Ahoy from the good ship the R Tucker Thompson
Apologies for not posting a blog last night as we did not have any reception in Oke Bay.
Yesterday was a very windy but enjoyable day. Our morning started off with the usual morning swim in surprisingly warm waters. Morning duties and breakfast followed soon after. We then we split up into three groups. Some of us climbed up the rigging and did the Tucker Challenge, some of us went out in the Tucker tender to learn how to drive safely with an outboard, and the rest of us helped in the galley to help prepare lunch.
We then all headed ashore on Roberton island where we went for a walk up to Cooks’ Lookout and diving around a reef. Back on the ship again, we devoured our lunch, weighed anchor, and set sail for our night anchorage – the trainees even learned how to set one of the square topsails.
During the sail, some of us fished and others helped making some baggy wrinkles for the ship. We dropped anchor and hid from the wind down below where we did some lessons covering points of sail and anchoring.
Today was another windy day, but the sun managed to come out at around lunchtime. We had an 8 o’clock start (as per Sally’s birthday wish) and this was followed by the usual morning routine. Once dishes were cleared away, we weighed anchor and motored through some heavy seas around the corner to Urupukapuka Bay.
During the past few days, everyone has been working hard to learn how to sail the ship and today the trainees got to put what they learned to the test. We dropped anchor for a short time and headed to shore to stretch our legs and play some shore games which were enjoyed by everyone. Back on board the ship, we set a course for Pomare Bay and had an awesome sail beating up wind. We arrived at our anchorage around 1700hrs. We had a quick lesson covering tides and then split up: one group conquered the Tucker Challenge while the second group learned to drive the tender and even had a row in Little Tuc. For Sally’s birthday, we have a lovely speckled cake for dessert, She opened up a small birthday present from all of us, and got a lovely handmade card (made by Hope) with special messages from everyone on board.
Over all, the past few days have been a blast and we can’t wait for what tomorrow brings – which is when our friends from Special Olympics come on board for the day, and the trainees will get to test their leadership skills.
Po Marie
