Officers:

Captain:           Bruce                                                   Cook:              Kellie

Mate:               Ian                                                       Engineer:         Trevor

Second Mate:  Martin                                                             Boatswain:      Sam

Crew:                                                              Watch Leaders:

Devon                         Mal                              Starboard watch leader:          Hugh

Joey                             Ralph                           Middle watch leader:              Hannah

Kane                                                                Port watch leader:                   Sam

Anthony

So…

          What ways has God blessed you today??

          Do tell! Thank him                     U

I Love you!

               Mom

4:12                                                                                         9/12/07

Just Got off of my first middle watch (24:00-4:00). It wasn’t so bad. Except the wind started backing to the Sough, which is the way we are heading. So it is slowing us down. Need More Sleep! We sailed past Jervis Bay.

8:30

            Ate breakfast. Going to have a crew meeting at 9:00. Had to clean below decks; mopping, sweeping, clean mirrors, &c.

9:20

            We are heading for Eden. Our speed has been between 3 and 6 kts. The skipper said we should be at Eden by 7:00 tomorrow morning.

16:13

            The wind doesn’t want to cooperate with us. It won’t let us go South; but luckily, it is swinging Eastwards. Now our ETA for Eden is 10:00. It is cold out on the ocean. We were 22nm offshore at 12:00, but we can still see it. There was a problem with one of the lights up the mast, so Sam had to climb up and fix it. I’ve only seen a couple of Birds, no sea life yet.

17:51

            Hurray! I saw a whale today,

            Around four thirty,

            He looked mighty purty,

            And then, he swam away!

The only problem I’ve had is the bilge stinks, and it permeates through the floor somewhere near my bunk, so that I have to sleep with my nose in my sleeping bag. I haven’t felt seasick yet, the Captain is impressed. I just felt a little queasy when I first tried to sleep. Tonight I’m on First watch (20:00-24:00), so I will get a solid eight hours of sleep instead of four watch four. Luckily we have a good cook on board.

Devon Scott-

          You are an amazing kid & I love you!

          Be good, a hard worker and a blessing today!

                   Love mom

7:29                                                                                                     9/13/07

            We are in Twofold Bay almost to Eden. The sails were taken in. So we are motoring or, as sailors say, sailing with the Iron Topsail.

9:16

            We are alongside the wharf at Eden. I was at the helm whilst we came in. We saw two seals in the bay. The fuel truck was here when we arrived, so we didn’t have to wait.

13:19

            We departed Eden at 10:35. I was again at the helm. The Captain called me the mud pilot which is the preferred helmsman when entering or leaving a river, bay, or what have you.

            I climbed to the lower topsail today.

            We are sailing with the wind astern and have set the main course, main and fore staysails, inner and outer jibs, and the upper and lower topsails.

            We just had muster, which means we run to our muster stations & await further orders, kind of like a fire drill. This muster was an abandon ship muster.

17:36

            We are sailing past Gabo Island down wind at a speed of 7.5 kts. with the wind from the North. We are on 2^nd Dog in 22 min. Sam bought a huge Boatswain knife in Eden at least a foot long. There is a huge chunk of beef for dinner. We are on starboard tack. There is a shipping lane East of us, lots of traffic there.

Hi sweetie!

          Prayers for a great day!

Be safe and have a fun time today!

          Don’t forget to journal Ü

I love you.

          mom

10:27                                                                                                   9/14/07

            We were towing a fishing line astern, because a few days ago we saw some birds swooping down which indicated their were fish, and we just now caught an Albatross who got his beak hooked thinking it the hook was food. We are sailing in the Bass Strait Eastwards of some oil rigs, which we must keep clear of. Saw an amazing and beautiful sunrise today. We are out of sight of land and the horizon is as straight as if it had been ruled. The days are long but laid back; they seem to blend together, it doesn’t help that we work 24/7 to sail the boat. The wind died out early this morning and then came from the SSW and swung Westwards. Before the wind died we were making 7 kts with the engine idling. Now after the wind has finished shifting we are making 7 kts again.

19:39

            The seas are pretty rough. We had duck for dinner and some of the oil spilled out of the bottom of the oven. Sam, Kane and I were sliding all over the Galley. I saw a seal in our wake when on 1^st Dog watch. A Gallah which somehow got out to sea landed onboard earlier, he looked worn out, Hannah tried to give it a Whet-bix but she accidentally scared him. Had a nap from 1:00 to 3:30 that I really needed. Had to furl sails because of a bad head wind.

