STILL SAILING

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 56 of our voyage. Overnight the wind moderated which made me think that we would have to revert to the use of a main engine to make our scheduled arrival time in Rio but as soon as I mentioned the ‘engine word’ the wind magically strengthened and we continue to sail along nicely which now means that we haven’t used an engine in the past 10 days.Today has been a mixture of sail/rigging repairs and a strange Rasta Pirate Secret Santa Dance Party which us Staffies are still trying to get our heads around but the World Voyagers enjoyed themselves and that’s all that matters.For some of us Staff Crew it was day 300 of the voyage for us today which is quite an achievement. The whole voyage has been an amazing adventure and it seems like only yesterday that we departed Sydney and here we are with only two port visits and two ocean crossings left to go before we arrive in Fremantle on 22 Dec 15.Currently we are located 350nm to the NE of Rio de Janeiro still sailing downwind under three squares and maintaining a boat speed of 6kts. The forecast is for the wind to moderate tomorrow but they said that about today so who knows what might happen.Volunteering to write tonight’s Captain’s Log is Dan so please enjoy reading about today’s exploits of our World Voyage Crew. Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavCaptain’s Log 16th OctoberFriends, Romans, Country Man, Lend me your ears!For now it is time for the day’s Captain’s Log!The morning began like most others, although the wakey wakey song choice was rather painful to the eardrums. However being Friday, Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ seemed very fitting and the added commentary and back up vocals added by Red Watch made for a very unique and quite entertaining rise from our racks. We began the very familiar dodge em’ cars like procession from our racks up the corridor to shower and eventually the café for brekkie. Zac and Stephen had given Marcus a break and were cooking our various unique egg orders, bacon and porridge, and of course freshly cooked bread and cereals.For White Watch it was then up to the bridge to relieve Red Watch and assume our positions for Forenoon watch. After our usual ease into the watch our fearless leader and chief Knuckle gave permission for us to lay aloft the foremast, for what we had sold as a PT related climb, after the large brekkie that we had consumed.0900 all assembled on the starboard side of the bridge for yet another entertaining and informative morning brief. We were again honoured to bear witness to another hilarious tale from Ian. Today’s story involved him assuming the posture of a ‘wide mouthed frog’ that loved to hop through the forest and talk to all those he passed to ask what they eat, eventually the story came to a hilarious end and we were on to the plan for the day. After which Captain Gav presented more words of wisdom finishing with a Bruce Lee quote, “A wise man will learn more from a foolish question then a fool will learn from a wise answer.” With these wise words it was on with our day beginning with the daily rendition of the ‘Happy Hour Song’ and offcourse Happy Hour.First job of the Day was the replacement of the Main Gaff Topsail Sheet that had parted overnight and required a quick and successful salvage and rescue job by Captain Gav and Dougie. Once the remains of the old sheet were removed, Dougie donned his climbing harness and ran the new sheet through the blocks, in the process making those of us on the deck want to be up the mast enjoying the fun that he seemed to be having. With the new sheet run White watch plus Lewi began to re-set the Main Gaff Topsail, overcoming a few minor hitches, the Sail was set and we all enjoyed the new stability on deck that it produced.After Yet another spectacular lunch from the Magnificent Marcus some of the youthies settled into a well earned siesta before Ropies 2.0 at 1400. With Horto running proceedings we were soon ‘walking’ around the deck to be the first to call our watch once we had located the ‘weird shit’ Horto had instructed us to find. Upon completion of Ropies 2.0 we all donned our ‘Rusta-Pirate’ best for our secret Santa slash Rasta dance party slash not really sure what it was but it was hilarious. Following a secret Santa type gift giving/ gift stealing session it was time for some deck games conducted by the lovely Liv. After producing many laughs we all sprang back into action as there was work to be done.It was now time to change the Jib. For our voyage we have be running the #2 Jib which is about 110sqm and rated to an apparent wind speed of 28 kts. Basically for the reasons of fun and to see it set we began the process of changing to the #1 Jib or the ‘Drifter’. The Drifter coming in at the much larger size of 130sqm would give us more speed in the light conditions. Although half way through the process of feeding the new Jib into the foil serious issues became apparent that meant that the whole Change out was not possible. The bolt rope that holds the sail into the foil was too big in places and it was impossible for it to be fed in. So after a brief interlude for dinner we replaced the #2 Jib to her former glory and forgot about the whole thing, ‘That’s Sailing’ as Dougie said. It was however really awesome to see and be involved in the whole process of changing out a jib.We were again blessed with another glorious sunset, its becoming a daily thing now to hear someone exclaim “that’s the best sun rise ive ever seen!” With climbers aloft and some sitting on the bowsprit and others just enjoying it from the side of the deck, all enjoyed the last moments of sunshine in their own way. What a lovely day it has been! It’s great to be a Tall Ship Sailor!A quick Shout out to our engineers Shaun and Horto, for slaving away for five hours, missing lunch and their morning naps to replace the grey water pump that was cactus. Their courageous effort in the confined spaces of the forward pump locker has allowed us all to enjoy the benefit of showers and not having to smell our fellow man’s and women’s hard working aroma. Nobody likes a bug!This is Dan signing out, Bye for now.Shout OutsDan: Hi Mum, Dad, Tess and Ed Hope you are all going great! Hope your holiday is going splendidly Mum and Dad, Your exams went well Ed and The Farm is still functioning sis! Im still alive and having an absolute ball! Looking forward to getting home soon although will miss this ship and all on it a lot! Love you all to the moon and back! See you all soon XXXRudy: Hey Brother Burton! Happy Birthday! Hope you’ve had a great day where ever you are…Better be seeing you in Mexico- If not Ill book you a ticket myself for around 18 November! Lots of Love Sandy x