Most of the crew were up by 7 am. The seas were up and the Kanimbla was rolling and pitching. Some of the crew chose to pass on breakfast and stay in their bunks.
After breakfast a group of us set up the safety bags containing a strobe light, emergency whistle and safety sausage or tall position marker that can be seen at quite a distance. We are very remote and very conscious of safety procedures.
A bit later on we pulled out copies of our historical records and scoured over them for additional clues to where we might find the Royal Charlotte. We took a break at lunchtime and afterward downloaded our report from the 2010 reconnaissance with the chart of mag hits, their strength and location. The last task for the day was to make up our decent lines and marker buoys. The team from Flinders took charge of this under the capable teaching of Lee Graham from ANMM.
We wrapped up work for the day about 6 pm and had dinner at 7 pm in the lee of Saumarez Reef. This gave us a bit of protection and cut down the rolling of the boat a bit. Everyone was very tired from fighting the seas today and there wasn’t anyone up past 9 pm.
Early tomorrow morning we will arrive and anchor up at Frederick Reef.
Hopefully in the next instalment I will be able to introduce the crew and post photos of most of us. Stay tuned!
Cheers Paul Hundley (Sr. Curator and archaeologist)