Voyage Log: Port Macquarie – Newcastle Day 2

Wednesday, 1st October 2008

Noon position: Lat 31°30.2′S  Long 153°0.4′E
Day’s run: 7 nm

It’s time for the best part of crew induction, mizzenmast watch are in their safety harnesses ready for “up and overs” – their first climb aloft. Up the shrouds, and down the other side. During the first sitting of lunch mainmast watch completes their up and over, and are rewarded with two birthday cakes for afternoon “smoko”, two voyage crew members are celebrating today. As the day progresses many Port Macquarie townsfolk linger on the wharf, taking photos and watching the training activities on board.

At 1640 all hands work to haul the “fizz boat” (the ship’s rescue boat) up onto the main hatch – its position while Endeavour sails. Ben, the second mate is very impressed with the new voyage crew’s first team effort, “…thanks guys, wonderful. Love your work!” Soon after, foremast watch is doing their up and overs, all lined up for the experience, with Dirk the navigator and medical officer keeping an eye on them at the base of the foremast shrouds, and Ally, their topman, up by the fighting top to offer moral support. While foremast watch is aloft, mizzenmast and mainmast watch run through bracing station drills, with Toby – the chief officer – calling the ropes.

At 1800 hours mainmast watch put a reef in the main topsail, and furl it in the fading light. They do an impressive job – none would suspect it was their first furl. Abi and Darbey cook a delicious feast to end the day, filling the voyage crew’s hungry stomachs after the first day’s hard labour.

The crew of Bark Endeavour awake to a beautiful, cool, clear morning, ready for departure. The activity starts immediately, at 0830 foremast watch is flaking anchor cable on deck, and 10 minutes later the gangway is removed, with Craig and Paula, the ship keeper and shore manager, working hard at the task. The boats of the Port Macquarie Sea Rescue are out in force to assist, and throngs of people are on the wharf and lining the breakwater, there’s a big turnout of Port Macquarie locals to see the ship off. There are two historic launches among the vessels on the water, there to give HMB Endeavour a send off, sounding their horns in salute.

At 0912 the last lines are let go to the sound of applause from the audience ashore, and Ant, the sail master and boatswain, leads the crew in three cheers for Port Macquarie, given with a thunderous boom that only sailors can muster. As she heads past the breakwater surfers can be seen riding waves into town beach, and at 0940 she clears the bar – safely underway. The mizzen staysail and fore topmast staysail go up, followed by the main topmast staysail, and at 1100 hours foremast watch are up on the foremast course yard and mainmast watch on the mainmast course, letting the sails out.

At 1115 two whales are spotted off the port quarter, and a pod of dolphins appears off the port bow, playing, splashing and showing off in the waves approaching the bow. At 1150 mizzenmast watch races to finish setting sail before heading down to lunch. Captain Ross comes over the PA: “We have set sails, and the main engines are off. We are sailing!”

All is well.

Contributed by ship’s steward Mischa Chaleyer-Kynaston

 

Voyage Log: Port Macquarie – Newcastle Day 1

Friday, 30th September 2008
Port Macquarie, alongside Lady Nelson Wharf, Town Green

It’s a bright, sunny morning in Port Macquarie, Bark Endeavour stands tall and elegant in the morning light, ready to welcome her new voyage crew aboard. Early arrivals start appearing alongside at 0800, slowly others join them until there is a crowd waiting on the wharf with their luggage, all eyes on the ship.

The topman and upper yardies of each watch – the foremast, mainmast, and mizzenmast – circulate through the crowd seeking their watch members, whom they will look over, teach, and guide, while sailing Endeavour. Watch by watch they board the ship, after ticking their name off and getting a voyage crew uniform shirt from Paula, the shore manager. Once aboard they head below and stow their luggage, have a quick glance at the locker room and galley area, then rejoin their topman and are issued their watch number. Their watch number is used regularly to confirm all are present and accounted for – a crucial safety protocol, as well as other logistics like who is on galley duty – crucial for every crew stomach.

