The three-masted
square-rigger
carries 31 sailsbut it also feels very natural. We don’t hear much news from
the outside world, so all the little things that happen on
board become ‘the news’, and life glides quietly by.2ND FEBRUARY AT SEA
Today we crossed the International Date Line and skipped
from Sunday 31 January straight to Tuesday 2 February. This
is going to be the shortest month of my life, just 27 days!
We have more than 25 knots of wind at the moment and
we’re doing 13.5 knots over ground — we took in half the
sails, but even with just the topsails and the courses, we were
still doing 11 knots. When the ship gets going she doesn’t
want to stop! The captain says at this rate we’ll be five days
early into Sydney.
The waves are also growing bigger and bigger, slamming
against the hull, and every so often a big one comes right
across the deck. At 12:00 today I was promoted to
quartermaster! I’m looking forward to the challenge — more
leadership and more responsibility. I think I’m ready for it.side like this. The birds reappeared today and we have lots of
storm petrels flitting around the ship, tweeting away. (If you
close your eyes, it almost feels like you’re in the forest!)
30TH JANUARY AT SEA
Full rig and still rolling with a running wind. Time is flying by
and I forget which day it is; the only way I can keep track is
with my diary. Most days are the same. Maybe there’s a bit
more wind one day, or you’re working on some different
jobs, but otherwise it’s the same. You’re crossing an ocean,
and you have to go with the flow.
31ST JANUARY AT SEA
In the afternoon we spotted Macauley Island on the horizon.
We’ve been given a ‘Sailors Sunday’ today, so there’s no
maintenance period and I’ll have four extra hours of free
time! (I think I’ll have another sleep, then take some time to
socialise, and hopefully also spend a little time by myself.)
Everything feels very routine now, eating, sleeping, sailing,