Welcome!
"Travels With Barbara" is an online journal for my upcoming voyage on the "Picton Castle" from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Bali, Indonesia.
Sailing to the Pacific islands on a square-rigger has been a lifelong dream of mine. I had signed on to do a similar voyage in 1990 and was very disappointed when the voyage was cancelled just one month before departing. And I have considered the possibility several times since then. Now, finally, as I approach "the big five-oh," the opportunity is at hand and I'm ready to embrace it wholeheartedly!
Why this passion for tall ships (especially square-riggers) and the Pacific? Well, you could say it is a "genetic affliction". My parents both spent 18 months sailing around the world (1947-1949) with Captain Irving "Skipper" Johnson and Exy Johnson aboard the Brigantine "Yankee." My dad, Steve Johnson, was first mate on the "Yankee's" fourth world voyage and my mom, Mary Booth (Johnson) was Blacksmith on the same voyage. In fact, that's where they got to know one another so well and decided to get married after returning home. Not only did I see the movie, read the book (Yankee's Wander World), grew up with their souvenirs in the house and heard a lot about Mom and Dad's voyage, I also heard all about Skipper and Exy's other sailing excursions since they are my great-uncle and great-aunt. Sailing is in my blood. I have a particular affinity for tall ships and a special interest in seeing some of the islands my parents visited 55 years ago, especially Galapagos and Pitcairn.
My own sailing career didn't start until I was in my early 20's. I sailed a few times on friends' boats and then enrolled in a sailing school on City Island (NY) to learn small boat handling. While living in NYC in the 80's I became a charter member of the Manhattan Yacht Club when it started, and raced J-24s in New York Harbor. In 1989, as I seriously contemplated quitting the corporate rat race in NYC, I saw an ad in Yankee Magazine for the Schooner "Ernestina" that was planning a nine month voyage to the Pacific islands and back. I went to New Bedford, MA to see the "Ernestina" and met Capt. Dan Moreland. In the fall of 1989 (after a summer in the Alaskan bush), I sailed on the "Ernestina" a couple of times along the New England coast and, the following summer, from Brigus, Newfoundland to New Bedford, MA. By this time I was hooked on tall ship sailing and more than ready to set sail for the Pacific! I was in Alaska again in the early fall (1990) when I learned that the voyage, scheduled to leave early November, had been cancelled. Meanwhile, I had met Carl Pickhardt, a terrific boatbuilder! (see www.cpboats.com to take a look at his work), during the summer and decided to spend "a year or two" in the Catskills to be close to him. That "year or two" has extended to more than 14 years and we're still together. Carl has built several canoes, rowboats and sailboats - mostly for customers, of course. Some canoes and rowboats we've had the pleasure of playing with before they were sold. And one sailboat, the Lightning we named "Tesseractyl", he built specifically for us to sail. We've had a lot of fun with it on the Hudson River, Cape Cod (Wellfleet), Skaneatlas and Sacandaga Lakes.
When Capt. Moreland acquired the "Picton Castle", before taking it to Lunenburg for the major overhaul that converted it into a sailing vessel, he had the ship docked in Kingston, NY - just 50 miles from where Carl and I live in the Catskill Mountains. We visited Capt. Dan and saw the ship a few times in Kingston. Carl's son, Erik (then 12 years old), went on board as Cabin Boy when Capt. Dan took the ship from Kingston to Lunenburg. A few months later Carl and I went on board the ship as she returned from New Bedford, MA to Lunenburg. (By the way, arriving in Lunenburg from seaward is a real treat and I highly recommend it!).
When the "Picton Castle" was ready to set out on her first world voyage, I seriously considered signing on. The details of being the sole owner of a business and a house with a mortgage got in the way. One of my cousins, Matthew Johnson, joined the "Picton Castle's" first world voyage from Australia to Lunenburg. When the second voyage came along there was some other reason I couldn't go. The third voyage was Erik's (Carl's son) trip; he was just finishing high school and was ready to set out on his own adventure - he certainly did not need an adult from home on the same ship. Another cousin of mine, Mike Johnson, and his wife, Carla Martin, also went on the "Picton Castle's" third world voyage, from Lunenburg to Bali. Carl and I went to Lunenburg in June, 2003 to see Erik off on his world voyage and again in June, 2004 to greet him as the ship sailed in to her home port after a 12 month voyage all the way around the world. So, by now both the "Picton Castle" and Lunenburg feel quite familiar to me and I'm really looking forward to making the ship my home for the next seven months.
Now the "Picton Castle" is about to set forth on her fourth world voyage and it's my turn to live my dream of sailing a square-rigger to the Pacific islands!
