What a Difference A Day Makes ...........!

Dave welcomes Bounty on arrival.

Feet finally on the ground for two nights in Restoration Island, frankly, I do not know how Bligh left, or why.... This is the closest Ive been to heaven... Once we sailed into the reef I was completely silenced by its beauty, had I lived my life and never seen this part of the world, my life would have been an utter waste.... seriously.. the views are spectacular, the people remarkably Friend, I feel completely at peace with myself here and I could happily stay on Restoration Island with several good books for weeks to come. David Glasheen's hospitality has been a welcome gift after spending the last 30 days or so on Talisker Bounty Boat and the locals have been very supportive of our expedition. Last night I enjoyed so much the company and discussions with interesting people, such a refreshing change for all of the crew having spent 24 hrs a day for the last month in each others company... no offense intended and I know we will all feel the same, I am proud to be a part of the Bounty team. But... Dear Don McBligh can we stay just a little bit longer? Alas no... We set sail again at sun rise tomorrow for the last leg, 1400 miles to Timor.

I have thought a lot why I seem to find the expedition so far harder than the rest of the crew and come to the conclusion, that as David Quilter and Don are seasoned adventurous they are simply used to discomfort, they know when it is unpleasant, this too shall pass, and the gems are around the corner, I couldn't see them, only my return flight home. Chris is at a lovely age, when life is an adventure and approaches everything by throwing himself in with that lovely playful curiosity and I admire him for that... oh to be 18.. Ive been around enough to develop an unhealthy "why am I putting up with this sh**" when the going gets tough, when its really miserable, I cheer myself up by reminding myself this trip has cost me enough for a world cruise and instead I am hungry, wet, tired and aching from head to toe... However, I will share that I am so.... so.... grateful for the experience... I suspect I will only grasp the real value once I am at home reflecting upon the whole event.. Unlike the rest of the crew, I have children who I have left at home, and I miss them terribly, not even talking with them is horrible...

We all have different ways to manage discomfort and stress, by planning my departure I gave myself a slip road, escape route and rather than counting 26 days to go I was able to count down to restoration Island (7/8 days) knowing I then had the option to depart, as crazy as it may sound this made it much more manageable for me, I really struggled, with both the diet, and surprisingly, the boredom, with no books or music to fill time, sitting for what felt like years in the crippling heat was slowly driving me insane... With so much time and nothing to fill it with I found myself worrying about matters completely unnecessarily, my home, family, business, , anything I could find to worry about I did, then all I wanted to do was leave... I am pleased I couldn't and I am learning so much about myself, though its not all pleasant, I would much rather report that I have discovered I am invincible, a strong man who can conquer the world... maybe not, but you know what I mean.. I am not going home and will be leaving with Talisker Bounty Boat tomorrow morning, when in doubt, I need to dig deep, have faith in my team and business partners at home and meditate... easy said looking across the beach from this arm chair!

Upon arrival at Restoration, I immediately went and found the material to make a small camp/bed for myself, which I must say for a Hong Kong pen-pusher this is not small achievement, I was then advised to move it further back from the beach as crocodiles are less likely to go across the grass... CROCODILES..... OMG..... I hadn't considered being eaten by crocs.. How on earth can I sleep.. But believe me, after our yummy chicken stew, the first meal since Tonga, I lay down under my make shift home and slept like a baby for 7 hours... It was wonderful, I didn't even see the stars, I passed out to quick and awoke too late, with a BIG fat smile on my face, not least because I hadn't been eaten by crocodiles..

I estimate I have lost at least 8kg and other than my pants keep falling down, I confess to being very happy about that, (the weight not the pants) the challenge will be to keep it off when I return. I know I shall take much greater care of myself and seek more balance in my life. This afternoon, someone asked if this expedition will make a real difference to my future, my reply was surprisingly prompt and I think sums up precisely how I feel. " I do not know what my future holds, I only know it will be very different from what I had previously imagined, I am looking from a different perspective and that really pleases me"

David W (not David Q)

MESSAGE TO MY DAUGHTERS - Hi Lucinda and Isabelle - You wont recognize me when I am home, much more handsome, slim, tanned with a really cool beard... I am missing you both very much... Love Dad x

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"REPLIES TO BLOG COMMENTS"

Hi All...been a bit of fun catching up on a few of the comments that Stu our Blog master has forwarded to Restoration Island...looks like some will have to get a copy of the book one day when it finally comes out..it will tell many things but we will try to cover everything here but as you can expect it is challenging when at sea...anyway just to cover a couple of points...

