Day Seven – Have Safely Crossed the Bight

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to day seven of our voyage. As forecast the cold front past over the Bight late last night and during the early hours of this morning which provided us with some strong SSW winds and some good sailing. Regrettably with these winds came a large 3m swell which made conditions onboard less than pleasant for our young mariners but they battled on.
Given these conditions we postponed the morning’s activities deferring them to later in the day when the conditions were forecast to improve. This occurred early afternoon when the wind moderated to 15-20kts and the swell dropped down to 1-2m. With these improved conditions we conducted the ‘egg drop’ activity which was followed by the setting of the topsail and topgallant prior to conducting a good set of demonstrational tacks.
By sunset this evening we had made landfall on the Neptune Islands and were continuing to make good speed towards Kangaroo Island where if all goes to plan we expect to anchor later tomorrow morning.
Kindly volunteering to write an entry in tonight’s Captains Log is Flick and Angus from White Watch, please enjoy!
Until tomorrow evening, Take Care
Yours Aye
Captain Gav
CAPTAINS LOG 17th December
G’day everyone. Angus and Flick here from White Watch. We have just changed our clocks to Adelaide time and are excited see land and hug some trees tomorrow on Kangaroo Island. Today has been a jam packed sunny day under sail. Excitement struck last night during our first watch, when we returned from the café after doing self a improvement exercise to see Captain Gav on the bridge in his PJ’s. After waiting all day for a forecasted low pressure system the wind had finally changed. Captain Gav had us furl the topgallant staysail and had watch leader Jimmy, Sam and Angus brave the 35 knot winds to climb the foremast so that we could all set the topsail.
After morning brief and a short, sharp and shiny happy hour the rest of the crew enjoyed a well deserved nap while Whiteys were on watch. Just before the call for today’s rope races, a pod of about 20 dolphins were spotted on the starboard side. This was an awe inspiring sight after not seeing anything on the horizon for days on end. After a very even rope race between the three watches, Engineer Horto gave us all an egg and a bucket of everyday items from around the ship. The eggs were superheros tasked with saving midships and dropped from the foremast ratlines. Bluey’s superhero was first to drop with a successful landing and safe superhero. Unfortunately for us, the duct tape parachutes built by bush mechanic Brando didn’t hold up and Super Egg nearly took out Navman as yolk was spread all over the deck. Red watch followed with an impressive shot put causing another broken egg inside an orange.
Tacking and wearing demonstrations were lead by Captain Gav and Sailmaster Evo. All the watches were together and everyone got an opportunity to see it all happen from the bridge. We then enjoyed an extremely homely Saturday night roast and French onion soup dinner put together by our master chef Jenko and his three youthie apprentices. We are all impressed with the quality of his dishes given the small size of his galley and the unrelenting rolling of the ship.
We better go as Brando might take the helm again and Blue watch will be here to relieve us so we can get a good night sleep. Ready for our morning watch were we expect to see the Neptune Islands.
Yours Aye,
White Watch
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 8nm to the WSW of the Neptune Island and enjoying moderate 14-18kt SE winds with a 1.5 SSW swell. Our current speed is 7kts and the temperature is a cool 15 degrees.
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ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”


After a rather nonchalant guts watch with the Bluies, Reddies came in guns a blazing, setting our beautiful square sails preparing us for a speedy and eventful day at sea. Scaling (laying aloft) the Foremast, whilst the ship swayed kept the Reddies on their toes, holding on for dear life as they let out the gaskets for the Topgallant and Topsail Yards. A challenging activity to start off our day rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over Starboard.
During the day we participated in a Meteorology Brief led by our resident Nav guru TOMO, learning everything there is about fluffy, rainy and stormy clouds. This was followed by Lunch and a needed Siesta.
Whilst some slumbered, Bluies kept watch. They had brave volunteers to climb both main mast and to the topgallant yard to sea furl the sails.
In the afternoon, our Watches came together to have Mid Voyage Chats, where we had the opportunity to reflect on our voyage goals, experiences and discuss our hopes for Command Day. There were some very heartfelt talks, from overcoming fears, to gaining confidence in working as a team, and we set our eyes upon what we want to achieve in the rest of the voyage.
The first dog (Reddies) (from 1545 to 1745) was full of excitement, with over 50kn winds and up to 50 degrees on the OOOH AAAH meter (heel). Watching the waves break higher than the rails was an exhilarating experience and kept us holding on tight. Sites of sharks and a Cargo ship kept our lookouts entertained, while Callum lead an engaging activity on Charts. At the end of the first dog watch, Nick and Phil braved these treacherous conditions to lay aloft on the mainmast to wrangle the mainsail!
Rockin and rolling, Youthies (the newest salty sea dogs) Hugh, Bridget, and Nick!!