CLIENT: Townsville Grammar School
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20220720
FROM: Townsville to Townsville
DATE: 23 July 2022
POSITION: Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Is
REPORT BY: White Watch
White Watch had the earliest watch this morning at 0100-0400. We took it in shifts, with Ashna, Jasmine and Almaz taking the 0100 to 0130 shift, and Poppy, Ruby and Yumindi taking the second watch from 0130 to 0200. Although Jett and Connor were meant to be on the third shift, a change of events from our watch leader left them sleeping through the night. We awoke this morning at 0630 to the sound of the bugle from Blue Watch. Although most of us pretended we didn’t hear anything and rolled back over, we were soon up and dressed for another cold breakfast by Cath, the most underrated member of the team.
At 0700 we prepared for our midmorning knot competition, starring the clove hitch. Despite practicing and putting in our best effort, we came second once again to Blue Team, and are now second overall with 10 ½ points to their 11. Next up, we devoured our hot breakfast of bacon and eggs from Cath and were underway by 0730.
Today’s schedule consisted of sailing from Orpheus Island to Horseshoe Bay, with a stop in at Esk Island to make up for a missed swim yesterday. Although our watch was 1000 to 1200, we were called out at 0900 to raise the foresail in preparation for our arrival at Esk Island. We did well, aside from hiccups surrounding securing reefing lines, which stopped the sail from raising, and struggles organising rope for the foresail sheet. White Watch persevered for a swift arrival at Esk Island which, conveniently, coincided with the start of our first watch at 1000.
After lowering the foresail, we climbed aboard the dinghy, six at a time, and relied on Robyn’s driving to get us into the shore. At Esk Island, we attempted to snorkel, however due to the low tides, it was a failure. But others spent time by sunbaking, playing soccer, swimming, and more. We came back to inhale the burritos that Cath made for us – delicious!! At 1130 Robyn returned to bring us back to the ship so we could make our way to Horseshoe Bay. Fortunately, with more practice, we easily made our way there.
We anchored at Horseshoe Bay and began our single-sheet-bend knot competition. To our dismay, we lost due to the heat of the competition. But, with the delicious garlic and ginger of the chicken and vegetable stir-fry, we forgot all about our loss. We stuffed our faces and began the election for the positions of sailing master, skipper, and navigation. TJ, Christian, and Charlotte were elected for the positions and Poppy is our reigning watch leader.