I ring Margie twice a day..once in the morning and once at night..she is our Expedition headquarters.it is all about safety and expedition logistics...not just to check up on what is going on in the world...so yes it is very appropriate to stop the rest of the crew from using the phone for anything else other than logistics..which is what I have done..what happened with Dave he twisted that to be following his business and family interests which was unfortunately for him as it stops him from enjoying the experience out here and he knew the rules...so I have no problem with that..in fact I have bent all my own standards to try to accommodate him and let him satisfy his own mind...

Margie has now gone to Europe for 6 weeks on business and pleasure so I will not be ringing her each day any longer as Marketa is our new expedition manager and she will get my check in calls..all part of our sophisticated crisis management planning and we have a large team of qualified people handling that...

Seems to be some confusion from a member of the 1983 Child of Bounty trip as to why should the Govt. pay for the helicopter to Restoration Island and that we have it easy with sat coms etc...well firstly we are the fifth expedition now..one in 1975.Child of Bounty was the second in 1983..another in 1990..another in 1995 and now us..our is different than all the others..no big deal..not better or worse..just different...Customs have been great helping with a helicopter and correct me if I am wrong but in 1983 I thought the Govt. did the same thing and paid for a customs ship to be waiting at Restoration Island to clear them??..so a helicopter today is a lot cheaper than that and isnt it good that the Aust. Govt. is so forward thinking that they support this type of endeavor for the good of all..we were impressed yesterday with how efficient and friendly Customs and AQIS really were..NO we did not use their helicopter for Arial for our Documentary!..we will charter one from Horn Island later for that at our expense..yes we have GPS for safety reasons just as in 1983 I believe the Child of Bounty used an Argo satellite tracing system and the best Charts , Sextants etc of the time for navigation..that is all that they had in those days, but I do not believe Child of Bounty went off blind into the ocean like we have in many parts...that is why we were nearly wrecked on a reef twice on the way to Fiji..and stumbled across some banks in the Pacific!

Reine seems a bit confused about our approach to a few things so let me use the torch issue as an example...we set out not to use torches as Bligh had non...we we still have torches for safety reasons..what are the rules of engagement for torches..only to avert a high risk situation or official business...so if we are writing a blog at night we have to use the head torch..if we have been struggling at night in big seas trying to control the boat and it is getting dangerous and we may capsize the boat...then we will use our head torch to look at the compass...don't worry we have had plenty of very frustrating black nights and plenty of times using torches too when it hits the fan so it is a juggling act...

With the GPS..as an example...we set off from our unexpected Fiji stop ( not scheduled!) knowing our departure point...like Bligh we have a voyage plan..he had been planning his for three months before the mutiny to get the Bounty home..all the best publications at the time and previous voyage journals of many ship before him were studded hard to make that plan..we are using our one planning chart that cover half the world...we set off and immediately get into what is called "Plain Sailing"..all the westing is simply an addition of the hourly speeds listed in the ships log...that is it...then occasionally I take a noon sight to check the Latitude..north south position..which is no big deal as there is nothing to hit for a long time..so unlike Bligh I only do that occasionally...we are just Dead Reckoning our position to the west....the current adds a new dimension...I do not calculate my Latitude and longitude each day by tables as it is Plain sailing a very simple and very basic....so when the bottom appeared last week we were surprised and I was needing to get a noon sight to work out our latitude...north south position asap..to work out which bank it was...as it turns out we quickly found the sand cay and then saw on the one chart we have we were about the latitude of Diane Bank..so that had to be it..Bingo!..we have a fixed point...the funny part about all that was that our DR positions in the next few days went way out again with currents from everywhere...so I am not navigating like Bligh but I am doing it the same way...every day noon sights..this all become irrelevant when we then have to get to Boat pass and restoration Island...I have to use the GPS just to get there as I do not have an almanac or Tables to compute longitude..neither did Bligh..but he never needed to get anywhere specific...so it is different for us...

