Ship’s work: Sundays at sea consist of no ship’s work, the sail maker and bosun can rest their hands, the cook can sleep in as we look after cooking for the day and the on watch crew can work on their personal projects, yet are always standing by on deck for sail handling. At 0900 […]
First full day at sea under sail after much training and drilling. Warm, light northerly winds as we make our way towards the westernmost point of Cuba and on to Panama. Ship’s work: Continued chipping away at the windlass. Bending on mended main t’gallant staysail. Sailmaker John Gareri vigourously seaming together the lower topsail that
April 29, 2018 There is an age old tradition of “signing on the ship”. In days gone by a mariner would sign his name into the ships log (or make his ‘mark’ next to his name if he ‘weren’t no scholar’) to indicate that was crew in the ship. Until not that long ago, my
May 3, 2018 The day comes in fair and clear on the Picton Castle, a cool northeasterly breeze. Big ships and tugs and barges making their way up and down this big river at New Orleans. Big currents swirling about. A chicory coffee in the early morning light of dawn is pleasant enough way to
And we’re off! After a week and a half of preparations alongside the dock in New Orleans, Picton Castle and the crew of World Voyage 7 began the first passage of that voyage this morning with 47 people and two cats aboard. We expect to spend today making our way down the Mississippi River, getting
New Orleans, LA, USA – alongside at the French Quarter – Preparing to set off on a voyage – April 27, 2018 Tammy, 5 year old Dawson and I rejoined our ship a week ago here in New Orleans. Under the able command of Captain Sam Sikkema the Picton Castle and crew had sailed from
For the past few weeks, Picton Castle has been taking part in a series of tall ships events called the Tall Ships Challenge, which is organized by Tall Ships America. Tall Ships America moves the Tall Ships Challenge around to different areas of the North American coast every year. This is the first time that
By Cara Lauzon We had the most amazing sail yesterday afternoon into the night, the stars were gorgeous. We starting steaming around midnight to be in time to pick up our pilot for the transit up the Mississippi River to New Orleans for the final tall ships festival in the Gulf of Mexico Tall Ships
By Cara Lauzon Pensacola was fun! The city was beautiful and the tall ships festival we just participated in there over the weekend was a little smaller so all the ships were close together and it was easy to wander and see them. The crew made the most of their time off enjoying the sunshine
By Cara Lauzon Beautiful sunset last night, becoming the first sunny day of the passage. Now that the sun is out and conditions are calming down, the Chief Mate is making sure lots of teaching is happening, helping the new hands learn lines. The wind was in our favour for a little while today so
