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
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather has been most overcast throughout the day. During the morning the west-south-west wind inceased ahead of forecast producing steady 25 knot winds, 1.5m swell and a 0.5m sea. Temp 20 degrees but felt cooler with the wind chill.
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Thank you Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt for your narrative of today's events. Intentions are to remain at anchor in Hunters Bay, just off HMAS Penguin, home of the RAN Diving School, a place close to my heart, having spent many a day there under training as a young Officer! The plan is to weigh anchor and proceed to HMAS Waterhen, in Waverton, to pick up our Community Day Sailors from the Windgap Foundation and take them for a sail around the harbour for 3 hours. The Youth Crew will help us host our visitors and give them an experience of Young Endeavour. We will drop them back to Waverton and then proceed to anchor in the harbour where we will have a good view of the Bridge and the Opera House for the Youth Crew's last night onboard. Until tomorrow. Yours Aye, Captain Mike