Here is a list of watch times.

First Watch 2000-2400                                               Afternoon watch 1200-1600

Middle Watch 2400-0400                                           1^st Dog watch 1600-1800

Morning watch 1400-0800                                         2^nd Dog watch 1800-2000

Forenoon watch 0800-1200                                       

Hey Kiddo-

          Be the man God wants you to be!

                   Love mom

4:40                                                                                                     9/15/07

            The “bad” headwind turned into a 55kt wind. We had to heave to and drifted back something like 60nm, now we are at the place we were at 15:00 yesterday. We have hove to but have the main staysail hoisted to help balance us. We are moving at 2kts back East, NOT the way we want to go.

8:13

            The storm (if it is a storm, as I a lubber think) hasn’t abated yet, but at least it’s daylight. Last night, Sam had me scared almost to death, he was on the bowsprit trying to furl the flyer and outer; He yelled something (I couldn’t hear what) and I thought he had fallen overboard. But I knew he had his harness on, so it was possible for him only to fall over the side of the net not to fall in the water.) Last night before going to bed; I felt a little seasick. I had some water and a ginger pill and felt alright in the morning. I didn’t’ get much sleep last night. During First Watch I just rested I didn’t actually fall asleep, I don’t think, and after watch, I only slept for two hours. But, surprisingly, I feel just fine, not at all tire. The decks are all awash.

16:26

            I saw an albatross, a dolphin, and a seal today. The seas went down and are coming back up again. We are moving at 5 kts and are 67.5 nm offshore. It took hours for us to hoist the mainsail. On of the shackles broke so Sam had to improvise using rope. We had to tighten the tiller.

I am praying that you learn new things, see some amazing sights and make some great memories.

Love mom

10:08                                                                                                   9-16-07

            We are sailing past Wilson’s promontory, with a NE breeze.

All sails except the flyer are set.

10:30

            Called home.

20:27

            We are having another Westerly Gale. This time the winds should be only 25-35 kts. We are heaving to. Gotta get to bed. Only the main course is set. It rained on watch. My hands hurt from handling rope. Wilson’s promontory is steep sided mountains with a beach on the eastern side; it has a lighthouse on it. There is an island across from it forming a little channel that we sailed through. The island is named Rodondo Island, just like Rodondo rock in the Galapagos Islands; it basically looks like a large mountain from the North. There are other islands around the promontory on the Western side which I could see. Also there were some more island groups to the south.

            Now I really must get to bed if I don’t want to be late for watch. We have the morning watch. It’s nice to see the sunrise at sea. IT comes up heaps earlier then on land, and sets later too.

You Devon can do all things through Christ that strengthens you!

          Do something Great!       

                   Love mom

10:06                                                                                                               9-17-07

            Not much of a sunrise. The clouds covered it. This gale is worse than the last one. so much so that we are heading into a port to wait out the front and to refuel. This storm has slowed us down on our route to Adelaide. The waves are massive. If you try to walk and aren’t careful, you will slip and possibly get hurt. The compass fell out of the binnacle and was rolling around in the scuppers, luckily we found it before it went overboard, and we replaced it.

9:30

            We are in a river near a town called Hastings. It turned out to be lovely afternoon. Mal is going home tomorrow because he hurt his hand. Watches are broken because we are anchored; just on person needs to be up on a harbor watch to make sure we stay in one place rotating ever hour. The main is useless because a ring on the head got torn out in the gale, and the outer is losing its clew ring reinforcement as well. We are going to refuel tomorrow. We had to make the barky shipshape and Bristol fashion. We are holding the World Championship Sailing Chess match between Ralph, Martin, and me. So far martin has beaten me thrice and Ralph beat Martin twice. We plan on waiting here until the front moves through and then skipping up the coast.

Devon,

          Guard you heart, your words and your mind!

Keep yourself safe and journal. Ü

          Love mom

13:34                                                                                                   9-18-07

            Wow! I can’t believe that it has been eight days! We are along a wharf getting fuel and water. It’s been a laid back kind of day. We’ve been here since 12:00ish.

