Day 3 – NE TAS Coast and Banks Strait

G’day Shipmates,Welcome to day 3 of our adventure under sail. The ship continued sailing northwards overnight along the Tasmanian east coast. The wind abated during the middle watch and we set the Jib and Mainsail again. By 0500 conditions were light and variable, the boat speed was less than 2 knots and I decided to motor-sail to maintain a reasonable passage speed. Overnight the crew focussed on refreshing their watch on deck skills, including navigation and helmsmanship.Glorious bright sunshine and beautiful blue skies greeted everyone who came on deck to see the sunrise and encouraged the remainder of the crew to get out of bed after their second night at sea in Australia’s National Sail Training Ship.Another of Haydo’s spectacular breakfasts (including porridge, cereals, fresh tropical fruit, bacon, eggs, French and pastries) motivated everyone to get organised to make sure they didn’t miss-out. The crew gathered on the bridge at 0900 to attend the morning brief. After a few words of wisdom from Sail Master Guv and a briefing on the navigation and weather situations we had a dramatisation that explained the nautical origins of the expression “Figurehead” and why a Ship’s toilet is referred to as the ‘heads’. It was then time for ‘Happy Hour.’ After a chat from Jen on the nautical Rules of the Road,’ the crew spent the remainder of the Forenoon watch doing deck work, practising setting and furling the staysails.After a delicious lunch we launched into the 3rd session of Rope Races which included, for the bonus round, to ‘mummify your watch leader’ using a single roll of toilet paper, and this was won by white watch. I then gave a Sail Theory refresher including a discussion of the command team thought processes from Thu night when it had been necessary to hand-in sail due to the wind increasing above the Jib’s max apparent wind speed.During the forenoon watch the SW breeze freshened allowing us to set the Jib and Mainsail again, adding considerably to our speed made good which then averaged 8 knots. At that time we were passing along the NE Tassie coast, which is Anita’s home stomping ground.During the Last Dog watch the wind direction veered to the point it was no longer possible for us to maintain a course of ‘full and by 30’, which is as close to the wind that we can steer when motor-sailing. It was then necessary to hand-in the Jib, Fore Staysail and Mainsail and centre the Main staysail. Through the night the wind reduced to less than 10 knots at times and changed direction regularly providing Watch Officers with challenges.Until tomorrow evening,Yours AyeCaptain Mike   “