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NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SEA HISTORY
No. 109
WINTER 2004-2005
$3.75
THE ART, LITERATURE, ADVENTURE, LORE & LEARNING OF THE SEA
THE AGE OF SAIL CONTINUES ON PICTON CASTLE
Whaling Letters
North Carolina Maritime Museum
Rediscover the Colonial Periauger
Sea History for Kids
Carrying the Age of Sail Forward in the Barque Picton Castle
by Captain Daniel D. Moreland
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role of education, particularly maritime.
For example, in 1931 Denmark built the
full-rigger Danmark as a merchant marine school-ship which still sails in that
role today. During this time, many other
maritime nations commissioned school
ships for naval training as well, this time
without cargo and usually with significant
academic and often ambassadorial roles
including most of the great classic sailing
ships we see at tall ship events today.
These sailing ships became boot
camps and colleges at sea. Those “trained
in sail” were valued as problem solvers
and, perhaps more significantly, problem
preventers. They learned the wind and sea
in a way not available to the denizens of
covered and heated pilot houses with a
voice tube to the engine-room to call for
increased or reduced RPMs depending on
the weather. Sailing ship crew, from the
Captain to the cabin boy, were the engineers (and stokers, wipers and plumbers)
of the sailing ship. The rig and the sails
were their engine, and they had to keep it
going with canvas, twine, wood, wire, bits
of steel and iron plus their wits, determination, and know-how. They had to plan
PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND
Captain Arthur Kimberley making Picton
Castle’s first suit of sails. Kimberley sailed as
a young man on the full-rigged ship Abraham Rydberg, a cargo-carrying sail training ship. Later, as owner and Captain of the
brigantine Romance for 23 years, Kimberley
and his wife Gloria made two circumnavigations and numerous voyages to the South
Pacific in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s with paying apprentices—Dan Moreland was Mate
on Romance’s first circumnavigation.
COURTESY RICEL CROCKETT
T
oday the modern sailing school
ship is typically a sailing ship operated by a charitable organization
whose mission is devoted to an academic
or therapeutic program under sail, either
at sea or on coastwise passages. Her program uses the structure and environment
of the sailing ship to organize and lend
themes to that structure and educational
agenda. The goal, of course, being a focused educational forum without necessarily being one of strictly maritime education. Experiential education, leadership
training, personal growth, high school or
college credit, youth-at-risk, adjudicated
youth, science and oceanography as well
as professional maritime development are
often the focus of school ships. These ships
are typically fine vessels producing often
impressive results.
In contrast to the modern Sailing
School Ship the Sail Training Ship, of yore
was quite different. Originally these ships
were owned and operated by commercial
shipping companies to train their apprentices who hoped to become steam-ship
officers. These ships were devoted to the
infusion of practical maritime arts and
leadership, discipline, and organizational
skills as required of the accomplished professional seafarer in the course of ocean
voyaging. It wasn’t so much that seamen
were “trained to sail” but that they were
“trained in sail” or “under sail’ as the phrase
might have it. Toward the end of the age
of sail, several steam-ship companies established their own cargo-carrying sailing
ships for the purpose of training their future officers. The four-masted barque Port
Jackson comes to mind, but there sailed
quite a few others. These sailing ships were
commonly typical cargo ships of the period with the addition of extra quarters
for their apprentices. Proudly maintained,
these vessels served as showpieces for their
steamship companies. Cargo was king,
however, so they had to pay their own
way—often just barely. Until the mid1950s, a few European seafaring nations
still required their merchant officer candidates acquire a portion of their sea-time
under large tonnage sail.
In time, especially during the socialization of education in the 1920s and
30s, many governments took over the
and think way ahead. These sailing-ship
seafarers not only had to make do with
what they had at hand, but they had to
succeed. The alternative was unthinkable.
These characteristics are desirable in any
position of leadership. These traits in a
leader or team member save time, money,
property and, most of all, lives.
