Day 4 – Crossing the Tasman

Ahoy there Shipmates,Overnight the Ship continued on a west north westerly course motor-sailing on the starboard tack with the Top Gallant and Topsail squares set; making the best of the 20 knot easterly winds and making good a speed of over 8 knots. The Ship’s motion was quite gentle with the 1.5 metre swell on the port quarter inducing a gentle roll. A few of our crew suffered again from ‘mal de mer’ but I expect them to come good soon. Red Watch awoke us at 0700 with the attached song.Morning Brief was held at 0900, which featured another extravaganza from ‘Salty the Seadog’ and his cast of willing, if not that able, actors. He explained the nautical origin of a number of terms in use in the English language which have a nautical origin. They included ‘pipe-down’, ‘figurehead’ and why toilets are called ‘heads’ in ships. We also had the first appearance of ‘Nana Diesel’, whose job it is to teach the youth crew the importance of keeping the Ship tidy, especially avoiding leaving clothes lying around the accommodation areas. This was followed by Happy Hour and then Watch Officer Guv gave a 30 min nautical rule-of –the-road presentation to the crew, which is intended to provide them with a basic level of knowledge in preparation for Command Day.Another of Haydo’s delicious lunches was followed by the first instalment of ‘Rope Races’, run by Sumo the engineer and then I gave Part 1 of my Sail Theory presentation to the crew. I covered topics such as parts of sails, how a sail creates drive, the role of the keel and apparent versus true wind. I will deliver Part 2 tomorrow.During the afternoon the wind abated further until it was no longer practical to leave the sails set. All, except the Main Staysail were furled, clewed-up or brailed. We also experienced sunny conditions and the swell gradually reduced, all expected weather associated with the High Pressure system dominating us at present.It is intended to continue motor-sailing overnight on a WNW course at a speed of 7 knots. The wind is forecast to freshen a little and back to a northerly overnight. This will improve our ability to use the fore-and-aft sails but not the squares.Until tomorrow evening.Yours AyeCaptain Mike ——————————————————————————————–Red Watch Wakey-Wakey Song – Thu 14 Nov – ‘Sail of Your Life’Another turning point, a bird caught in the yardsThe wind hits the sails directs us where to goMake the best of this watch, keeping spirits high.It’s not a cruise liner, but a lesson for life.It’s something Navigational, from NZ to OZI hope you have the SAIL of your LIFE.So take the photographs and sunscreen-up or fryKeep your harness on, hydrate or dieTattoos of anchors, keep the pirates off the lineWe are the youthies, whether red, blue or whiteIt’s something Navigational, from NZ to OZI hope you have the SAIL of your LIFE.   “