NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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THE ART, LITERATURE, ADVENTURE, LORE & LEARNING OF THE SEA

No. 109 WINTER 2004-2005

SEA HISTORY

THE AGE OF SAIL CONTINUES ON PICTON CASTLE Whaling Letters

North Carolina Maritime MuseumRediscover the Colonial Periauger

Sea History for Kids

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Today the modern sailing school ship is typically a sailing ship op-erated by a charitable organization

whose mission is devoted to an academic or therapeutic program under sail, either at sea or on coastwise passages. Her pro-gram 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 fo-cused educational forum without neces-sarily being one of strictly maritime edu-cation. 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 appren-tices 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 pro-fessional 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 es-tablished their own cargo-carrying sailing ships for the purpose of training their fu-ture 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 pe-riod 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 mid-1950s, a few European seafaring nations still required their merchant officer candi-dates acquire a portion of their sea-time under large tonnage sail. In time, especially during the so-cialization of education in the 1920s and 30s, many governments took over the

by Captain Daniel D. Moreland

role of education, particularly maritime. For example, in 1931 Denmark built the full-rigger Danmark as a merchant ma-rine 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 engi-neers (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, determi-nation, and know-how. They had to plan

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 com-mercial sail never intending to make a life of it. They sailed for many reasons but we might lump the motivations under ad-venture. 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, oppor-tunities to sail cropped up in new capaci-ties. A number of ships and enterprises developed to take young people to sea under canvas. The full-rigger Joseph Con-rad, 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 enormous-ly capable Captain Irving Johnson and

Carrying the Age of Sail Forward in the Barque Picton Castle

PHOTO BY DANIEL D. MORELAND

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Captain Arthur Kimberley making Picton Castle’s first suit of sails. Kimberley sailed as a young man on the full-rigged ship Abra-ham Rydberg, a cargo-carrying sail train-ing ship. Later, as owner and Captain of the brigantine Romance for 23 years, Kimberley and his wife Gloria made two circumnavi-gations and numerous voyages to the South Pacific in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s with pay-ing apprentices—Dan Moreland was Mate on Romance’s first circumnavigation.

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his wife Exy. After WWII the Johnsons converted another fine vessel into the ship that became known as the brigantine Yan-kee. 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 mod-ern 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 val-ues 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. Re-sources 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.

Picton Castle Preserves the Legacy

Much has naturally been made about preserv-ing the great historical ships of the world that survive. The story of Pic-ton 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 preserva-tion perspective this may be no less signifi-cant than saving historic ships themselves. Picton Castle is an 180-foot barque-rigged vessel built of riveted steel in Eng-land 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

clipper sailing lines, Picton Castle is not simply a con-version. When the question is asked, “a power vessel into a sail-boat, how can it be?”, recall that the famous British clipper-ship Tweed was converted from a steamer. Rigged and refitted for deep-water voyages in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Picton Castle has made three voyages around the world since 1997. The ship embarks on her next circumnavigation in May of 2005—crew are signing up now. Picton Castle is a sail training ship of the old school. Her program is the ship and the voyage. She is a cargo-carrying square-rigger of about 560 tons displace-ment making long, transoceanic voyages,

principally a world circumnavigation in the tropics. She sails with a large crew of apprentices led by a small core of experi-enced and dedicated young professionals. This gang works the ship and handles the cargo of educational supplies and trade goods for delivery to remote tropical is-lands. They face calm, storm, and heat, plus visit exotic seaports together and sail the trade winds on passages crossing the world’s oceans. Picton Castle’s anchor windlass and capstan are hand operated.

All hands live in open foc’s’le-type berth-ing areas and sleep in pilot bunks. There is neither air conditioning nor private cabins—fresh water is limited. Her sails are cotton canvas hand sewn on deck by her crew. Every wire aloft supporting her masts and every length of manila line that trims her 12,500 square feet of sail is put in place and cared for by the very hands that sail this ship. If a yard needs to be replaced or should the ship’s launch require a new 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 par-amount 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 cir-cumnavigation our crew become acquainted with islanders and villagers in the ports and islands we visit. Windows into near

inaccessible worlds are flung open by the welcome of the people we meet along the way. Traditional dances, kava ceremonies, feasts, climbing to waterfalls and volca-noes, trading for carvings, baskets, and spears in the jungle, paddling dugouts back to the ship—these things become al-most routine. Life-long friendships often develop. This voyage turns out some true deep-water sailing ship seafarers with all that that implies. Picton Castle’s has its origins in the

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Tom Ward minds his helm in rough weather on Picton Castle’s first world voyage.

Hands bending on sail underway.

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old sailing ship apprentice system that developed in the late 19th century. Young would-be-sea-men signed aboard a big freight-hauling square-rigger, often pay-ing a fee to the ship in return for the practical experience of working alongside the seasoned professional sailors and receiv-ing extra nautical instruction from the officers. These apprentices normally got plenty of the former (work) and very little of the latter (instruction). Picton Castle’s ambition is to live up to that old prom-ise of experience but with real instruction actually carried out—with one significant variation—she sails the trade-winds in the tropic latitudes instead of the Cape Horn road and the “Roaring Forties.” In the “old days,” watch systems were typically four hours on duty and four off. In those few hours off, the sea-

man had to eat, attend to any personal re-quirements and sleep, with the guarantee of being called out to handle sail on his “off-watch.” This practice was only just humanly bearable. His time in port was most likely spent on a scaffold scaling rust from the ship’s sides or facing day after backbreaking day of loading or discharg-ing thousands of tons of cargo or ballast. With rarely as much as an afternoon’s run ashore, the seamen would languish on-board for weeks or even months while the ship swung at anchor in port. In those last brutal days of large working sail many a hard-bitten old salt had a dream. While

hauling frozen braces in violent storms, icy sea-water up to his waist, rounding Cape Horn in an under-manned full-rigger or beating across the North Atlantic in the teeth of endless winter gales with hard-as-oak cold salt beef passing for sustenance, he would either swear to quit the sea or that his next berth would be in a nice co-pra schooner or small trading barque in the tropics. Far, far away from the physical hardship and iron discipline that was his seafaring existence, he fantasized of a sail-ing life in the sun-drenched South Seas.