Not only were professional sailors
trained in this manner. Many young men
(and some women) ran off to sea in commercial sail never intending to make a life
of it. They sailed for many reasons but we
might lump the motivations under adventure. Their lives were richer for their
experiences at sea. If they wrote of their
adventures, as did Richard Henry Dana,
Herman Melville, Alan Villiers, and even
a young Irving Johnson, then our lives
ashore were made richer as well.
As the age of sail wound down and
berths on sailing ships dwindled, opportunities to sail cropped up in new capacities. A number of ships and enterprises
developed to take young people to sea
under canvas. The full-rigger Joseph Conrad, barquentine Cap Pilar, and schooner
Wanderbird all made deep sea passages
with young apprentices in the 1920s and
30s. Most famous of all was the schooner
Yankee under the visionary and enormously capable Captain Irving Johnson and
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
Picton Castle
Preserves the Legacy
Much has naturally
been made about preserving the great historical
ships of the world that
survive. The story of Picton Castle is about one ship
that, through her voyages
and even her renaissance, is
preserving the historical skills and even a
way of life. From the historical preservation perspective this may be no less significant than saving historic ships themselves.
Picton Castle is an 180-foot barquerigged vessel built of riveted steel in England in 1928. In many ways Picton Castle
would have been typical of that class of
small trading vessels that roamed the globe
in the latter age of sail, but she is neither a
replica nor a restoration per se. Converted
from an old steam vessel with medium
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
COURTESY OF TOM WARD
clipper sailing
lines,
Picton
Castle is not
simply a conversion. When
the question is
asked, “a power
vessel into a sailboat, how can
it be?”, recall
that the famous Tom Ward minds his helm in rough weather on Picton Castle’s first world voyage.
British clippership Tweed was converted from a steamer. All hands live in open foc’s’le-type berthRigged and refitted for deep-water voyages ing areas and sleep in pilot bunks. There
in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Picton Castle is neither air conditioning nor private
has made three voyages around the world cabins—fresh water is limited. Her sails
since 1997. The ship embarks on her next are cotton canvas hand sewn on deck by
circumnavigation in May of 2005—crew her crew. Every wire aloft supporting her
are signing up now.
masts and every length of manila line that
Picton Castle is a sail training ship of trims her 12,500 square feet of sail is put in
the old school. Her program is the ship place and cared for by the very hands that
and the voyage. She is a cargo-carrying sail this ship. If a yard needs to be replaced
square-rigger of about 560 tons displace- or should the ship’s launch require a new
ment making long, transoceanic voyages, plank, it will be Picton Castle crew that do
the job. Watches are four
hours on and eight off. In
port anchor watches are
set so that much of our
time is free to explore,
but the security, safety,
and well-being of the ship
herself are always our paramount priorities. If we
don’t take care of the ship,
the ship can hardly take
care of us. The ship always
comes first. Always.
On Picton Castle’s circumnavigation our crew
become acquainted with
islanders and villagers in
the ports and islands we
Hands bending on sail underway.
visit. Windows into near
principally a world circumnavigation in inaccessible worlds are flung open by the
the tropics. She sails with a large crew of welcome of the people we meet along the
apprentices led by a small core of experi- way. Traditional dances, kava ceremonies,
enced and dedicated young professionals. feasts, climbing to waterfalls and volcaThis gang works the ship and handles the noes, trading for carvings, baskets, and
cargo of educational supplies and trade spears in the jungle, paddling dugouts
goods for delivery to remote tropical is- back to the ship—these things become allands. They face calm, storm, and heat, most routine. Life-long friendships often
plus visit exotic seaports together and develop. This voyage turns out some true
sail the trade winds on passages crossing deep-water sailing ship seafarers with all
the world’s oceans. Picton Castle’s anchor that that implies.
windlass and capstan are hand operated.
Picton Castle’s has its origins in the
PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND
his wife Exy. After WWII the Johnsons
converted another fine vessel into the ship
that became known as the brigantine Yankee. That ship and the Johnsons’ voyages,
as well as the work of others, make up the
bridge that links the age of sail to the modern sail training era in North America.
