At daybreak, the call came to loose the square sails. Crew climbed aloft in the rigging, pulling themselves up the shrouds, laying out onto the yards and loosing the furled sail. By 0800, the watches on deck hauled on lines, yanked on braces and heaved on halyards, setting our eight current square sails (our royals are not yet bent on again after being sent down in Bali). Within half an hour our engine was fully shut down, presenting a peaceful calm atmosphere as we moved forward with the wind in our canvas. This marks the first day of sailing since leaving Bali, for those new crew members who joined in Bali it’s rather exciting to experience the feel of the ship under sail.
This morning crew members have been busy; Kimba, of Ontario, and Dustin, of Nova Scotia, worked away on a new jib for Sea Never Dry, our Lunenburg Dory Shop-built brightly painted dory. We hope to do lots of small boat sailing in the Caribbean, it’ll be great to have a jib that suits the boat properly. Colin, of Nova Scotia, worked with carpenter Carlos, of Ontario, working together on the replacement piece for the spanker gaff. Abbey, of North Carolina, scampered aloft to add patch servings to the main shrouds, when we are braced up sharp the yard or sail can chafe against the shroud, adding patch servings protects both parties.
The sailmaking team, with the help of the on-duty watch, hauled out the new spanker from below the sole, below the salon deck, and spread it out onto the quarterdeck to work on the corner patches. The sail had its second layout completed in Bali when four crew members and our sailmaker, John of Massachusetts, took it to a beach nearby our anchored ship, laid it out on a tarp and worked in the hot Bali sun to complete the second and final layout. As you can imagine the corners of a sail get a lot of wear and tear, they need to be fastened with extra strength to ensure its longevity. Like most things onboard a square rigger, they require both attention to detail and an urgency to get the job completed in a timely manner. The ship comes first, after all without her, we wouldn’t be halfway around the globe.
From: Bali, Indonesia
Towards: Rodrigues
Date: Tuesday, December 11th, 2018
Noon Position: 12°50.2′ S x 109°51.9′ E
Course + Speed: WxN 1/2 N + 5.9 kts
Wind direction + Force: SxW + 3
Swell Height + Direction: 2-3m + S
Weather: Hot, sunny
Day’s Run: 139.6 nm
Passage Log: 366 nm
Distance to Port: 2698 nm
Voyage: 14206.8 nm
Sails Set: T’gallants, upper and lower tops’ls, mainsail and foresail, flying jib, outer jib, inner jib, main t’gallant stays’l, main topmast stays’l, mizzen stays’l