Day 16 – Cool Mornings

Hi Everyone, Welcome to day 16 of our voyage. So you are not confused with the dates of the log and think that you have missed one don\’t worry you haven\’t, it is just that we are a day behind because of crossing the International Date Line so it is still Monday 5th January 2015 here.  Thanks to Greg from Red watch I have been given another night off from writing the Log so please find attached tonights edition of Captains Log.  Until tomorrow, take care.  Yours AyeCaptain Gav       Ahoy to all our family, friends, pets and other avid followers playing along at home…     Monday January 5th started with wake up shakes at 0330 for Red watch as we prepared for the 0400-0800 watch. Sunrise was at the ridiculously early time of 0425, which is a bit of a shock to the system! Unfortunately though, there was a thick band of cloud this morning which prevented us from seeing another beautiful Southern Ocean sunrise, often a highlight of this watch but no doubt we will see another one soon.  The rest of our 4-hour watch was rather eventful as the temperature descended to 12 degrees Celcius, the weather continued to steadily deteriorate and one by one we engaged in a battle with the ships helm to keep her on course towards Argentina instead of Antarctica. With Engines  finally switched off we hurtled along on a course of 090 under a full set of Square sails, a glorious sight to see after the last few days of motor sailing. Maximum speed reached during our watch was 14.4 knots, with winds gusting to 30+ knots.  White watch relieved us around 0745 and we immediately descended upon the galley to indulge in the feast prepared by Masterchef Aaron and his marvellous assistants Liam and Fiona, who as always did an amazing job considering the trying conditions and the occasional 30 degree heel that the vessel sometimes experienced courtesy of our helming (we tried our best…).     Following a morning brief held in the cafe (during which Navi Guesser Paige graced us with her presence from the Bridge) and the always-anticipated Happy Hour, Red Watch had the next 8 hours off, giving us ideal time to relax, read or catch up on the often-elusive sleep. Sleep often wins out in this case, particularly when the ship is at a fairly consistent heel, making it as comfortable as possible to add some hours to the sleep bank. Lunch was at 1115, and following this a lot of us snuck in another hour or two in preparation for our 12-hour day tomorrow.  At 1400 Shaun the 2nd engineer onboard gave a lecture about the ships mechanical systems, which a number of the Wayfarers (as Sail Master Kenny refers to us for this 24 hr period) chose to attend. Weather had markedly improved by then so even those on watch were able to attend. Given that there are a number of technically-minded sailors among the Wayfarers, this was a much appreciated insight into what keeps our favourite ship running.  Currently the Reddies are enjoying a beautiful sunny First Dog Watch (1600-1800) as we cruise along on a course of 130 at about 6 knots boat speed. Fuelling our progress towards the Furious Fifties is ~20 knots of breeze with a relatively calm swell of about 2m. Cape Horn is still another 13-14 days away so we’re bound to hit some more hard and fast sailing conditions soon, making this pocket of relatively benign conditions all the more appreciated.  From all of us down here at 47 South 161 West, we hope that you are enjoying the adventure as much as we are. The next Wayfarer will surely give you a stellar update on how we’re faring sometime tomorrow, and we look forward to your company then.  Yours Aye, Greg (Red watch, in case you couldn’t tell)”