The other way we use the GPS is for safety..when we were pressed hard on a lee shore on a very Dark windy 2am morning with surf only minutes away we struggled to get off..once that was in progress I jumped below and immediately turned the GPS on the find out where the reef was going..it showed us on the reef!! and about half a mile from the end..that info was critical to our survival....When we got to Bligh water between the Fiji islands we planned to go through in daylight but in the end we were caught in very bad weather,..far too dangerous to slow down in or we would have capsized so we were trapped heading up into a blind alley and we were going to be there at night..no option but to use the GPS or we would have been wrecked...not a good idea...

It is hard for us to truly do things exactly as Bligh..he had to..we are volunteers..it starts from there...but we are forcing deprivations and hardships on ourselves but we are no being foolhardy or reckless....we know when the boundaries have been met...we have been doing it tough often...we are having it much better off than Bligh so I will not standing up at the end and saying we did it exactly like Bligh..I will be saying we have experienced some moments very similar to Bligh in a little boat ....I will watch the sixth re-enactment of Bligh's voyage with great delight as it is truly one of the greate3st open boat journeys of all time...I am loving it and am very happy to share so much of it with so many...makes for some interesting conversations but wait till you see the Book!!!!

Please keep the comments coming..good and bad...better to have an opinion that say nothing all your life...we are out of here tomorrow something I am really looking forward too....Half of Bligh's men were right and half were wrong when the crew were split on leaving or staying!!!...you work it out....Don

Arrival Restoration Island........

Too much wind would have been a good problem to have a few days ago..but not the night before we are due to go through Bligh Boat passage...it picked up to 30kts plus with up to 3.5 mtr breaking seas and we had to try slowing down or risk overshooting the pass...when I came on watch at 2200hrs we only had 20 miles to go yet could not get there till 0700 the next day...I dropped all sail except for the jib then continued to ride the seas precariously beam on to the North to North East..away from the pass.. till I saw a big set coming in the moon light and headed off Down wind to the west ish?..it was a long watch as I needed to steer all the way...Chris was there ready to assist but it was potentially dangerous..so I gave it to him for 30 minutes at 0130 in the morning and he did a great Job..he continues to amaze me every time..he love all the challenges and is going to be a changed person when all this is over...after four hours we had held position bit and were now only 17miles to the pass...Quilter and Wilco took over and the conditions settled a bit so in the end we made a rendezvous with Supr at 0730 about 5 miles outside the pass..took some great footage then headed into the flat blue lagoon of the Barrier Reef at 0900...it was amazing to think of Bligh going through this little passage..a touching moment for all...did I tell you flat water is great!!

A few hour later another coast watch plane came by then we met up with the 60 minutes film crew boat as the customs chopper buzzed us. we slowly sailed up to the most amazing Beach at Restoration Island..Bring on the Stew!!

We dug a ditch in the sand below the low waterline , started the fire , chopped up the Chicken, covered with water, boiled,added potatoes, peas and latter the cabbages...we had two gallons of it and it was gone in two hours..Dave apologized profusely and tucked in..it was superb!!..we then sat around all night with Dave from the island and some of the trawler crews, Bob and Margaret and had a very social occasion...Chris was the only one that slept on the boat..I slept on the beach with NO!! sand flies or mosquitoes!!! it was heaven..

All our cameras, computers, phones and in fact the batteries off the Talisker Bounty Boat we transferred to the 60 minutes support boat for charging over night so I could not write this blog!!,,...sorry...now the sun is shining, blue sky..good breezes and plenty of anticipation about setting out from here...with Dave I am happy to say...at first light tomorrow..still a long way to go so ???

At the moment life is good...big party planned for tonight but we are all still on Bounty Boat Rules...so we watch them all getting into everything...I want to get going already...Don

Restoation Island Tomorrow.... Batteries DEAD....

The wind has kicked in and we are on GPS which showed us 50 miles further ahead than we thought..our ETA off boat Passage by Bligh Reef is around 5am tomorrow..the tide turns in at about 0700 and our great friends Bob and Margaret Edwards will meet us just outside the entrance at 0730 in their beautiful globe trotting Nordhavn 46 that they have just sailed up from Sydney..they are going to be camera boat for the next week and Stu is on board..

