Ashburnham resident sailed on tall ship voyage to Martinique

Melissa Joyce stands on the deck of the Picton Castle during a three week course on piloting and seamanship on Tall Ships. Courtesy Photo

Melissa Joyce, a junior at Mount Holyoke College, is one of 13 students who took part in a 14-day sailing voyage in January aboard the 300-ton steel sailing ship Picton Castle, a three-masted barque that has completed four voyages around the world.

The group boarded the ship in Grenada on Saturday, Jan. 6 and disembarked at Martinique on Saturday, Jan. 20. The trip is part of the January term course Piloting, Seamanship, and Tall Ship Handling, taught by professor of politics Christopher Pyle.

The students participated fully in the ship's operation along with the ship's crew - working aloft, hauling lines on deck, manning the helm, navigating, standing watch, helping in the galley, and doing basic maintenance. The students maintained a running blog, mhcsailing. wordpress.com, transmitted daily via satellite phone, along with digital photos.

Joyce is the daughter of Fred and Cynda Joyce of Ashburnham. She has experience with GPS and its related GIS mapping programs and hopes to gain more knowledge on the wide variety of its usage, especially nautical navigation.

She was excited to see a new part of the world and try her hand at tall ship sailing.