ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

The Ship's Cat.

We first got introduced to the The Ship's Cat, Kimbo, who is aboard Samskara, in the piece entitled Gone Drifting. Here then, is another wonderful tale of yesterday's activities for us.

Samskara departing Port Phillip Heads on Sunday. Doesn't that seem like a long time ago... Pic © Steb Fisher.

"Samskara's crew are excited to report that we have done ‘the jump’, after hugging the coast for most of the previous evening, we decided to bear right, just North of Goalen Head at around 0600 this morning (Wednesday 7/7/10). This has instilled an element of excitement and a buzz amongst the crew, as that liberating feeling of the start of a true ocean passage sets in. After our benign, previous 24 hours, Huey the wind God has decided to give us a little more puff to push us up the coast - perhaps he actually appreciates the undie ceremonies?..!?" (Ed. See below – if you dare).

"A consistent 15-20 knots, mainly from the Sou’west, has seen us moving at an average of 8 knots, which is a marked improvement on our previous 1-2 knot average. Other than a few hours of a very confused sea state, where Bass Straight meets the East Australian Current (think of Nemo) and which gave  us the feeling that we were cruising the coast on a pogo stick, the conditions again have been exceptionally comfortable."

"Right now the big kite’s up, with the main eased we are steering Nor’east towards warmth - yippee! Averaging 8.3 knots presently and most of the crew are on deck, enjoying the sunshine and eating freshly cooked popcorn courtesy of Mike. Nick Fo has just entered the galley, arcing up the jaffle iron for lunchtime toasties. His comment, ‘They will take awhile and they won’t be pretty, but gee they'll taste good!’ The first one has been served and I am unsure whether Mike's other comment about whether he can obtain carbon credits is a compliment or that indeed that burning smell has seeped through the iron...Legend effort I say Nick. Any galley action is good action!"

Notable achievements today:

* Nick Fo - speed record thus far @ 12.7 knots

* Most useful crewmember - Carolyn Stoopman (again) - Vege Pie was great. I even managed to compliment it with pasta that held its shape, but have not gone back near the rice and pressure cooker - for the moment. (Ed. Pretty good work for a cat, when you think about it).

* 6 out of 8 crew have had an undie change day - ewww! (Ed. What about the other TWO? Huey will not be happy!)

Hallucination of the day:

Leon mentioning to watch out for Cruise Ships out of Shepparton... mmm??? (Ed. Shep is in rural, central Eastern Victoria, just off the Hume Highway between Melbourne and Sydney and must be at least two and half hours from any real body of salt water.)

"The weather pattern for the next few days is looking good and if anything a little light. (Ed. Look at post coming up today team, for a little update to that scenario.) We are still in the hands of the weather to determine our arrival time, but a quick calculation with approx. 1450 nautical miles to go and if we keep an average of 7-8 knots = 8 days. This is a very rough guess and we will keep the ceremonies going to keep Huey the wind God all excited!" (Ed. Changed our minds – we do NOT want to know too much about undie ceremonies…)

"A good sleep catch-up, after watch this morning was the order of the day and so now it is easy to put down the book and enjoy every moment of days like today. Watching the land disappear behind us, the feeling of sailing into the big blue yonder is hard to describe, but somehow it puts perspective back into everything. With so much time for the simple things, it also makes you realise and reflect on how lucky/privileged we are to be in the position to be able to undertake a journey such as this - a humbling feeling and genuine appreciation, which is certainly not lost on any of the Samskara crew!"

"Must fly and enjoy the fun on deck!"

Pic © Steb Fisher.

To see where the fleet are located after the latest sked, please go HERE.

By John Curnow