Squares

Ahoy there Shipmates,After a reasonable night’s sleep with the Ship moving around at the mercy of a 15 Kn north-easterly breeze, still ‘on our nose’ and an easterly 1.0 m swell, Sail Master Harry woke us with one of his energetic tunes played over the broadcast, to a beautiful sunny morning. Chef Marcus delighted us with irresistible looking (and tasting) Eggs Benedict as one of the fine choices for breakfast. Some people couldn’t resist having more than one (Sail Master!) Our morning followed the usual routine of the morning brief, followed by Happy Hour. Today’s enclosed photo (YEYS: Sorry, they went on the last two days logs) is proof that your sons and daughters are being trained in domestic duties whilst onboard! At 1030 we set a full press of fore-and-aft sails and came off the engines to conduct our first set of Tacking Stations. This was left until Day 5 because up until today, all overnight passages had been undertaken motoring due to the inconvenient wind direction and the relatively high speed of advance requirement, to ensure we arrived in Sydney on time. Two tacks and one wear were conducted and the crew performed to a good standard. Round 3 of Rope Races followed lunch and then we closed up at Tacking Stations again, this time to conduct Rotational Tacks. This activity is where we rotate all of the youth crew, in their watches, through the other watches’ positions while we Tack or Wear Ship. The purpose of this is to enable them to also understand what the other watches do at Tacking Stations in order to prepare them for the re-organisation of the crew that will occur on Command Day. This time we set a square sail, the Topsail, for the first time during the voyage. This was aimed at giving the youthies some experience of setting, clewing-up and sea-furling a square. It was also good for them to experience the difference that having a square sail set makes to tacking and wearing-ship. On completion it was necessary to hand-in all sail and proceed on engines again as the wind was still from the direction we needed to go. The time available precluded beating to windward on sails alone, or even motor-sailing. It was very enjoyable to sail for a couple of hours today without the engines running. At sunset we were motoring on a NNE course making good 5 knots against an 18 kn headwind. The intention is to continue towards Jervis Bay overnight, expecting to anchor there mid-morning for a short run ashore in one of the coastal towns in the Bay for the crew to have a break from the Ship, stretch their legs and conduct their mid – voyage chats. During tonight’s watches it is also intended to conduct the self-awareness and assessment activity we call ‘Apples and Onions.’ It is one of my favourite activities and a unique opportunity for self-reflection. Until tomorrow evening.  Yours AyeCaptain Mike PS. Some messages for friends and family:To: Muggle, Dad and Ash, missing you all. Bring on Xmas already! H, XTo: Chris, thanks for raving about it. Completely SolidTo: Mum, it’s not as cold as Antarctica. Dad, handshake. Clem, I hope you’re feeding Benji – MDM