Much of what the crew or trainees
get out of sail training are simple truths
absorbed during their new life at sea in
the course of serving the ship and their
shipmates—not from formal instruction.
These things are extremely difficult to
quantify in our Quarterly Profit & Loss
world. Over the long term, however, these
qualities make themselves clear. These values internalized at sea are often lumped
under “character-building”, it seems for
lack of a better term. Perhaps a term, fallen
from currency of late, could be applied to
that which the challenge discussed above
attempts to describe: Citizenship. We don’t
have to like everybody, but for a ship to get
across an ocean getting along and resolving
problems are essential. Resources onboard are finite:
conserve them, husband
them. Good sail training
fosters good citizens—in a
ship, in a boat, in the home
or town and in our greater
community.
25
PHOTO ©FREDERICK J. LEBLANC
PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND
the fore-deck on a dog watch. A
old sailing ship apprentice system
cruise on this ship is not exactly
that developed in the late 19th
glamorous.
century. Young would-be-seamen signed aboard a big freightOutward Bound for Around
hauling square-rigger, often paythe World
ing a fee to the ship in return
A couple weeks prior
for the practical experience of
to sailing, the new crew of the
working alongside the seasoned
Drying cotton duck sails at the dock in Lunenburg.
barque Picton Castle converge
professional sailors and receiving extra nautical instruction from the hauling frozen braces in violent storms, icy on the wharf in Lunenburg, Nova Scoofficers. These apprentices normally got sea-water up to his waist, rounding Cape tia—the shiip’s home port. There is much
plenty of the former (work) and very little Horn in an under-manned full-rigger or to be done to get the ship ready for sea
of the latter (instruction). Picton Castle’s beating across the North Atlantic in the and to start the business of learning to
ambition is to live up to that old prom- teeth of endless winter gales with hard-as- become a seafarer. Lunenburg can be cold
ise of experience but with real instruction oak cold salt beef passing for sustenance, and damp in May and is a long fetch from
actually carried out—with one significant he would either swear to quit the sea or the tropics. To ready for sea the new hands
variation—she sails the trade-winds in the that his next berth would be in a nice co- must bend sail, reeve off all running rigtropic latitudes instead of the Cape Horn pra schooner or small trading barque in ging, send t’gallant and royal yards aloft,
road and the “Roaring Forties.”
the tropics. Far, far away from the physical and pack the hold with supplies. This fills
In the “old days,” watch systems hardship and iron discipline that was his our days. Paint, canvas, cases of food, boxwere typically four hours on duty and seafaring existence, he fantasized of a sail- es of books, bales of second-hand clothes
four off. In those few hours off, the sea- ing life in the sun-drenched South Seas. and tons more all get stowed in the ship’s
100-ton cargo hold. This is a confusing
and daunting period for the new trainee/
crew-member. Everything is unfamiliar.
We also drill: yard bracing, setting sails at
the dock, launching and recovery of boats,
boat handling, basic rope work, working
aloft, heavy gear handling, cargo stowage,
and basic safety drills.
Soon our barque has cast off, spread
her canvas to the wind, and we are underway in the cold North Atlantic. The
first few weeks at sea are overwhelming
for the green hand. Through the watch
system and the normal workings of the
ship, we are immersed in the myriad details of becoming capable and useful crew.
The mates teach new crew to fill in the
logbook, estimate wind, weather, ship’s
man had to eat, attend to any personal re- Wouldn’t that would be the life! This ship speed, plot a position, and generally gain
quirements and sleep, with the guarantee and her voyages together are the “old salt’s a sense of the sea. It is all pretty exciting
but it can be very cold and even miserable
of being called out to handle sail on his dream” come true.
“off-watch.” This practice was only just
In a voyage around the world in Pic- at first. Nonetheless, all hold out for the
humanly bearable. His time in port was ton Castle, we aim to do it all. Steer at the warm blue Caribbean we know is ahead as
most likely spent on a scaffold scaling rust big teak wheel with the ship running free we make way for the Panama Canal.
