Round the World and HomeA_9ain by Angelo Cerchione
T
he Picton Castle arrived at the dock in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on 23 June, with some 40 sea-seasoned souls. For 570 days the 180-foot, threemasted, square-rigged sailing ship had ploughed its way round the world-a 37,000-mile voyage that spanned 47 ports in 22 countries and crossed four oceans and three seas. For Captain D an Moreland the voyage was a dream achieved. T he odyssey began in Vedavagen, Norway, when he found a neglected Swansea trawler cum freighter in an out-of-the-way fjord in 1993. Moreland recognized the sheer beauty of h er lines and, beneath the rust and mud, she proved to be sound. With several years of wo rk she was reborn in Lunenburg in 1997 as the Picton Castle (See SH73, pp. 40- 1). "In November of 1997, we went to sea with 15 experienced crew and 25 apprentice seafarers," recalls Moreland. "The apprentice deckhands, in fact, h andle all of the ship's functions. The professionals are on standby in case the going gets rough or an emergency should arise." The Picton Castle had a remarkably safe voyage around the world. But early on an emergency situation did arise. A crack appeared in part of the ship's new steering gear. "We were a two-day sail from Bermuda, running in high seas and near gale-force winds and we had to m ake repairs immediately," says Ch ief Engineer N eil "Nobby" Peers, reliving th e moment. "The captain got the ship on a steady course, and we got our damage control kit together-welder, spare steel, clamps and rods. Without a doubt, it was the toughest welding job I've ever had to do. I was tied in place and two crew held me still in the ro llin g seas so I could get my welds on right, while electri cal shocks kept running up m y soaked welding gloves . It took 12 hours in all. It wasn't a pretty weld, but it was stron g." Then it was on to the blue Ca ribbean, through th e Panama Canal and into the Pacific. During the long trade-wind passage to lonely Pitca irn Island, the notion of "crew" deepened for the ship 's 40 men and women. Ranging in age from 18 to 63 and sharing a fascinati on with the sea, they had left a wide variety of fields to beco me SEA HISTORY 90, AUTUMN 1999
seamen : surgeon, Hollywood costume designer, book editor, stunt man and actor, docror, lawyer, pet hotel operato r, microbiologist, Las Vegas baccarat dealer, adve rtising salesman, social worker, cruise ship purser, as well as college students. Sai ling befo re gentle Pacific trade winds (and dodging a cyclone or rwo), the ship took on an addition al miss ion. Already sailing as the UNESCO "Yearof the O cean" flagship, the plan was to do something of even greater educational value. W hil e visiting such legendary isles as Tahiti , Bora Bora, Rarotonga, Samoa and Fiji, the ship delivered cases of ed ucational materials proCaptain Moreland guides the Picto n vided by the Nati onal Oceanic and AtmoCastle into Lunenburg. sph eri c Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. "As the crew delivered these materi als to By the time the Picton Castle had crossed island schools," reports Barbara O'B rien, th e Indi an Ocean, the crew had trekked the who headed up the effort as ship's commu- jungles of Vanuatu, cl imbed its volcanoes, nity relatio ns perso n, "it added a whole di ved on WWII wrecks off G uadalcanal in new dimension too ur visits. We had school the Solomons, and lost th emselves in the children regularly to uring the ship . T hat exotic oriental splendor of Bali . More im led to schools sponso ring dan ce perfor- portant, they had become square- ri g seamances in our hono r, and, of co urse, mak- men. Most of the crew co uld knot and ing us all join in . It's hard to describe how spli ce well , knew the co mpass, and we re on to uching this was to the crew. To sail all speakin g terms with the stars. All could those miles and to be welcomed in that steer a 300-to n bark and handl e the 175 unique Polyn es ian mann er for delivering lin es and 17 canvas sails of the squareschool supplies was enchanting. It shows rigger they called home. In the Seychelles Is lands, four educators how hungry to learn these children are and how much in demand th e educational ma- from th e T idal Passages Internet program terials happened to be." joined the crew to fil e sto ri es and repo rt on "Fro m my observations," co ntinues The Picto n Castle began her career in 1928 as the trawler Dolmar. the captain, "the edu- Above, Capt. Moreland returns the Picton Cas tl e to Lunenburg. (Alf cators-as is the case photos courtesy the Bark Picton Castle) everywhere-can use a lot of help. At one island, the crew stripped th e ship of spare writin g paper, magic m arkers and pencil s-a nything that the children co uld use. T he upshot of that ex per ience is we'd li ke to fo rm a non-profit to provide basic assistance and scholarships in these islands." 37