Rotary Migrant Voyage

This was probably the toughest voyage I’ve done so far, for several reasons. It was the longest voyage yet at eleven days and ten nights, plus we had an unusual voyage crew. The voyage was an exercise in integration, so we had eight recent migrants and eight young Australians who had applied through Rotary. To make things even more challenging, some of the migrants came from the same background and even the same schools, meaning they stuck together on board for a good chunk of the voyage.

Everything ended well, as it always does. The trainees all opened up and formed a crew, and on the final night we had a variety show at anchor. Each watch entered a skit and individuals or small groups could enter extra skits as well. For ours, I had to impersonate the first mate, so I “stole” his pea-coat and hat:

We had a few great sails on the voyage, including a 44-hour run from Coles Bay to Recherche Bay (sailing all the way). Our new 3-yard red ensign is looking much better than the old one.

I never get tired of the sunsets at sea, so here’s another one. Those interested in reading more about why sunsets look so cool should check out David Morgan-Mar’s annotation on the topic.

It’s not all beautiful sunsets and fair winds, though. We took some time to fix some reefing points on the mains’l, and about halfway through the voyage the sullage pump gave up. That meant no showers and no using the lower head (toilet) until it was fixed, a job that took the engineer, captain, first mate and our smallest deckhand twelve hours. The old pump’s housing had finally corroded through and the spare pump’s housing didn’t fit. That meant pulling the pump out of the engine room and putting a new one in. Not a fun job in the cramped engine room.

Like I said before, everything worked out fine and we’re heading out again in a few days. It’s been an unusually hectic voyage season (so I’ve been told) but it’s nearly finished. Then it’s back to day sails and maintenance.