The watch members introduce themselves within each watch, talk a little about their backgrounds and lives on land, then commence a tour of the ship and safety inductions. All hands are called to the quarter deck for the first morning briefing with the captain, Ross, and chief officer, Toby, a daily ritual. Toby is looking smart with his flash new walking stick, keeping him afoot after rolling his ankle during the arrival at Port Mac. Ross welcomes the voyage crew aboard and introduces all of the professional crew with only one minor slip-up, his best first day introductions on record! Toby takes over and begins going through the enormous amount of information the voyage crew will receive by the end of the day, regarding safety and general ship operations. There’s loads to go through, but it will all be reiterated with hands on demonstrations within each watch.

While Toby gives his briefing the other crew return to their duties preparing the ship for departure. The yardies are on maintenance with Ant, the sail master and boatswain, oiling cleats and bunts; the captain and Wally, the engineer, start up the motors and run a test; and Dirk, the navigator and medical officer, checks the navigation and communication equipment. A few dolphins splash lazily past the yardies and boatswain’s mate, the ship is of little interest to the dolphins while she’s stationary.

Toby finishes his briefing and the watches return to their topman and yardie, and continue their tour and safety induction. Ally, the foremast topman, explains the requirements of the bow watch, and the use of life rings; Tom, the mainmast topman, goes through some rope handling, finishing with “Clear as mud? Beautiful.” It’s a lot to take in, on the first day everything is run through at least once and some practicing is done, but integrating the knowledge properly is accomplished at sea.

Endeavour is due to depart tomorrow morning on the high tide, weather permitting, at about 0930 hours.

All is well.

Contributed by ship’s steward Mischa Chaleyer-Kynaston

 

Voyage Log: Coffs Harbour – Port Macquarie day 6

Tuesday, 23rd September 2008

Noon position: Lat 31°36.6´S Long 153°04.8´E
Day’s run: 65 nm

A quick rearranged lunch and the crew is ready to attempt the bar crossing into Port Macquarie. There’s a 1.5 metre swell and winds around 20 knots, several yachts form a welcoming party to greet Bark Endeavour. The ship bounds in the swell, from bow to stern, some exhilarating bow waves showering those lucky enough to be working on the foredeck – preparing lines or laying out anchor cable. The winds strengthen and the ship goes a little south of the channel, kissing the sandbar softly. At 1320 life jackets are brought up, one for every crew member – 56 bright orange vests – required for the bar crossing.

The winds are up, between 25 and 30 knots, and Endeavour is bouncing near the mouth of the river with trepidation. A few moments pass, the last preparations are made with the berthing lines at the ready, and everyone waits on deck with baited breath. At 1335 the mates collect the life jackets, Ross, the captain, has decided to call off the entry. We are not going in today. He calls an immediate meeting with the voyage crew to explain the decision. The swell is ok for crossing the bar, but the winds are too strong for berthing the ship. Our entry is very much dependent on the tide, and today the tidal window has been blocked by high winds.

  

1400 hours and numerous people can be seen on the 18th-century mess deck with mobile phones out. Ally, the foremast topman and an experienced tallship sailor, says he’s “never seen so many phones on an 18th-century tallship!” But with the attempted bar crossing averted, and the possibility of a few more days at sea, there are travel plans to be renegotiated. At 1415 Ross calls the voyage crew down to the galley for a talk about weather forecasting and synoptic patterns, something he has been promising to do for a few days. Afterwards the voyage crew have a thorough understanding of the weather front behind us and why there are gale force winds on shore.

To end the weather briefing there is a call over the PA: “Whales breaching of the port bow!” Within moments Ross has lost his audience: “that’s one way to end a meeting !” After a moment of whale watching, Ben, the second mate comes over the PA: “Ah, now that you’re all on deck…” the voyage crew know what’s coming, “let’s have watches aloft to reef sails!” And everyone is hard at work again, Bark Endeavour needs to get out to sea before the weather front stirs up the coast. At 1515 whales are spotted again, crew aloft have a spectacular view. The sail handling continues for the next two hours, it’s a bit of a shock for the voyage crew after being within sight of land and in reach of relaxation.