Wouldn’t that would be the life! This ship and her voyages together are the “old salt’s dream” come true. In a voyage around the world in Pic-ton Castle, we aim to do it all. Steer at the big teak wheel with the ship running free in the trade-winds, haul braces to wear ship in a gale of wind, tar down shrouds high aloft in a bosun’s-chair—nothing but blue sea and sky all around, learn to work the sextant and lead line. Our crew learn to stitch up a new lower topsail of stiff cotton duck with palm and needle and work aloft. Of course, there must be time to complain about the mate or captain on

the fore-deck on a dog watch. A cruise on this ship is not exactly glamorous.

Outward Bound for Around the World

A couple weeks prior to sailing, the new crew of the barque Picton Castle converge

on the wharf in Lunenburg, Nova Sco-tia—the shiip’s home port. There is much to be done to get the ship ready for sea and to start the business of learning to become a seafarer. Lunenburg can be cold and damp in May and is a long fetch from the tropics. To ready for sea the new hands must bend sail, reeve off all running rig-ging, send t’gallant and royal yards aloft, and pack the hold with supplies. This fills our days. Paint, canvas, cases of food, box-es of books, bales of second-hand clothes 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 un-derway 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 de-tails of becoming capable and useful crew. The mates teach new crew to fill in the logbook, estimate wind, weather, ship’s speed, plot a position, and generally gain a sense of the sea. It is all pretty exciting but it can be very cold and even miserable at first. Nonetheless, all hold out for the warm blue Caribbean we know is ahead as we make way for the Panama Canal. After transiting the Canal (a revela-tion in itself ), we steer for the Galapagos Islands and cross the Equator for the first time. Rain squall drill, running rigging, basic knots and splices, and rotations in the galley are drummed into the neo-phyte sailor. We visit only a short time in these famous “utterly barren and desolate” islands, but then we stay longer than

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Drying cotton duck sails at the dock in Lunenburg.

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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 Pacifi c Ocean. Th is takes about four weeks under sail, our fi rst real trade-wind passage. Th is 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 fi nd that there is a dif-ference 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 Pacifi c Th e 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

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. Th e 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, Melane-sia, 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 double-ended 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 diff erent than Captain Cook’s or Bligh’s away from the ship among these same cor-al 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 Af-ricann coast. Th is 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 com-pany 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

(l to r): Ship’s carpenter Kim Smith shapes a new plank with an adze; Rebecca Libby at the sailmaker’s bench in 2004; Cap-tain Moreland splices the boltrope for on a new sail—a keen eye will notice the hand stitching on the sail. (Photos cour-tesy of Rigel Crockett, Daniel Moreland, and Kate Menser, respectively)

Rowing back to the ship off Asanbari.

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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 pro-vide no shortage of seafaring lessons. After a good stay at Cape Town, per-fect trade-winds in the South Atlantic steer-ing northwest towards Brazil and the West Indies are our reward for getting around southern Africa—this is a long and predict-ably storm-free, trade-wind passage. The dedicated celestial navigator can achieve mastery there in the gentle South Atlantic Trades. For the month-long passage, work-shops are more frequent and focus is given to those subjects that will round out the mariner (as well as prepare for any licens-ing examinations crewmembers may be contemplating: Rules of the Road, lights, buoys, safety regulations, modern conven-tions, and subjects of a theoretical nature). Many hands break off the watch system and turn-to as “Day-men” or “Idlers” (so called in the old days because they were not required to perform all the daily chores and could sleep through the night) to work on new sails, rigging, and carpentry or in the engine-room. From the Caribbean onwards, the voyage end is only a few weeks away. After a year, the ship is homeward bound and the crew are seasoned mariners. What a home-coming it is to sail into Lunenburg again, take in the ship’s canvas for the last time, and back her in along-side the crowded wooden pier. Sails

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 sail-or than a ship like Picton Castle on bluewa-ter 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 sea-manship 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 appella-tion 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 explora-tion 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.

Captain Moreland has spent the last 32 years in traditional sailing ships and at sea. He sailed as Mate in the brigantine Romance on a world voyage as a young man; served four years as Boatswain in the Danish Danmark; restored, got certification, and established as a sailing school vessel the Schooner Ernes-tina (ex-Effie M. Morrissey) for which he

received the National Trust For His-toric Preservation’s National Honor Award in 1987. Moreland holds a license as “Master of Steam, Motor and Sail vessels of Any Gross Tons, Upon Oceans,” first issued to him by the US Coast Guard in 1982 at the age of 28.

For more information: David Robinson, Coordinator, Picton Castle Voyages, POB 1076; 188 Montague St., Lunen-burg, Nova Scotia B0J 2C0 CANADA902 634-9984; e-mail: info@picton-castle.com; web site: www.picton-castle.com.

“Mr. Mate, that will do the watches”

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(top left and above) Underway in the Indian Ocean, bound for Mauritius and flying

new stuns’ls made by her crew.

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PHOTO BY JOHN MCNAMARA

In US waters, Picton Castle enters Narragansett Bay in July.