Day 3

On day three of our voyage we arrived into peaceful Picton, greeted by a flotilla consisting of two Coastguard boats and a small ferry. Prior to arriving we played the last post and then held a two minute silence for remembrance Sunday. We had a small crowd watching as we moored alongside, thankfully it went smoothly. We were greeted by the fantastic staff of the Edwin Fox Museum who greatly assisted our open day and visit to Picton. Once everything was cleaned up the voyage crew were allowed to go ashore, some brave souls went for a swim, others enjoyed real coffee and the Bosun’s Mates continued to work away for another few hours. The Edwin Fox Museum kindly opened their doors to all the crew and allowed us to explore the ship. We could clamber all over the inside of the hull and then walk around her in the dry dock. The Edwin Fox is a barque with the same rig to the Lord Nelson but much bigger, designed to carry a great deal of cargo, produce and people included. She is the 9th oldest ship in the world, and is the last surviving ship to carry convicts to Australia out of 1040 vessels. She is also the oldest surviving ship which brought immigrants to New Zealand.

All in all it was a lovely day with a good deal of sunshine to help us top up our tans. Loads of people came out for the open ship (with at least 15-20 people in wheelchairs), all showing great enthusiasm for the Lord Nelson.