For dinner there is sumptuous fish cooked with love by Abi and Darbey, it’s delicious, and an enormous comfort to the worn out crew. Everyone is a little giddy and hyperactive, people are joking and being silly with each other, as we head back out to sea together for who knows how long. Following dinner it is an absolutely stunning night on deck, pitch black interrupted by bolts of lightning, travelling every which way through the clouds on the horizon. Occasional dull thunder rumbles and rolls overhead, but the worst of the storm seems to be clinging to the coastline behind us and there is little rain to speak of.

At 1900 the wind is boxing the compass (going round and round without settling or maintaining turn to it’s direction). At 2000 we wear ship and set a new course north-west. By midnight the lightning squall has diminished and the wind is almost non-existent. At 0200 hours the winds increase to force 3 and are blowing northerly, at 0415 we wear ship again. The really troublesome thunderstorm activity expected to develop hasn’t arrived yet. At 0800 we wear ship. At the morning meeting Ross announces that we will be trying to cross the bar into Port Macquarie again. Will it be a groundhog day? It’s uncertain, conditions appear to be favourable, but no one can be sure whether the expected storm activity will blow in proper.

At 0945 all hands are called on deck, watches head aloft with surprising vigour to furl, their topman and yardies have kept them in good working order despite the to-ing and fro-ing of the ship’s schedule. The motors go on and we power back towards Port Macquarie with our “fingers and toes crossed”, as the captain puts it. At 1100 hours dolphins come alongside and say hello to the ship which doesn’t know if it’s coming or going. A good omen for the voyage crew perhaps? Happy hour says otherwise, cleaning stations! Suddenly the crew are not so vigourous.

After a fairly lazy but nonetheless thorough happy hour it’s lunchtime, then preparations are made for going to shore. After midday we come up to the bar, the swell is light, and the winds die down as if preparing for us. The skipper jumps aboard a local rescue boat and does a quick reccie of the entrance. All appears well, Ross announces that we will be going in!

Everyone reports to their muster stations and don life jackets efficiently after their practice the day before. The Port Macquarie breakwater is lined with a massive crowd of locals come to greet Endeavour and her crew. There is much waving and cheering, and invitations to the local tavern thrown across the water. Bark Endeavour is a 400 tonne ship, and she is in a narrow channel, the final manoeuvre to berth her is done slowly and carefully with the assistance of Port Macquarie Volunteer Sea Rescue. Once berthed securely the crew go about the final ceremonies of disembarkation. The captain dishes out the wages (a drop of rum for each crew member), and hands out track charts and certificates. Afterwards everyone packs their luggage, then are called up on deck – where the rains have finally arrived – for a last bit of heavy work. The rescue boat is heaved ashore and the gangway and shore staging are constructed.

  

Farewells are made, there are many handshakes and pats on the back, and a voyage crew member speaks of his envy of the professional crew who are to keep sailing Bark Endeavour – “enjoy it” he says, “before you have a spouse and six kids.”

Thank you, I wish you fair winds and farewell.

All is well.

Contributed by ship’s steward Mischa Chaleyer-Kynaston

 

Voyage Log: Coffs Harbour – Port Macquarie day 5

Monday, 22nd September 2008

Noon position: Lat 31°28′S Long 153°00.1′E
Day’s run: 77 nm

Chicken soup and salads for lunch, easy enough for the last voyage crew recovering from seasickness to have a spoonful. Mainmast watch finishes their spud peeling competition, with a clear winner of the longest peel trophy as adjudicated by the Ben the second mate. After the peeling is done and the competition complete they finish off with “the spud cannons!” All lined up in the waist of the ship by Bark Endeavour’s cannons they launch a handful of peel over the side and shout BANG!!! It’s fun, but it’s just not the same. On deck it’s still bright and beautiful, calm as a pond, and people are swanning about in the sun. Perfect conditions for an emergency drill. Ben calls it over the PA: “Man overboard drill! Man overboard drill!” And the sound of the general alarm knocks the crew out of their slumber.

