Endeavour Sailing 17 2/25 Monday: Mainmast Watch
After a reasonably long run of sleep from 12:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. I was up eating Weet-bix for breakfast and was back on deck with the rest of Mainmast to be on watch at 8 a.m.
Now is a good time to go through the people in my watch, who I am going to spend all my time with for the next week and a bit.
In order of our watch numbers, as close as I can recall.
Number one is Ash, a young woman from Melbourne, who works as an administrator at the University of Melbourne. Ash has had a very hard time of it, and was seasick constantly for four days. There were a number of people who got seasickness, but Ash was worse off than anyone else on board. Poor Ash spent the first couple of days on deck, under the dingy steering at the horizon, throwing up constantly. She has done very well to get through it, is a super tough individual, and by day five had mostly recovered.
Second is Joe, a museum manger from Alice Springs, originally from South Africa, Joe has been in Australia for a while and is a quiet, helpful bloke.
Third is Sophie, a flying doctor nurse. It's been interesting to hear about her work adventures. Sophie is a midwife as well as being a nurse to work for the flying doctor service. Sophie is the other big climber in mainmast watch, who will also climb up to the crosstrees to spend time on her own relaxing just like I do.
Fourth is Eli, a young man who actually is doing both the trip from Sydney to Hobart as well as the return trip. Eli is very quiet, does not say much at all but has some great insights from his time on the Endeavour.
I am fifth in the watch.
Sixth is Martin, who is also reasonability quiet, but is a good conversationist once we get going, and who collects LP’s. The thing about Martin is that he was always late for our watch for the first few days. When the rollcall was called, number six Martin was likely to be missing, especially late at night. He has got better timing over the last half of our trip.
Seventh is Peter, an accountant from Sydney, who sounds like me in that he can't sit still and is always doing things, which his wife struggles with when they are on holiday, just like poor Julianne. Peter is a great person to hang out and talk with when on watch for hours.
Eighth is Levi, a blacksmith from Sydney who is a strong extrovert and always has plenty of things to say. Levi is also great to be with on watch, but since I’m an introvert he can be a bit full on sometimes.
Ninth is Graeme, one of our older gentlemen, is 60 plus, maybe 70+. Graeme is very helpful and interesting, but a bit deaf and slowed down by his age.
Ten and eleven are brothers, Pete and Rob, both around 70. They are private sailors so are helpful to ask some basic sailing questions to. Pete is keen to get into the rigging as well.
Finally, Brad is our supernumerary who has a private cabin, in the officers quarters near the grand cabin. As a supernumerary, Brad can opt out of doing stuff, but is always involved which is great for us to have another helping hand. Brad is a 'classic' Kiwi builder, who runs his own building business. Brad is a great character to talk to and is the only other New Zealander in my watch.
Cruise ship in the distance
Cruise shipping coming nearby by for a look
The sea is a lot calmer now, and this morning’s watch until 12:30 p.m. had no special events except for a cruise ship which went past us, which of course sailed closer to see us, which I enjoyed watching.
After lunch I climbed out on the bowsprit, at the front of the ship. It was very relaxing with the waves crashing below me with the whole ship as my view in front of me as I relaxed.
I enjoy being out the front of the Endeavour. Last time I was on the Endeavour back in 2019 I was lucky enough to get stuck out on the bowsprit when the rope got stuck when the anchor was being pulled onboard. Amazing views as the professional crew worked to fix the situation.
Relaxing on the bowsprit
On the way back to the deck I did have a rather nervous moment, as coming back on board I was trying not to stand on a barrel of rum and slipped backwards and luckily the 2IC from another watch grabbed my legs so I didn't fall to far. I was attached via a harness so I would not have landed in the water, but it would not have been great to be dangling out the front of the ship.
After I went out on the bowsprit others followed me, which I found amusing.
Red Mill Rum on board for the trip
Back on board with my heart racing I went to the back of the ship to relax and read, my favourite position on the ship, except up in the rigging of course.
Before dinner I climbed into my hammock to try and catch up on my sleep after yesterday’s long, exciting day.
Sleeping on the Endeavor is a very strange experience. Not only am I in a large hammock which keeps me still as the ship moves around me but I can hear the sea water line just on the other side of wall and there are constant noises of wood creaking and moaning, quite loudly all around me.
Some people are really struggling to sleep in their hammocks, with the confined snug space and noises, but I’m not having any problems.
It could be considered disturbing, but I actually like all the noises. It seems as if the Endeavour is alive, like a large organic sea beast. I can now easily imagine sailing in the past and how scary it could be. Even though the Endeavour is totally authentic, we still have all the modern safety equipment and requirements to meet Australian marine standards such as modern life rafts, radios etc.