24:07

            Well, we left about, I don’t know, 12:30? And motored out of the river. ON the way Hugh was teaching Kane and I to splice, very easy, just remember one on bottom left two on top right, working end in you right hand, and then over ’n’ under thrice, than on twice over ’n’ under and on e once more over ’n’ under, and clean it up.

            A nice breeze from the North is helping us for now, MSS, and FS are set. Making 8 kts; we will be past Melbourne when I awaken (Finally!). Martins ETA for our arrival in Adelaide (with fair weather, and obliging winds) is 4, 4 ½ days. I think the gale(s) brought the crew closer together “Nothing like a storm or an action to bring the hands together.” as Jack Aubrey always says. We saluted one of H.M.A.V. on our way out the river. Good Night! Oh! We sailed past Phillip Island.

Remember Devon that a merry heart doeth good….

Go do some good today!

          Love mom

20:10                                                                                                               9-19-07

            Today it has been mildly rough. We are almost to Portland and Cape Nelson. Not much happened today, just stayed inside really. It’s Really weird when your sitting at the table having breakfast and you look out the porthole and only see sky, then water, sky, water, sky…, and then when you get up to put your dishes in the tub, and look out the door and all you can see is… water, sky, water, ….

            I can’t wait until it smoothens out so I can have a nice hot shower. Had to take in the staysails, due to a headwind. Making only 2-3kts. I’m drifting off. Good night.

Hey there-

Have you journaled about you shifts, what you enjoy, what stinks, what you’ve seen, where you’ve been, who you’ve met…

          Get busy on it Ü

                   Love mom

9:27                                                                                                                 9/20/07

            WE are almost in SA waters. Watched a beautiful sunrise. These big waves are really getting old.

            We had to brace the yards; and we almost fell overboard because they were being thrown around due to afore mentioned waves, also because of afore mentioned waves, everything outside is salt coated.

12:14

            We are now sailing past MacDonnell Bay, Stoney Point, Middle Point, Douglas Point and Cape Northumberland. Seas have gone down quite a bit. We are 6 ½ nm offshore with a speed of 5.4kts we are about 250 nm from the river leading to Adelaide.

19:22

            Had big waves, went back down a little.

Devon-

          Did you see that picture of me and President Bush? Ü

Have an amazing day today- look for your blessings and be one!

Be safe & say your prayers!

          I love you!

                   Mom

7:47                                                                                                                 9/21/07

            We are heading for the Backstairs Passage between Kangaroo Island and mainland Australia. Waves have gone down to a bearable swell. It’s really weird, when on watch, to look at the horizon and then have a wave come that is higher then the horizon and the deck of the ship come and lift you up: Sometimes on the opposite side o the swell the boat falls a little so for a few seconds you are weightless. I hate having the middle watch (which I had this morning) because you only get four hours of sleep and then you have to get up and go out on deck where it’s cold, windy, and sometimes the deck is awash with ice cold ocean water, then you have to go back to bed and sleep for only four more hours (which isn’t near enough) if you want to eat breakfast. Martin let me fix the position of the ship last night (well, this morning at 2:00).

9:35

            We are almost there! Adelaide is on the electronic chart!

17:02

            We had to get the ship ready for port by cleaning everywhere and polishing brass. While this was going on Captain Bruce decided that we should have a man overboard drill; the horn was right by my ear when the muster alarm was sounded.

            We have had a beautiful day today, nice easy swell, sunshine (I can’t believe it), hardly any wind to freeze us. Dolphins became our companions today from 3:00 and are still there now. So many Dolphins at one stage there was probably 1 and a half score dolphins, now there is around 15 swimming along with us. I think that they are Pacific White-sided Dolphins.

23:03

            We are anchored at a bay on Kangaroo Island. At a quarter to 12:00 we are hoisting the anchor to start heading for Adelaide.

PS: I love you! Smile and have a great day! I hope you see some whales… Did you see any penguins? Can’t wait to read the newest Jack Aubrey book- by Devon Lupton via his journal… get busy boy! Ü

  Be good- Do what you can be proud of… act like a man!

                   I love you,

                             Mom.

7:56                                                                                                                 9/22/07

            We are almost there. Gotta go on watch.

We berthed the One and All safely. And my Family was waiting for me. Little did I know what was to come in the next two days. But I’ll let my mom tell you about that.

 Me on the rigging

I am showing Dylan how to read the charts

This is my wet wetather gear that I was in for most of the trip!