CLIENT: Silver Duke of Ed
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20230925
FROM: Hervey Bay to Manly
DATE: 25 Sept 2023
POSITION: Kingfisher Bay Resort
REPORT: White Watch
We started the day bright and early at 0630, to prepare for the next five days of our adventurous journey. Our goal for today was to sail from the Urangan Marina to Kingfisher Bay on K’Gari (Fraser Island). Our bosun for the day was Dom, and his mate was Reilly, who had the job of instructing the white watch.
Before we made way, we had to learn basic rope handling skills, we learned how to palm cleats, use a hayfield lever to manipulate backstays, and how to handle lines when easing and pulling them.
White watch was on duty to set up the main sail when we made way. As a group we had to quickly learn all about the halyards and how to use them, we learnt how to flake lines and sweat a halyard. While we were getting the mainsail up, Sami, Adaobi and Addison were sweating the main sail, and they all fell down many times, however, we were all okay.
During our break between 1000 to 1200, the girls of our watch (Sami, Adaobi, Addison and Abby) were chilling out on the bow sprit, whilst the boys (Dom and Reilly) were playing cards in the cabin while other watches were sailing.
Our first watch for this voyage started at 1200, while we were on, we preformed approximately 7 tacks over the course of our 1-hour watch. Reilly was stuck with the role of the gopher, he had to untie the Jib sheet, run to the other side of the sheet, pull it in, and then tie it off, only to continually repeat the process for an hour of sailing.
For lunch, we had bread rolls with ham, cheese and salads. It was a much-needed meal nearing the end of an intense watch.
Once we arrived at Kingfisher Bay at 1330, we dropped the anchor, and made our way onto K’gari to go and visit an army commando base with our skipper, Bill. We were told the story of the Krait, a Malaysian fishing boat that was used by the Australian army to destroy Japanese warships during WWII. After that, we returned to the Sand Bar and enjoyed cold treats after 3-4 KMs of hiking.
After our excursion onto K’Gari, we got into our first knot competition, which white watch regrettably came last in, but were confident that we will be able to come back over the next four days of sailing. For dinner, we enjoyed butter chicken, followed up by a piece of blueberry pie with custard for dessert.
For this watch which last from 1600 to 1800, we have been taking down coordinates, watching the anchor, and writing this log. We are looking forward to waking up bright and early tomorrow at 0400 for our morning watch, hopefully we will be able to see the sun rise of K’gari. Sami, Adoabi, Addy, Abby, Dom, and Reilly