Day came in with low broken clouds and a beautiful sunrise. Winds had laid down overnight and a new swell had come from somewhere to the south to give us a roll. But deck wash down gets going anyway. Halyards and braces get a pull in the early morning light to renew the nip and […]
Day came in with low broken clouds and a few light squalls. The cleared throughout the morning. “Land Ho” when we saw Ascension Island fine on starboard. Wore ship at noon to the port tack, about 5 and a half miles SE of Ascension Island. The gang barely looked up. Ascension Island was an important
Day came in fair and partly cloudy. Classic trade wind sailing. Blue seas and skies everywhere. A couple of flying fish flew aboard last night to the delight of at least one cat. Nice varnish going on to various teak doors. Deyan is working up the main engine’s seventh cylinder air compressor. Dirk, Erin and
Day came in partly cloudy and clearing. Wind picked up a bit. A beautiful trade winds day. The new royal yard almost done. New pin rails of Fijian tamanu wood getting varnished and are very pretty. Piles of canvas on the quarterdeck getting sewn together by Tyler and Katie under John’s oversight. Brahm and Aaron
Day came in cloudy with small rain squalls. By noon had cleared with lovely blue skies. Sundry silly Aprils fools pranks about the ship. Wore ship again at mid-day. New Royal yard almost done, almost ready to send aloft and cross.. Shifting out the fore-upper topsail, send down for repairs. Has a couple small tears
Day came in fair and partly cloudy. We are on the starboard tack to make some north-ing. We will wear around this afternoon to a more westerly course. Royal yard is almost shaped, awaiting yoke and ironwork. Sweet passage making today. Passage discussion to follow this afternoon. We have a long way to go but
30 March 2019 The day comes in partly cloudy with modest seas and light tradewinds on the starboard quarter. The Picton Castle sailed from St Helena yesterday noon after a bit of last minute food shopping and clearing out. The ship is bound for the Windward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean, with Grenada as our
At noon today, the crew of the Picton Castle scrambled aloft, loosed all sail, hauled back the anchor and sailed away from this storied isle. Bound for the West Indies 3,700 miles away we are. Winds are fair, seas modest, weather is warm and clear, skies are blue with nice trade wind cumulus clouds. Fishing
Day came in light overcast again, clearing some towards noon. Fair winds, small seas. St Helena about 90 nautical miles ahead. Back to work with spar-making, cooking, cleaning, working decks, sorting carrots, sailmaking, off watch reading, navigating, listening to Dawson sing the Popcorn song and see his dance routine. No fish today. Good sailing. Have
We are sailing along beautifully here in the Picton Castle crossing the South Atlantic Ocean. Ten days out of Luderitz, Namibia we are on a sailing ship passage as fine as one could hope for. With steady trade winds blowing over the quarter, we steer, trim sail, and keep lookout, watch after watch. Studding sails