Mixed emotions for me at the moment..hard to believe we have come so far with the days all molding into one after the other...there have been a few occasions over the past 10 days when I was on the verge of getting emotional for various reasons..yes that means crying??..not sure why...never did but it was close and it really surprises me..I had to stop talking a few times on the Phone to Margie and when speaking about some things on the boat..weird!.there is always this pressure on the organizer/Capt. I suppose? the health issues did not help and I don't think the diet is conducive to good nerves either...maybe it is because things have been so good for so long that I am getting worried about when it is going to hit the fan so to speak..or when we have to pay the piper???..I know I was shocked when David W just calmly said he was thinking of walking out on us at Restoration Island...but the three of us will do OK without him if that is his decision...Dave P. is a tower of strength and truly my right hand man.. but I must say Chris is more than pulling his weight so we would be a good team..

The boat is good all except for the batteries that gave up this afternoon while trying to charge one of the cameras so I have enough for this blog and will hopefully have the solar system working when at the Island so been a bit of a juggling act but we survived..we can still charge our sat phone direct off one panel so our safety link is still live..

So this is the end of the next goal for us..just to get here makes us all feel very HAPPY!.

Customs arrive at the island around midday and I recon we will get there about 1300hr so there is a bit of anticipation on board..I have to keep reminding everyone to keep focused on Kupang...myself included..as this is just a quick stop over and some of the trickiest parts are yet to come...we will leave at first light on the 3rd so only one full day stopover..Bligh left this morning at 0400hrs

Last night we had one of those special moments..a Booby was trying to land on the rolling mast at sunset..which he did a few times before getting flicked off by the motion and he was cruising past so I said to Chris who was on the helm..I was filming it..Stick your arm out Quick!..he did and as I thought he landed on his arm!..no this is no little bird! something the size of a big Chicken..of course we were both laughing like crazy and "Brioan" his new name was wondering what the big deal was about..anyway we brought him on board to show the other watch below asleep..more laughs and the first bird poo!..and then we took him and put him on the back of the boat where he stayed all night with us keeping us company till an hour after Dawn when with one last Poo!..about 12 in total..he flew off..a very "COOL!" wildlife encounter..

Saving power so at the moment we have 20kts ESE wind right behind..sailing at 5kts, trade wind clouds with a little rain about..surging along with occasional water splashing into the cockpit,25 degrees and a 2mtr sea with some big rolling on the boat every now and then..but tomorrow it is inside the Great Barrier Reef and tonight it is tinned corned Beef again ..then 24 hours latter..Boiled Chicken Stew!!!..YEEHAAA!

Stand By for a couple of BIG days ahead..will send plenty of Pics when we get more power...Oh yes..Chris picture was really me..I swam ashore without clothes of course..I have been wearing the same shorts and shirt for a month now..never had any fiber pile layers on..only worn my wet weather pants once in the cockpit and once below in the dodger..hardly ever open my bag..so life is simple...same with Dave P. BUT..Chris and Dave W get into Pajamas every night...I just dive in and straight to sleep..tomorrow night I am on the beach!!!

Life is good!..Don

" Captain Bligh, caught nude and stranded on the sand cay"

Getting There.......................

What up. So we're still just cruising across the paddock. I guess by the time it gets to Sunday, you've already had all the juicy happenings of the week from the others, so my bad if I'm just reiterating all that has been said.

Highlights of this week? Well early on in the week I blew my top at Dave, his clumsiness, laziness and unreasonable attitude finally got on my last nerve. Something needed to be said, for my benefit at the very least as I was bottling my frustration. Let me paint you a picture with my imagination brush. It was probably Monday, just arriving at noon, the heat of the day pummeling our little boat. Having been off from 6am to 12pm, the last few hours of my morning were spent squaring away my daily duties. It just hit the hour, Dave was set on just going straight to sleep, no questions asked. So after a little complaining that I was now "on shift" - I was under the floorboards getting out water - I suggested he make the most of the oppourtunity to sort his single responsibility as quartermaster and sort the food out to make more space for me. To which he expectedly replied, "I'll do it later".

