After 2 months harbor sailing on the Soren Larsen and having spend my sailors life between the two bridges, it is time to throw off the mooring lines and head out to sea. The last week of August was the reunion with my beloved sailor Billy in Auckland. He flew in from the Cook Islands where he had sailed the last 2 months on the Picton Castle and I had to leave Australia to renew my visa.
Great to be together again and sail on this epic voyage from Sydney to Melbourne to Hobart and back to Sydney. Crossing Bass Strait twice is not for the light hearted ! In the end we are really going to sail in the wake of Abel Tasman !
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| Victuals for the ship |
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| Cleaning 10 cabins |
A week of preparations to get the Soren ready for sea. Long working days with bending on sails, training in safety and emergency procedures and getting cabins ready and clean to welcome 22 voyage crew.
The cooks Amelia and Jess order food for the trip and it is amazing how much space they find to store everything away. Billy will sail in the role of deckhand/bosun and I as deckhand/purser
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| Cath, Matt Marty, Greg, Jess, Pip, Amilia, Joe, Billy, Charlotte, Donny, Jackson, Elliot |
A total crew of 12 and captain Marty sail the Australian Tall Ships event together with 8 other Tall Ships. Very special are the 3 Dutch Tall Ships "Europa", "Oosterschelde" and Tecla, who set sail in September 2012 from the Netherlands and sailed half way around the world to be in this festival.
On August 30 we welcome our new voyage crew, who will help us to sail the ship. Some of them are new born sailors and some have sailed on Tall Ships and even the Soren before (the die hards more than 5 times). We stay the first day at anchor in Sydney harbor , to do the introduction training with our voyage crew. Climb the mast (up and over), line handling and the safety and emergency drills. Besides that a familiarization with the ship and how difficult it is to use the heads(=toilets)in a proper way.
The next day we depart Sydney harbor and leave the harbor bridge behind. We will be back the beginning of October! It felt so great to see the heads of Sydney and point the bow in the waves of the Tasman Sea. Melbourne here we come!
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| Pip pointing at the heads of Sydney |
We climb the mast to loosen the sails (ungasget). It is one of the thrills of square rig sailing and you have to climb 25 meters to get to the t'gallent. A couple of our new voyage crew helps us to set the sails. The more sails the better and of course it's nice for all the spectators.
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| Charlotte climbing to the t gallent |
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| All the squares set: course, lower and upper top sail and t gallant |
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| Stay sail and middle stay sail |
We had some beautiful sailing down the East coast of Australia. The weather was sunny and the wind was little and the waves not too high. For some of the voyage crew it was not easy to get their sea legs and seasickness kept them "out of action" . Poor Ross ,as new born sailor, had a hard time. But as always, after 2 days everyone is OK and they luckily forget how sick they were.
We sail the ship day&night and we run a watch system. I had the 8-12 watch in the morning and in the evening. Joe is 3ht mate and our watch officer and Donny together with me the deckhands.The voyage crew is also involved in a watch and most of the time they are on deck at the watch times. Soren is not a sail training ship so guests have a certain freedom to skip watches. Luckily we had a very eager watch and they helped us with everything.
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| Voyage crew helping with setting the jib |
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| Add caption |
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| Jackson the baker Jess the cook |
Life on board is very different from a landlubbers life. First of all your day rithm is decided by the watch you are in. For me it was easy with the 8-12 and a normal day rithm, Billy was on 4-8 so had to wake up in the middle of the night. Sailing as a couple seems romantic although we hardly saw each other while Billy went to bed when I woke up. The crew accommodation is in the f'o'cle , the bow of the ship, with 6 bunks very tight efficiently grouped together. Billy in the bunk above me and 4 other saiors around me.
The 2 cooks Amelia and Jess prepare 3 meals a day and cookies and cakes for the coffee breaks (smoko). Jackson is our baker and makes every night in his watch from 12-4 fresh bread. On Sunday it is the traditional roast dinner and everyone is dressed up and a complementary wine on the Soren. I have a great respect for the cooks and to prepare meals for 40 people on a rolling ship, is a big challenge.
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| Sunday roast dinner |
We stopped at the Port of Eden what is the last safe harbor before crossing Bass Strait. It is a small seaport situated in Twofold Bay, adjacent to the town of Eden, located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
We stopped only for an afternoon in Eden and continued along the southcoast in the direction of Melbourne. Great sailing withsometimes the "iron topsails" needed. Georgous sunsets just before the beginning of our watch. 
Next stop was Refuge Cove. we anchored there for a day to discover the beauty of the bay.
With the only access by foot or boat, Refuge Cove remains a peaceful retreat.
As the name implies, it offers protection and refuge from the ocean. For 200 years, sailors and boaters have used this cove to escape the hazards of Bass Strait and as a safe and attractive anchorage. A walking track connects the cove with Sealers Cove to the north and Waterloo Bay to the south. Greg was our guide to hike to Sealers Cove.
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| Soren Larsen in refuge Cove |
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| The hikers on top of the hill |
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| Donny calling his girl |
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| Marty & Greg receiving weather info |
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| Elliot, 2nd mate |
We had some more nice sailing and there was time for another anchorage in Cowes.
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| At anchor in Cowes |
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| Billy & Donny |
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| Peter, 87 year old voage crew |
The last day sailing to Melbourne, the wind picked up to 40 knots and we had some real waves and challenging weather conditions. Wet weather gear needed and mainsail reeved down to second reef and just the lower topsail.
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| Arrival Melbourne, Williams Town |
Arival in Williams Town, the harbor of Melbourne where the Tall Ships festival happens the coming days. We have to get the ship ready for "open ship" where the people of Melbourne can have a look on deck and ask us all the silly questions about a sailors life. We furl the sails in a nice harbour stow, rig the festival flag and say goodbye to our wonderful voayage crew.
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| Harbour stow of the course; all hands! |
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| Billy sorting out the festival flag |
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| Voyage crew & crew leg 1 |
Ten tall ships are gathered in Port Phillip, bringing to the city their crews of sail trainees, experiencing the thrills and disciplines of life under sail. A week-long series of events is planned in association with the Festival. Of course fireworks belong to festival and it was a little teaser for the big one later in Sydney.
Very special was the Admiral Sailing Day on September 12, when people can join the crew of the tall ships as they sail around Point Gellibrand, Altona beach and Point Cook. For us the perfect photo opportunity to take pictures of all the other Tall Ships. It felt like being in a historic sailing scene with so much beauty around us. Proud as Dutchie that a thirth of the fleet were the famous Dutch Ships " Europa", "Oosterschelde" and "Tecla" .
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| Oosterschelde |
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| Tecla |
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| Europa |
We left Williamstown with a new group of 22 voyage crew. All eager again to learn and to face the challenges of sailing to Hobart and crossing the famous Bass Strait. Next blog more salty sailing stories !
Ahoy Charlotte
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