After transiting the Canal (a revelafrom the ship’s sides or facing day after in the trade-winds, haul braces to wear
backbreaking day of loading or discharg- ship in a gale of wind, tar down shrouds tion in itself ), we steer for the Galapagos
ing thousands of tons of cargo or ballast. high aloft in a bosun’s-chair—nothing but Islands and cross the Equator for the first
With rarely as much as an afternoon’s run blue sea and sky all around, learn to work time. Rain squall drill, running rigging,
ashore, the seamen would languish on- the sextant and lead line. Our crew learn basic knots and splices, and rotations
board for weeks or even months while the to stitch up a new lower topsail of stiff in the galley are drummed into the neoship swung at anchor in port. In those last cotton duck with palm and needle and phyte sailor. We visit only a short time in
brutal days of large working sail many a work aloft. Of course, there must be time these famous “utterly barren and desolate”
hard-bitten old salt had a dream. While to complain about the mate or captain on islands, but then we stay longer than
26
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
(l to r): Ship’s carpenter Kim Smith shapes
a new plank with an adze; Rebecca Libby
at the sailmaker’s bench in 2004; Captain Moreland splices the boltrope for on
a new sail—a keen eye will notice the
hand stitching on the sail. (Photos courtesy of Rigel Crockett, Daniel Moreland,
and Kate Menser, respectively)
Charles Darwin did and that seemed to
work out okay for him.
From Galapagos we sail for lonely
Pitcairn Island about 2,800 miles away
in the South Pacific Ocean. This takes
about four weeks under sail, our first real
trade-wind passage. This is what most of
us signed up for. All hands ease into the
rhythm of a sailing ship at sea. We fall
into routine—helm, lookout, ship check,
maintaining the hourly log. Night and day
we reel off the miles. Crew are becoming
shipmates, and we find that there is a difference between a fore-clew garnet and a
main ‘gants’l buntlin’ after all. Sextants are
broken out to shoot the sun and to learn
the night sky.
Pitcairn Island and the South Pacific
The time that Picton Castle spends at
far off Pitcairn Island is a high point for
her crew in many ways, not the least of
which is pounding in and out of Bounty
Bay with the Pitcairn Islanders in their
PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND
Rowing back to the ship off Asanbari.
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
40-foot
longboats.
Decendents of HMS
Bounty
mutineers
and their Tahitian
wives the Christians,
Youngs, Warrens, and
Browns of Pitcairn are good friends of the
ship after our repeat visits every few years.
The crew takes turns staying ashore with
the islanders in their homes, while the ship
either anchors in the lee or heaves-too.
Sailing through Polynesia, Melanesia, and the East Indies, we learn piloting,
chart work, and small boat handling. In
the lagoons of some of these islands we
venture out in the ship’s 23-foot doubleended longboat equipped with oars and
sail for an overnight expedition with less
than a dozen hands to some small motu.
To sail, row, and navigate a pulling boat
no different than Captain Cook’s or Bligh’s
away from the ship among these same coral atolls and jungle-draped volcanic islands
is an extremely rare adventure (and a lot
of fun). Small boat handling is a skill we
value on Picton Castle, almost as much as
large ship handling.
Deep Sea Passage-Making
and Homeward Bound
Leaving Bali astern, Picton Castle sails
across the Indian Ocean and along the Africann coast. This is a 3,500-mile passage
westward across one of the world’s great
oceans. It can take a month or more for the
ship to complete. By now the ship’s company is working together well as a team.
Star navigation in the evening is taught
for the navigators interested in advanced
work. Sun sights are ongoing. Seamanship
workshops are held several times a week in
wire work, sail-making, engineering, and
ship handling theory. Some of the crew
27
“Mr. Mate, that will do the watches”
PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND
are furled and then it’s “Mr. Mate, that
will do the watches.”
