Day 3 – Maria Island and Schouten Passage.

Ahoy shipmates…Day Three…another jam packed day! After some rolly conditions overnight we finally made it around Tasman Island and across the sheltered waters of Marion Bay enroute Maria Island. After an overcast start to the day, the 15-20 knot north easterly breeze blew away the clouds resulting in a sunny, if a little cool, day. All is well, today we completed our first set of tacks (always fun), the youth crew are starting to get their sea legs and are settling into life at sea. Tomorrow we are aiming for Wineglass Bay…hopefully the weather gods are kind to us. That’s it from me, I’ll hand you over to white watch. Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny———–
It was a wild and windy start to the day, with White Watch taking the shift from 12 – 4. Due to the rough weather 7 out of the 9 members of White Watch decided to involuntarily share their dinner with the fish. As you can imagine, this was an excellent start to Day 3. Due to the windy conditions, the main sail had to be furled away, requiring 2 members of the watch to climb the main mast in rough conditions, putting ties around the main sail. This led to those 2 members swinging wildly on the main mast as they passed ropes backwards and forwards, tying off the sail. After multiple sails were furled then set, it was finally bedtime! Thanks to the lovely members of blue watch, both watches still asleep got wakened to an …excellent… rendition of “Staying Alive”. After an excellent feast for breakfast, we learnt how to tack with the whole crew. This was one of the best experiences of the day, with the entire crew working together, learning, and sailing the ship through various turns across the wind. This led us towards Maria Island where we disembarked for the first time in three days. Arriving onshore was a much anticipated pleasure, with many people being disappointed when they realized they had spent so long on the ship that the ground was rocking underneath them!! A ranger then gave us a tour of the convict settlement on Maria Island where we learnt how harsh the conditions were for stealing a loaf of bread. This tour included an explanation of the history that each of the buildings had been through, from the local prison to the local coffee shop. Finishing off the tour with a quick hike through the woods to search for the local wildlife, we stumbled across a few wombats, with a couple of paddy melons thrown into the mix. After this, it was time to return to the ship. The tour guide came back to the ship with us, and he dressed up in a red-guard uniform to give an example of how a true red guard would have dressed in the days of convicts on Maria Island. Down time until dinner was much appreciated by everyone on watch, with the crew scattering across the ship to take much needed rest, and play some games to relax. This was enhanced when the crew got surprised with several cheese platters shared around. Dinner was a barbeque, but due to the windy conditions, could not be cooked on deck. This did not stop some of the more determined souls from eating on deck with a view. This was followed by some crew members climbing to the lower top, looking across the ocean from a 15m vantage point is quite the experience! Whilst this was happening, the ship had to be sailed through Schouten passage, with the staffie’s looking after the ship for that portion. Once this was completed, White Watch was tasked with watch from 8 till 12. The watch has started, the wind has picked up once again, and we will hope to keep 7 people from feeding the fishes tonight.
Signing off,
Ted, Vani, and the rest of White Watch.