 

The professional crew all rush to their designated man overboard positions, and the voyage crew to their muster stations. Those already on deck are standing and pointing directly at our man overboard dummy: “Oscar”, a green ball (Oscar is the name of the code flag flown by a ship in a man overboard situation); the lookouts do not take their eyes off him, and keep their arms rigid pointing at him – a clear indicator for the rest of the rescue effort. Dirk the navigator starts his timer the moment the first call is made over the PA. Darbey, the cook’s mate, and Ally, the foremast topman, suit up, while the mates, Toby and Ben, command the voyage crew hoisting the rescue boat.  The boat is launched with Ally at the tiller and Darbey in the bow, they look back to the lookouts to get their bearing and race to save Oscar.

Darbey is heard on the radio: “Man overboard recovered!” Ross, the captain, looks at Dirk and asks for the time, “ten minutes precisely.” It is calm conditions, with nil ship speed, and in 10 minutes the man overboard drifted 0.2 nautical miles (about 370 metres). It is a clear demonstration of the necessity for a speedy rescue should a real emergency arise, which would be more likely to occur under strenuous sea conditions. Oscar is appropriately chastised on his return and told not to do it again. After the drill, with the rescue boat in the water and Bark Endeavour heaved to, the crew are rewarded for their efforts with a unique experience: a swim in the open ocean with 4000 metres of water below them, and 65 nautical miles from land – well beyond the edge of the continental shelf. It is a welcome reprieve from the heat and humidity aboard ship the last two days, the water is blue and pristine clear: absolutely refreshing.

  

A little work is done immediately after the swim, with some crew pulling lines while still in their bathers – the rescue boat has to be hauled back onboard and the lines cleaned up, and all sails out are set on a starboard tack. Once completed, and everyone is out of their swimmers, the day returns to a peaceful tone. There is talk of the sod’s opera night coming up, reading in the sun, and on the foredeck there is a guitarist practicing. At 1600 hours one of the topman is hunting down a line under the direction of Ant the sailing master/boatswain, they look and look, getting closer, only to be trumped by their own upperyardie, who finds it first. Ant thinks it’s very amusing and makes sure to rub it in, “I was close!” huffs the topman.

At 1640 the top gallants are clewed, followed by furling. There are many cameras watching from the deck below; sail handling – up so high in perfect weather – is a pretty sight. Except one voyage crew member up on the yard calls: “No more butt shots!” Pictures taken from below and behind a yard while a crew member is hanging over it can be less than flattering (or more flattering – as the case may be!).

It’s movie night, after a scrumptious Sunday roast courtesy of Abi and Darbey in the galley, it’s time for Sunday night moonlight cinema courtesy of Ross. Onto the main course sail is projected images of Endeavour under full sail and hurtling along, followed by incredible footage of a massive tallship sailing the wrong way around the horn. Popcorn and chocolate travel up from the galley, bringing more enthusiastic patrons.

The night passes smoothly with a little lightning teasing from the horizon but not drawing closer, at 2200 hours the wind is backing rapidly, blowing north-west and north, freshening force 4. During the 0400-0800 watch with mizzenmast watch on duty there is a splendid shooting star: space debris burning large and blue, similar to a comet. A pod of dolphins also welcomes the ship into the day. It is another beautiful morning, with french toast on the breakfast menu (known as Matt’s french toast, the boatswain’s mate, for it’s his favourite brekkie). And on either side of breakfast all the sails are clewed, followed by a whole lot of furling.

At 1000 hours the captain calls the voyage crew for a morning meeting, the news: we are heading in. The iron staysails (the engines) are up, there might be a chance to enter the Port Macquarie river mouth before gale force winds close the door – and Captain Ross has decided to take it. The entry is highly dependent on both the wind and the sea state – if the conditions aren’t suitable then Endeavour will be headed back out to sea ’til the time is right.

After the briefing it’s time for “happy hour”, cleaning stations on board, everything is to be ship shape for arrival. Afterwards everyone is on deck in uniform ready to attempt the bar crossing into Port Macquarie.

  

All is well.

Contributed by ship’s steward Mischa Chaleyer-Kynaston