No finer platform exists for acquiring
the experience and skills of the deep-sea sailor than a ship like Picton Castle on bluewater voyages. All hands work diligently and
swiftly to meet the traditional definition of
an “Ordinary Seaman” (OS): one who can
steer, handle sails, be useful on watch and
be an asset to his or her shipmates in fair
weather or foul. Once our trainees master
the basic skills of an OS, we encourage
them to advance as far as they can. No one
is spoon-fed the finer arts of the seafarer.
To become an “Able Bodied Seaman” (AB)
is a significantly higher achievement than
an OS. The crew must personally pursue
such goals to get the most out of the seamanship aspect of their voyage—they get
out of it what they put into it.
None of the above begins to speak
of the powerful experience drawn from
mastering the everyday tasks that keep
the ship in good shape, safe, and properly
navigated. This doesn’t even hint at the
power that evolves as forty disparate souls
become shipmates before the mast on this
voyage of a lifetime. It also doesn’t touch
on the myriad challenges we face that
come from sailing around the world with
our shipmates in an ageless trade-wind
square-rigged sailing ship. Destination and
starting point become one and the same.
Some of the crew find that their views of
themselves has been transformed from
today’s most common collective appellation of “consumer” to that of a “Citizen.”
A citizen first of their ship, then later of
their community.
Our voyage may begin on one day in
Lunenburg and one day we will all sign
off the ship, but this voyage of exploration will carry on the rest of our days for
the ones who sailed as crew in this barque.
This spring we embark for our next voyage
around the world in Picton Castle.
28
PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND
have evolved into sailmaking and rigging
assistants. The quarter-deck and main
hatch are covered with white cotton duck
being sewn into new t’gallants, royals, and
flying-jibs. Under the the Bosun’s watchful
eye, others will be wire-splicing, parceling
and serving new pendants for use aloft.
The rounding of the Cape of Good Hope,
the Agulhus Current, and Cape gales provide no shortage of seafaring lessons.
After a good stay at Cape Town, perfect trade-winds in the South Atlantic steering northwest towards Brazil and the West
Indies are our reward for getting around
southern Africa—this is a long and predictably storm-free, trade-wind passage. The
dedicated celestial navigator can achieve
(top left and above) Underway in the Indian
mastery there in the gentle South Atlantic
Ocean, bound for Mauritius and flying
Trades. For the month-long passage, worknew stuns’ls made by her crew.
shops are more frequent and focus is given
to those subjects that will round out the
Captain Moreland has spent the last 32 years
mariner (as well as prepare for any licensin traditional sailing ships and at sea. He
ing examinations crewmembers may be
sailed as Mate in the brigantine Romance on
contemplating: Rules of the Road, lights,
a world voyage as a young man; served four
buoys, safety regulations, modern convenyears as Boatswain in the Danish Danmark;
tions, and subjects of a theoretical nature).
restored, got certification, and established as
Many hands break off the watch system
a sailing school vessel the Schooner Ernesand turn-to as “Day-men” or “Idlers” (so
tina (ex-Effie M. Morrissey) for which he
called in the old days because they
received the National Trust For Hiswere not required to perform all In US waters, Picton Castle enters Narragansett Bay in July. toric Preservation’s National Honor
the daily chores and could sleep
Award in 1987. Moreland holds a
through the night) to work on new
license as “Master of Steam, Motor
sails, rigging, and carpentry or in
and Sail vessels of Any Gross Tons,
the engine-room.
Upon Oceans,” first issued to him by
From the Caribbean onwards,
the US Coast Guard in 1982 at the
the voyage end is only a few weeks
age of 28.
away. After a year, the ship is
For more information: David Robinson,
homeward bound and the crew are
Coordinator, Picton Castle Voyages,
seasoned mariners. What a homePOB 1076; 188 Montague St., Lunencoming it is to sail into Lunenburg
burg, Nova Scotia B0J 2C0 CANADA
again, take in the ship’s canvas for
902 634-9984; e-mail: info@pictonthe last time, and back her in alongcastle.com; web site: www.picton-castle.
com.
side the crowded wooden pier. Sails
PHOTO BY JOHN MCNAMARA
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005