Day 3 – All hands on deck

After our first night of alternating watches, we kicked off the day with a 0700 start, made much easier with a huge, scrumptious brekkie courtesy of Keely. Red watch handed over to White at 0745 and prepped for the day before our morning meeting at 0900, in which the fabulous Captain Salty gave us some fun nautical facts with the help of his Oscar-winning staffies. We were given a quick brief of the day’s itinerary, which would include much hard yakka, and were sent to party below deck during “happy hour” (which involves a lot more sponges and mops than your local pub’s “happy hour”). This was followed by a lesson on navigation, measuring latitude & longitude and distance-speed conversions from the energetic Keith. Emma then introduced us to the ins and outs of Square Sailing, and challenged each watch crew to prove their sailing superiority in a competitive ‘ropeys’ competition testing our knowledge of nautical lingo. After a big morning of go-go-go, a handful of energetic sea puppies still opted to take another climb aloft the main sail and forestay to release the gasket lines and open the square sails. Back down in the galley, Keely then treated us to pulled pork sandwiches on Turkish loaf with plenty of salad sides and honey soy chicken wings to stuff us all into a soporific daze. Many fell into a midday slumber in the sun, while Blue Watch took the helm at 1200 and enjoyed surveying the sunny weather and dolphins occasionally dancing alongside the ship. This watch was interrupted when our Captain called for all hands on deck to tack, and every single crew member assumed a unique routine that they must master in order for the whole ship to change direction efficiently. After a great deal of teamwork, yelling, and heaving, it was mission success! After a great effort, each watch took turns on the bow spit, taking in the sea spray and dangling feet of the edge. Tori cranked the tunes, prompting an impromptu dance party on the bow as the sun began to set. This was followed by our routine dinner, shower and watch swap leading up to 1930, in which our Captain threw an unexpected spanner in the works, calling for all hands on deck to tack. This forced a few groggy mid-nap teenagers out in an array of pyjamas and bed hair, but the job certainly got done! It’s safe to say that this ship’s starting to feel a lot less like a seasickness hell and a lot more like home already. Xoxo Blueys Log.