Watch last night was from 10 until 11, pretty quiet and not a lot happened as we were at anchor. Once we are under sail the night watches will be four hours which should be from tonight onwards. After that we went back to bed and I slept well in the hammock.

We were supposed to be up at 7, however one of the watches started washing the deck which woke us up. Called up at 7 it was breakfast of cereal, baked beans and hash browns – food here is awesome. Our first job was cleaning the 18th century deck, which involved sweeping the floor, then they were scrubbed down with sea water which should stop mould forming then we swabbed with mops. Apparently cleaning is called “happy hour” – sense of humor indeed.

It was then time to raise the anchor, again our watch got lumbered with that messy job. Sam managed to get that muck all over her feet which isn’t coming off easily! Cleaned up and then we were slowly underway. We were on watch again although all jobs were taken so I spent most of the time talking to Captain Ross who was telling us a bit of the history of the ship and it’s building, how much work it was to plan this voyage and the challenges that they face. 

He used to be involved with the HMS Bounty on Sydney Harbour and he got involved with the HMB Endeavour about 7 years ago. Their aim is to keep it sailing as much as possible, and it’s voyage crew like us who make that possible. The Endeavour will be at sea until May next year which is a long time, then it will be going to Lord Howe Island for the transit of Venus. That sounds really interesting and I’m seriously thinking about taking part on that voyage. They were going to go to Tahiti – that would be even better but apparently LHI is the best vantage point for the transit.

We’ve had lunch – again fed well and now our watch is all sitting up on the fore deck enjoying the sun. I’ve even got mobile signal – Vodafone have better reception here than in Sydney so I’ve posted a few more photos and updated my trip notes on Facebook. Hard life indeed.

Later tonight I’ll update this entry more, for now I think I’ll just enjoy then sun!