Day 10 – Aegean Sea

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 10 of our voyage. Overnight in light conditions we managed to transit through the Dardanelles and entered the Aegean Sea. Today’s focus has again been on sail setting and furling with Taff giving added instruction on how to set the mainsail. All of this sail work during the past 30hrs culminated in us conducting our first set of tacks this afternoon which has proven that all of this training has been hoisted in and we are quickly starting to work well together as a Crew.  To reward the Crew for their hard work on completion of tacking stations we handed in all sail and once stopped in the water gave everyone the chance to have a 15 minute swim in the refreshing (cool) water of the Aegean Sea.By 1615 everyone was out of the water and we again got underway but due to the extremely light conditions are continuing to have to motorsail.  Tomorrow morning we will arrive in Volos and have been assured of a very friendly welcome with a flotilla of local boats expected to come out to meet us. Other activities including a reception have been organised for our two day visit so all of us are excited about our short stay in Greece.  The responsibility of writing tonight’s Log went to White Watch so please enjoy reading about our today’s many activities.Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain Gav  Captains Log: 03MAY15  Ahoy there everyone! Welcome to the Captains Log of Day 10 of Voyage 4! Wow! Time seems to have flown rather quickly.  Today was a huge day in terms of training and learning the ropes of the ship. We worked to perfect our turns and knots as well as learn about all the different sails on board. We started off consolidating our setting and furling of sails, after THE HAPPIEST HOUR OF THE DAY! :D  Each watch took turns in setting sails and furling them back in. Some are encountering difficulties in comprehending the unusual sailing language and jargon, for example “bearing away” is not running away from a bear… Handling the “Clewlines” with no actual clue of what’s going on, and there are “gaskets” that are not found in a car, but are handy at trying your luck with a few knots! We are quickly coming up with our own little ways of remembering the many braces, sheets, tacks (BigSeaTurtles for example).  Rope races proved to be painful and challenging, starting to get into the line handling and placement around the ship as well as our knowledge on knottage! A tie (ha ha!) ensued which presented with an amusing fruit-off, where James (Whities!), Yak and Ally were battling it out to down an apple as fast as they could. Ally came out with a triumphant victory over the two boys by consuming the WHOLE apple in a matter of minutes!  Later on in the day Taffy imparted some instruction as to how to set and brail the Mainsail, which is one of the biggest sails on the ship. This required the majority of the Crewies to set the mainsail as well as learning about inhauls (pulls in the head of the main) and outhauls (pulls out the head of the main) and how they manipulate the sail!  We moved into the early afternoon as all watches continued to go through the motions of setting and furling. As we became more competent we were instructed to muster at tacking stations! This was our first tack this afternoon, with a crazy 3 knots of wind to blow our socks off! (only 5.4km/hr) Setting Taffy’s Sail Master record of successfully tacking the ship with the least amount of wind. Step by step we went through our tacking methods, each with a set tacking station on the ship.  Today we learnt that Tacking and Wearing on ships are not the same thing. Tacking, in nautical terms is where the bow (front) of the vessel moves across into the wind when it turns. Wearing away is when the stern (back) of the ship is moved into the wind when turning. We practiced both wearing and tacking of the ship.  The highlight of the day for sure was… SWIMMING STATIONS! The wind dropped off completely, the sun was high and bright and the water was a glassy Mediterranean blue that looked far too inviting to ignore… After working up a sweat at tacking stations and wearing we took our lead from Cap’t Gav and all bombarded the waters to cool off, jumping from the deck and bowsprit.  We all jumped back into our watches after returning back on board, some of us got to sunbake while others learnt navigation skills from the knowledge masters. Dinner of course was amazing, cooked by the exceptional Jenko, Nikki and Vikky! Woop woop!Upon reflection of today’s events we have come to realise that tiredness is catching up on us and eating a big lunch followed by TWO sea sickness tablets usually ends up with dinner overboard. The first Voyage 04 Chunder was recorded early this morning with great success! Also some believe that multiple push ups are considered a “reward” and an appropriate “team building” exercise (MITCH!). The journey thus far has been amazing, a huge learning curve for some, and a chance to re-live sailing this amazing vessel on some of the most beautiful waters in the world.  Lucy here- having such an amazing time, feel like I’m learning a brand new language and often completely overwhelmed with it all, however, have some pretty top friends who are being rather patient with me . All going well, hope everything at home is going well. Thinking of you Dad- be patient you’ll be driving again soon. Miss you both, lots of love xx!Hey Spreyton Primary! Hope you are all surviving term two- good luck grade 3’s in NAPLAN- certainly thinking of you, just don’t stress! Adventure Ted is having a blast! She’s climbed the mast, found multiple sneaky hiding places and spends most of the time in the galley (kitchen). 2/3 Crowden- please don’t forget who I am- but please have a wonderful time with Miss Crowden! Love Miss Murfet xxHi All! Sarah here (: Just wanted to say I’m absolutely loving being back on board. It’s like I never left! Sailing through the Dardanelles and the Angean Sea is extraordinary, and I still can’t believe I’m here. A shout out to Mum, the Brother and Gma and Bpa – I’m always thinking of you and your stories Billpa when I’m sailing across the seas, so much of just being out here reminds my of the time spent on board the wonderful mulberty! I can’t imagine how amazing the next few weeks to be as it’s just going to get better. We’re on the way to Vollos in Greece, and navigating our way through the Greek Islands. Love to everyone back home, I miss you all lots, but I’m having such a wonderful time. I’ll see you in the UK James! Woop Woop! (: xoxox”