Endeavour Sailing 16/2/21 Sunday: Bass Strait

Again today, I woke naturally at 7: 30 a.m., three and a half hours after going to sleep, after my late watch last night. The swell was one to two meters when I came off watch at 4 a.m. but now the swell has risen to four meters as we are truly in the Bass Strait now; between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.

The ship was now really rocking and rolling all over the place and even my stomach was not feeling great, so I guess I'm feeling a bit seasick, something which normally does not happen to me.

Now that there was light, the first thing I did after getting out of my hammock was to zip up my sleeping bag to make sure I'm going to be warm tonight.

For breakfast I had a couple of weet-bix with strawberries to keep it simple for my stomach. I did start on a croissant slowly but my stomach was getting worse and I couldn't finish it. After taking some seasickness tablets, I went on deck for some fresh air with the ability to look at the horizon, a trick Julianne does when she gets motion sickness.

Being outside helped for sure, but it didn't last long as the morning crew briefing was held in the lowest 20th century deck instead of on deck due to the strong movement of the ship, as it’s not safe to have everyone up on the outside deck.

As such I made sure I was the last person downstairs to try and settle my stomach.

After the morning briefing my watch had to clean the 18th century deck, which was not easy as I was trying not to throw up. As soon as we were done cleaning, I was back on deck when someone else from my watch rushed up and threw up all over the deck.

I may have an upset stomach but there are some people who are in a real bad way, way worse than me. For example, poor Ash from my watch has been curled up on the deck, throwing up and unable to eat since we left Hobart, and she is not the only person with really bad seasickness. Those with full on seasickness were told to be sick on the deck as it’s easier to clean the deck than to be sick over the side of the ship and maybe fall overboard and have to be rescued. It’s hard to see someone in such misery knowing there is not much you can do to help apart from offer them comfort and support.

I went below to put on my wet weathers, not for the rain but to act as a windbreaker for the cold wind coming up from Antarctica which is pushing the ship along very nicely. Plus, I put on my harness so I can attach myself to the Endeavour with all the rolling of the ship.

I then sat on the back of Endeavor to enjoy the amusing and unique experience of being on board a 1770's squire rigged sailing ship which is crashing through the waves while be driven by a direct 30 knot strong southerly wind.

The front bow of the ship rises up into the air before crashing back down well below the horizon with the stern of the ship that I'm sitting on trusting up into the air. Sometimes the Endeavour will roll so hard to one side that water comes crashing over the lower middle of the ship, called the waist, up around the canon. The Endeavour is shaped like a bathtub so it rolls all over the place, but at least she is also quite a tall ship, so she is nice and dry compared to the much smaller tall ships and yachts which would have a lot of water crashing over their decks at this point. Having some water come over the side shows the Endeavour has really pitched over while rolling.

A lovely rainbow even appeared which was awesome, then slowly, bit by bit the sun appeared between the clouds making this experience even more magical.

Rainbow in the distance

The professional crew were saying we were super lucky to have this experience, which will die away as we head north up alongside the Australian mainland.

I pulled out my new Kindle, holding it super tight to write my diary while enjoining the view. I was really worried about using the Kindle as I was afraid I would drop it, but I have discovered it seems to be working fine, as long as it’s not raining.

Writing my blog on my new Kindle while relaxing on the back of the Endeavour, you can see a safety rope in front of me.

I have a cloth bag from the Great War Experience in Wellington which is designed with rope handles which I can use on my shoulders so the bag is on my back. This is proving to be a super brilliant, very light design for a bag and when not in use can be crunched up and stored easily nearby. This is a perfect way for me to carry my Kindle around the ship, nice and secure on my back while trying to hold onto the moving Endeavour with my hands free.

Today is our long day, with 11.5. hours on watch in a single 24-hour period. First up midnight to 4 a.m. as already mentioned in the previous blog, then from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., and then 8 p.m. to midnight tonight. After a morning enjoying the wild weather, I had lunch and was back on deck for the second 12:30 to 4 p.m. watch.

For this watch I got to the helm the ship. Steering the Endeavor is an interesting challenge in this weather, she kept turning to port (the left) so the rudder had to be adjusted to starboard (the right).

It was super fun crashing through the waves while holding the helm and steering the Endeavour. The way the helm system works is that one person is the ‘brawn’ providing the muscle to help turn the steering wheel, while the other person is the 'brain' who makes all the decisions on turning the helm to keep to a heading while the watch leader stands alongside, making sure we are sailing in the right direction. Keeping to a heading in four-meter waves, even with the wind almost directly behind us was challenging but awesome fun.

For the last 30 minutes before the end of our watch it started to rain, and it just bucketed down. It was super wet and there is basically no cover on the Endeavour which is not pleasant. Plus, this means my gear is all wet for my next watch in only four hours, it’s not going to be fun putting on wet gear.

After this second watch of the day I simply read my Kindle until dinner at 5:40 p.m.

Dinner in the galley with some of my watch, the food was amazing!!

The Endeavour was leaking with sea water coming in over parts of the 18th century deck, especially as a window / port hole which was supposed to be sealed had been forced open by a volunteer before leaving Sydney and now leaked. Sea water was even dripping down over the chairs and tables into the lower 20th century deck so it was challenging to find a dry seat in the galley. Plus moving around the two lower decks while the ship is moving around so much makes walking quite difficult. Ropes have been tied up to we have something to hold onto. Also walking around is physically tiring in this weather, trying to keep my balance is actually quite a workout.

After eating I went straight to sleep in my hammock. Being in the hammock means I was no longer being pitched all over the place which was nice. Through it is strange to have the ship moving all around me and sometimes the hull bumping into me. I was woken a bit later at 7:35 p.m. with a mad rush to get my thermals, clothes, wet weather gear and harness back on, just making it to the deck in time for the start of our third watch of the day.

The waves have really died down since I last saw them at 6 p.m. This was a much gentler watch with the sun setting over the waves.

The waves have really calmed down.

Sun setting in the distance

Unlike last night the moon didn't rise until much later so it was very dark on deck. No lights are allowed on deck and all work is done in the dark.

I got to helm again which was fun along with several turns on lookout duty. The James Craig is a more modern 1800's square rigged sailing ship and the Endeavor overtook her as we are doing up to 10 knots which is simply amazing. The Endeavour normally sails at 4 knots so over 10 knots is very rare, I’m so lucky to experience the Endeavour sailing at full speed with a strong wind directly behind her. At 12:20 a.m. the watch was over.

Today has been a marvellous day, I have been so lucky to have this perfect strong wind directly behind us, pushing the Endeavour through Bass Strait, with large exciting waves and the ship moving all over the place.

A very full-on day, and so many special unique experiences, a great day to be on watch for 11 and a half hours to experience it while on duty.

Also, when the moon did appear later in my watch, the view of the moonlight shining over the sea was so beautiful. The sails blocked the moonlight from the port side, so one side the ship was very dark and the other half well light by moonlight, very cool.