CLIENT: Lorien Novalis School
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20231126
FROM: Manly To: Sydney
DATE: 3 December 2023
POSITION: Broken Bay
REPORT: Blue Watch
We were anchored in Newcastle overnight, which is the biggest coal exporter in the world. Some of the watch started the busy morning with hot tea and biscuits working on their personal sailing theory books. Not long after they went back to bed, the whole watch was woken up to polish brass until it shone. Liv was terrified to wake people up with the bugle, scared of the retribution of tired teenagers.
We had the knot-tying competition for the single sheet bend, and we (Blue Watch) were very proud of our time of 41 seconds for everyone to tie the knot. All the watches had great teamwork, with the speedy times of 1 minute 2 seconds (White Watch) and 1 minute 4 seconds (Red Watch). Then we had a delicious hot breakfast at Hungry Hugh’s, where the burgers are always better.
Then it was time for Command Day, where us teenagers got to be in charge, albeit with some help from Phil, our Skipper. We had held the elections the previous night, voting Tally (Lachlan) for Skipper, Penelope for Sailing Master, and El (Coriel) for Navigator. We also had watch leaders—Coopa from Red Watch, Liv from Blue Watch, and Isla from White Watch.
Everyone came on deck for the raising of sails, although we got out of the harbour very late. This was a problem later along, because Command Day was based on a points system, and time was one of the points contributors. Other points included having the correct amount of engine time, tying knots, pointing out parts of the ship, singing songs for Hugh, and doing an incredible interpretive ocean life dance.
The command team of Tally, Penelope, and El had a big job to do, coordinating everyone and making sure everyone got to the destination. El was doing figures all day, Penelope was organizing people to get their jobs done, and Tally made sure everything ran smoothly.
During a good portion of the day’s sailing, the ship was at an extreme angle from heeling over due to the winds. At some points, it was so far over that you could touch the water. When Liv and Mio went out to the bowsprit, they got completely drenched, and even dunked a few times, far enough that their life jackets inflated. But they were having a grand old time.
We finally got into port at around 1800 hours, which was quite late, but at least we were all there. Then we had a dinner of steak, potatoes, pumpkin, and beans, and it was off to bed for everyone.