Arrived safely to Los Angeles. Extreme culture shock. There is a crazy machine that makes it so you don’t have to do your laundry in a bucket.

Can’t believe I’m not on the ship. 3 months of coconut-related machete injuries, broken bones, suturing surgical and dental procedures and starting IV’s in rolling seas, wild skin infections, medical evacuations, island clinics and house calls, and of course all of our seasick high risk pregnant ladies .

And fishing.

Incredibly grateful to the wonderful people of the islands who took us into their homes and made us part of their families.

Picton Castle crew, make sure you finish your antibiotics because we’re out. And go have a drink. I miss you immensely.

Chief Engineer David “DB" Brown receiving his tattoo from living master Tetini Pekepo.

T as he is known through Rarotonga and the tattoo and Polynesian heritage communities is a true artist and scholar. He only sees clients by appointments that are scheduled to create living art in the Polynesian revival style of tattoo. He learns your life history during an interview, sketches the spirit of the tattoo lightly on your skin, then lays hands and gives traditional prayer over the area to be worked on. He adds the raw ink in an organic process over hours to create- in this case at least- one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve ever seen. He closes the session with a healing massage over the area.

DB received a tattoo regarding his heritage as a native Pitcairn Islander, descended directly from the landing members of the HMS Bounty. Each element of his tattoo tells his and his ancestors story of being seafarers, the struggles they faced, and the draw of his home and life. It is simply stunning.

T is also a massage therapist and healer, and an extremely accomplished traditional ocean navigator and respected in these communities as well.

It was an honor to be able to observe and photograph the process, my thanks to both T and DB.

Kids.

Cook Islands: Palmerston, Nassau, Puka Puka.

Cargo.

Ship’s Work, Picton Castle, South Pacific.

Swim Call.

At anchor, Picton Castle, Palmerston Island, Cook Islands.

Safely arrived in Rarotonga and paying 10 dollars for an hour of Internet! There is a big giant satellite dish pulling down web traffic onto the island.

Working on this ship is hard as hell and i think everyone is loving it.

Ship’s clinic has been busy!

Will try to upload a few images next time I have access.

-A

End of the Internet Road

I’m sitting in New Zealand, and very shortly will depart for the Cook Islands to meet the Picton Castle.

There is very poor internet access there and at the ports we’re accessing or so I’ve read.

So, this will be lights-out for photos for a bit but I should be able to post text from time to time.

Here’s to adventure. Go out and find some.

-A