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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 24 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