On Board the Tall Ship Picton Castle

Picton Castle Ship's Doctor Morton and Abby

 

 

When the barque Picton Castle was recently anchored off St. Geroge, we had a chance to go aboard. Check out www.pitcon-castle.com for more info, crew diaries, photos, captain's log, etc. This 179 foot ship is a deep-ocean sail training vessels equipped with a steel hull, oil pine decks, and 12,450 square feet of canvas sail. Tar is used on the lines, just as it would have been in the old days of wooden ships, so most of the crew had tar on their clothes. Well, this is an authentic working tall ship, the likes of which have not been seen in many a year. It must take a new crew's breath away the first time all the Picton Castle's sails are filled with wind. After being on this amazing ship, books like Master and Commander became MUCH more real to me. Mind you, after seeing the damp communal sleeping quarters below on the rainy day we visited, I lost all interest in actually being onboard a ship like this for more than, say, an afternoon.

In the "small world" category, the ship's doctor, Dr. Morton, from Maine was a board member of the Gulf of Maine Aquarium back in the 1970s when I was a staff member there. How about that?!

Agapanthus with Day Lilies

 

Agapanthus, "Lily of the Nile"

Agapanthus. July is the time of the agapanthus. I am frustrated because I can't quite capture the bold purple color and presence of these huge flowers (10 inches in diameter). They are garden show stoppers.

Abby's Horse Paintings

 

Abby has been doing some very nice paintings of horses recently. Here are two of her latest. Pretty good, huh? My horses, on the other hand, look like strangely evolved dogs.

Abby's First Archery Lesson

 

Abby has begun taking archery lessons from Jeanie Butterfield who is a world-class competitor. Abby had been diligently making her own bows and arrows from bits of wood collected from around Mangrove Lake (mangrove branches make good bows). She has been so interested and determined that I was very pleased to be able to arrange"the real thing" with Jeanie.

Soggy Good Spirits

 

Broughton Bungee Run

 

Gombey Dancer

 

Yes, expats in Bermuda DO celebrate the Fourth of July. Despite a rainy beginning, over 3,000 folks gathered on July 1 near Dockyard for "American" food (hot dogs, fried chicken, hamburgers, cole slaw, potato salad, apple pie, ice cream, popcorn, sodas), games, bingo, music, and, of course, fireworks. If the rainy day hadn't dampened enthusiasm for the evening, around 5,000 people had been expected. Fortunately, the rain ended early in the evening, and the fireworks were spectacular.

So, here are three photos (see above) of events: (1) Abby eating her hamburger in the rain at the start of the festivities, (2) our friends the Broughtons competing (father and son) in a very amusing bungee-run event where at the end of your all-out run to place a velcroed ribbon as close to the end as possible, the bungee line snaps you back to the start (3) Gombey dancers.

"Gombey dancers?" you ask. Well, the Gombey dance tradition originated in West Africa. This tribal dance was imported into Bermuda and the Caribbean along with slavery. Over time, Gombey dancers incorporated calypso and reggae dance steps and beat, Biblical stories, stylistic elements from the British military, and costumes influenced by American Indians: an ecletic hodgepodge of entertainment and a tradition in which members of Gombey troupes take great pride. The costumes are handmade and the tradition is proudly transferred from one generation to the next.