Captain's Log
V15/11
9 October 2011

FRASER COAST

Ahoy there everyone, Welcome to day three on our adventure under sail. The ship continued sailing overnight making ground to the north 20 miles seaward paralleling the Sunshine and Fraser Coasts. Weather conditions proved challenging overnight for the Youth Crew with a 1.5 metre swell ensuring the first night at sea was a baptism by the elements. Though each person acquitted themselves with distinction most notably those who had never been to sea before often battling motion sickness and those who climbed aloft during the night.With the rising of the sun in a clear sky, a cheerful wakey wakey song from the on watch Youth Crew, our first humpback whale was spotted fluking and blowing as they migrated north. Breakfast was a very quiet affair followed by the morning brief, after tidying and cleaning the ship from the previous nights pitching and rolling. Taking stations was then called and the Youth Crew completed their first set of wears (turning the ship through the wind) known as a gybe in a yacht as a crew. This is an essential teamwork activity and every member of the team has a critical role to playAfter a magnificent lunch the ship was rigged for silent running by shutting down all non essential power generation and lighting transforming the ship back 100 years with only the sound of the wind in the rigging and the caress of the waves against the hull as the Youth Crew relaxed on the upper decks in the warm sunshine. This spell was lifted when the Engineer Mick round one of non-competitive Rope Races enabling the Youth Crew to challenge themselves by remembering and identifying different items of safety equipment located around the upper decks.Watch Officer Matt then presented an intriguing maritime Rules of the Road lecture, an important component of safely navigating the ship to avoid colliding with other vessels or running aground by correctly identifying various lights, shapes and navigation markers.During the night the ship rounded the northern tip of Fraser Island with the intention to continue motor sailing overnight.Until tomorrow evening, take care.Yours AyeCaptain Damien

Latitude/Longitude:

24°13's / 153°0'e

Conditions:

2300 at sea - weather scattered cloud, wind SW 30 knots, swell W 1.5 metres, temperature 15 degrees, barometer 1018 hpa