Day 4 – Bass Strait

Good evening everyone,We cleared the northern tip of Flinders Island just after midnight and set course for Deal Island to the west. We made reasonable progress until about 1:00am when the west-south-westerly wind came through a little stronger than forecast. The sea built quickly and the notorious Bass Strait swell was upon us only 15 minutes later. This meant we had to bear-away (alter course) to make some progress towards Deal Island. We ended up to the north of the Island when the original plan was to go to the south.Anyways, a long day battling not just the wind, swell and sea that were coming from directly where we wanted to go but also a very strong tide against us. Lots of sail adjustments and tough work on the helm all day. We had planned to arrive late morning but got to anchor mid-afternoon when the tide turned and we got some welcome relief. So our first miss with the weather but it wasn’t for that long – I would hazard a guess some of the Youth Crew will say it felt like weeks! It wouldn’t be the same if some of our Bass Strait time wasn’t a little bit rough.With the Ship safely at anchor we quickly got the Youth Crew ashore for a swim (brave young people) and a climb up the hill to the caretaker’s cottage. The Youth Crew are returning on board ahead of a BBQ and then a Happy Hour (of much needed cleaning). I get the vibe most will want to sleep tonight – Sail Master Kyle hasn’t told the Youth Crew yet that we need to keep anchor watches throughout the night so there might not be as much sleep as some had envisaged.Until tomorrow when we expect weather and sea conditions to improve, take care.Dave JVoyage Captain