Improved Conditions

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 3 of our voyage. During the early hours of this morning the wind moderated and veered to the south west which enabled us to tack and commence making ground to the south east. It was always my intention to get south to the Roaring 40’s as quickly as possible so this wind shift certainly assisted with this plan.Regrettably due to the conditions we were not able to stay close to the coast and visibly see the Cape of Good Hope as we rounded but this was accepted by all onboard who understood the need to pickup the most favourable conditions when we had the chance.Given these improved conditions our World Voyagers have been kept busy while on watch with setting and furling of sails, climbing and early this afternoon the first round of Rope Races.There was a brief interruption to today’s activities with the sighting of a large pod of Sperm Whales that passed directly in front of the ship, which from memory is the first time that we had seen this species of whale during the World Voyage.Late this afternoon in moderate to strong south westerly conditions the ship was called to tacking stations and we successfully completed our first set of tacks as a crew. This is an important activity early in the voyage as it demonstrates that we can work efficiently as a crew to put the bow or stern of the ship through the wind when we need to alter course or have a major wind shift.Regrettably our favourable conditions didn’t last as early this evening the wind moderated to 10-12kts which has meant the use of main engines for the next few hours but we expect the wind to freshen again overnight. Currently we are located 80nm to the SSW of Cape Agulhas motor sailing in light-moderate southerly conditions.Volunteering to write tonight’s Captains Log is Jamie from Blue Watch, please enjoy.Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain Gav25 November 2015Captains LogThis morning the Red Watch woke up with little-to-no sleep after taking the first guts watch (12-4am). The day was beautiful after yesterdays rough introduction to life off the coast of South Africa.. Which was pretty hectic with most of the crew in the spew bin.Headed south-west to escape the unfavourable conditions. This meant an early good bye to the African coast. Red watch slept through breakfast to catch the most potential Zzz’s … and most of us managed to make morning brief at 930am..but Jamie got a personal wake up call.At morning brief we went through the days plan (safety, rope races & tacking stations) and met Salty the walking-pirate-encyclopaedia. Started off with an early happy hour, then back on watch after lunch which was master chefed by Matt, Bec and Rebecca under Chef Jenko’s watchful spatula. Conditions for watch were way more welcoming today. Sun was out, saw a pod of whales, Shaun took Meghan, James, Matt & Rose straight up to prepare the topgallant. Pretty steep intro to tallship-sailing 101!After watch whilst some of the youth crew were lying in the sun Jamie was lucky enough to get a shower of vomit from Dylan who was above on the course. Mmmm.Then rope races – The traditional challenge to see which watch would prove quickest and sharpest in all things nautical. Thinking and moving around was a challenge for the majority of us who were still adjusting to keeping food where it belongs.Then the big one! All crew to tacking stations. Ran our initial tacks and weathered away under the guidance of our Capt’n and crew! Pretty sure we’re professional pirates already..?Dinner from the masterchefs was superb. 5 michelin stars *****. Shepherds pie, Thai green curry, potato, potato, potato and desert. Jamie remembers everything on the menu! buuut“I didn’t eat a lot of dinner” (Jamie’s final sea-sick skipped meal hopefully).A game of cards and chess later, and now we’re back on watch. Let the adventure begin!J&J