Picton Castle (ship)
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| History | |
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 Cook Islands
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| Name: | Picton Castle |
| Namesake: | Picton Castle |
| Port of registry: | Cook Islands |
| Completed: | 1928 |
| Homeport: | Lunenburg (unofficial) |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | Active |
| General characteristics As sailing ship | |
| Type: | Barque |
| Length: | 179 feet (55 m) |
| Propulsion: | 690 hp diesel engine |
| Sail plan: |
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| Crew: | 12 professional crew, up to 40 trainees |
Picton Castle is a fully certified and registered Cook Islands tall ship whose mission is deep-ocean sail training and long distance education voyages. Picton Castle is perhaps best known for her World Circumnavigations, though she has visited the Great Lakes twice, sailed numerous times on tours of the East Coast of the Americas, completed a Caribbean Voyage and in 2008 sailed to Europe, Africa and the Caribbean on a Voyage of the Atlantic. In 2012 she sailed for the South Pacific. Picton Castle's unofficial home port in Canada is Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, but she is formally registered in the Cook Islands and subject to that country's regulatory regime.
In 2001, a series called Tall Ship Chronicles followed Picton Castle on her second voyage around the world. The ship has carried out six world voyages to date - completing the sixth one in 2014. She will set sail on her 7th World Voyage in April 2018.
Picton Castle is rigged as a three-masted barque, is 179 feet (55 m) long, with a riveted steel hull, clear oiled pine decks, steel masts and wooden and steel yards. She carries 12,500 square feet (1,160 m2) of sail. The ship displaces 300 tons. She has a 690-horsepower diesel engine for the times when sailing is not feasible. The ship has space for roughly 52 people, consisting of about 12 professional crew and 40 sail trainees.
Picton Castle is a working tall ship. Sail trainee crew sign on with the knowledge that they will be participating fully in ship's operations. They stand watch, take turns at the helm, raise the anchor, clean the ship, haul on lines, handle sails, scrub the decks, participate in daily ships maintenance, help in the galley and keep lookout, among other things. The Captain and Mates conduct regular workshops designed to complement daily life on board. Workshops include seamanship, sail handling, sail making, ship maintenance, rigging, wire and rope splicing, knot tying, celestial navigation, plotting and chart work, rules of the road, weather, small boat handling, basic engineer and more. They also conduct regular safety drills onboard so that crew become familiar and comfortable with equipment and safety procedures. These drills include Fire, Man Overboard, and Abandon Ship.
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