castle sits at anchor off St. Pierre, Martinique, very close to the wrecks of eleven ships that were lost in 1902 along with about 30,000 residents of the city when the local volcano, Mont Pele, erupted. Local dive outfitters seem quite busy, judging by the amount of boats filled with people in wetsuits
The sun rose over the crest of the hill ashore, slowly spilling down into the bay. These early morning rays illuminated the white, blue and green hulls, masts of bright colours, and stripes of the local wooden fishing boats anchored nearby. Dawn broke quietly as brisk trade-wind breezes buffeted and soothed the ship. The overcast
At long last, after gales and an early blizzard, the Picton Castle set sail on Tuesday afternoon at 1300. All the signs were there that it was time to go, from the snow on the decks to the excitement on the faces of a whole new group of trainees. We headed out of Lunenburg harbour
Finally, the weather has given us the patiently anticipated window we were waiting for while all hands stored ship, bent sail and went through their first safety drills. On Tuesday the 5th of December at 1300 the lines were cast off from the Picton Castle dock in Lunenburg and a fine farewell given by Deputy
The Picton Castle is almost ready to head out on her next adventure, a six-month voyage in the Eastern Caribbean. Professional crew and trainees have been arriving since the middle of November, and with the full crew here as of Monday we put to work as a team to get the ship ready to go.
As I write this Captain’s log the Picton Castle is tugging on her moorings at her old wharf in Lunenburg with a southeasterly gale roaring along the coast. The fishing vessels Primo and Zebroid, who share our wharf, do the same. Violent rain squalls are blowing hard horizontally across the harbour. Skies and white-cap-spattered seas
