Day 3 – Middle Island

Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 3 of our voyage.Following a pleasant first night at sea the ship came to anchor at Middle Island at 0650 this morning. On completion of breakfast and morning brief the Youth Crew were ferried ashore in the ship’s RHIB where they walked the short distance inland to view Lake Hillier which is the islands famous ‘pink lake’. On returning to the beach it was straight into the crystal clear water for a refreshing swim then a laze on the beach to dry off in the early morning sun.Regrettably due to time constraints we couldn’t stay ashore for more than a couple of hours and by 1130 we had ferried everyone back onboard. On completion of another one of Chef Marcus’s amazing lunches the anchor was weighed and we departed Middle Island. Early this afternoon in relatively calm conditions we conducted our first set of semi competitive ‘rope races’ which was followed by a navigation brief given by Kyle the ships Navigator.By 1600 this afternoon we were clear of the Recherche Archipelago and in moderate to strong SSE winds brought the ship under sail then shutdown main engines. The time is now 2000 and in near perfect sailing conditions we have commenced our passage across the Great Australian Bight. The weather forecast for the next 24hrs is for the conditions to remain about the same as what we are currently experiencing so it will help our young mariners gain their sea legs.Kindly volunteering to write tonight’s Captains Log is Claudia from White Watch, please enjoy.Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain Gav CAPTAIN’S LOG – 27 JAN 16Ahoy land lovers, greetings from the depths of the southern ocean.After White watch’s watch from 8-12am last night we handed over to Blue watch and settled in for a deep sleep only for the girls in the 12 berth to be awoken by the anchor being dropped at 7am. We anchored in the Bay of Middle Island and after our morning brief we were taken across to the island for a few hours of adventure. This wild adventure included walking the length of the beach and up to the top of the ridge to see the pink lake. The lake is pink due to red algae, we decided it was more of an aggressive salmon colour. During the walk a very cute, playful sea lion surfaced to show himself off and we also saw from the ridge a stingray making its way across the bay.We then headed back down to the beach for a swim and a muck around in beautiful clear water. Shoulder ride wars and backflips were amongst the happenings.Once back on board the boat we had a delicious lunch and weighed anchor at 12:30pm. We set some sails and then played Horto’s rope games at midships which entailed races to find the object said by Horto and using ourselves to spell out our watch leaders initials.We then had happy hour- cleaning stations, who knew pulling hair from drains could be so much fun. After a short break we then set the Topsail and Main sail and after more sail theory watches began, Red watch was first who spotted some dolphins (who had no porpoise here). Red watch then handed over to us- White watch.At 5:30pm Port engine was shut off and we are now officially under a full press of sail! Though some of us aren’t faring so well, sea sickness has taken its poor victims, most are trying to suppress their vomit whilst some (Hayden) put at least 30 minutes of effort into actually vomiting.We are now coming the end of last dog watch, but luckily we take watch again at 4-8am. Hope solid ground is treating you well, ClaudiaShout out to: Jenza and Aurora, love you guys, pls cuddle the dogs for me. -ClaudiaTHE James McCormack, Lynn, Connor + Alex!! Life must be boring without me 😉 -TiffanySup Fam, hope everyone Is having fun on land. Plz provide the Schnitzel when I get home – JayTo Mum, Jess, Kev, Dani I know you all are missing me  enjoy it while you can – AmyHi Mum, Dad, Gen and Morgan+ everyone else 😛 hope you’re not missing me too much!! - Natalie