CLIENT: Combined Steiner Schools
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20250609
FROM: Townsville To: Townsville
DATE: 9 June 2025
POSITION: Orpheus Is
REPORT: White Watch
Our morning started at 6:30 am on deck with cold breakfast and our very first briefing. We were greeted by our captain Phil, on board The South Passage, moored in the Townsville marina. It was a crisp, cool morning with a fair breeze. We began to learn the ropes (pun intended) in our watch groups, on the rigging and the backstays.
After we exited the marina, we began working on putting up the sails. White Watch was in charge of the mainsail and its rigging. At 11:45, we were briefed on our first watch. We had to take up the positions of helm, standby helm, deck check, port lookout, standby port lookout, starboard lookout and standby starboard lookout.
We relieved Red Watch from their tasks. From 12:00 to 2:00, while we were on watch, we rotated through various positions, staying on each post for 20 minutes. We were encouraged by our watch leader, Dave, to prepare for our evening watch.
At 3:00, we reached Orpheus Island, where we stopped for a swim at the jetty, by walking down the gangplank. We had an hour to swim, snorkel and explore the island before we continued our scenic journey to Pioneer Bay.
As the sun was setting and the moon was rising, we practiced our new knots before we had a competition between the watches to see which group could tie the round-turn with two half hitches the fastest. White Watch (comprised of six people) managed to complete the task in 57 seconds!