"Why don't you just do it now Dave?"
"I'll just do it tomorrow when I have to."

*I try gentle persuasion with no result*

"You're fully annoying. Why can't you just do your job?"
"It's my job. You just worry about what you're doing and I'll worry about what I'm doing."
"Seriously, all you have to do everyday is pull out food and divide by four. If you don't do your job efficiently, it makes it harder for me to get my own stuff sorted and in turn the boat suffers."
"Stop being so childish."
"Stuff it."

Okay, I may have cleaned up the dialogue a little...anyway, it got pretty heated for a little bit but by the end of the day we talked about it, apologised and things were cordial again. I have since made it my personal challenge to deal with Dave's habits with a Zen-like attitude to avoid any further conflict, there is after all, a long way to go. I think I might be giving the impression that Hong Kong Dave is a real hindrance, but he's a great guy, I've just been venting my aggravation from him onto here. Since then there has been no other real arguments. Good times.

Well, apart from Quilter's over-reaction at my souvenir shells. Bad times. To cut a short story shorter, I picked up a couple of colourful shells on the Sand Cay we pulled up at, as a memento of this picturesque shore leave. He spouted out the green cross code's old motto, "Take only photos, leave only footprints". Which, reasonably, I take as a subjective guideline rather than an absolute rule. The beach was made up of a fine, coral sand, so soft in places it felt like walking on fresh snow powder. Quilter dumped a load into the bilge from his shoes when he got back. Probably an amount equal to, if not more, than a few eroded shells. He followed up with the overused line, "If everyone did it, there wouldn't be anything left". Not everyone does it and if they did it would probably be deemed socially acceptable, making it a moot point. Now I really do my part for the environment, but that was just a bit silly. Quilter is so passionately dedicated to environmental awareness and conservation, which I wholeheartedly admire. But he also seems to go by, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem".

Got buzzed by an Australian Coast Watch surveillance aircraft, who are dedicated to protecting the coastline. We had to answer a few questions and give them our particulars, all pretty standard and the really low fly-by was a nice interruption from a moment of boredom. Spent a few hours unraveling twine for a new fishing line, SO MUCH FUN. I think I'll take that up as a hobby when I get back.

That's pretty much all I can dramatise from this week's events.

I spoke to a freelance reporter the other day, she asked what I was looking forward to in Kupang. "Bit of culture, a soft bed, warm food and a well earned rest". Since then my thoughts have shifted to all the logistical issues I'll be faced with at the finish line, but with such little contact that's just one thing I'm going to have to just set aside, I can't do anything about it out here.

I had a few lesser revelations this week, just a few smaller aspects of my own life I need to adjust, a few friendships I need to renew.

Anyway, every thing's awesome on the boat, Restoration is just over the horizon and I can pretty much taste that chicken stew.

See you the other side of the reef,
Later,
Chris

"Govt, Help, and Fishing Good & Bad"

We started our mandatory reporting to Australian Quarantine ,Customs and Immigration today as we approach Australia to make our entry . Unfortunately Restoration Island is not an official entry port which I have known for many months and I have been in close contact with the Govt. departments about procedures...I was hoping that maybe there would be a customs vessel in the area or?? in the end the only way was to fly a team down from Thursday Island at the tip of Cape York by helicopter which would cost about $10,000!!..or go to Cairns...not an option...

I am SO HAPPY to tell you that The Australian Customs service, and AQIS and Immigration all believe that the voyage of Talisker Bounty Boat is of Historical and National importance, and significance so have agreed to cover the cost of the Flight in their National Operating Budgets which is absolutely FANTASTIC news...I cannot thank all the Heads of Departments enough and the relevant Ministers who no doubt had to give approvals and sign this off as a special one off...I was told about this possible opportunity unofficially back in late February during training and just kept my fingers crossed..to tell the truth if I had to find $10000 right now I would have challenges so THANKS AGAIN!!...look forward to seeing the team on the beach soon.

Not sure when that will be as we are still only sailing at about 3kts..very pleasant though and not hot, blue sky, 1mtr waves and plenty of action today..

Two big catches on the fishing line..the first was unfortunately a Blue footed Booby a bird that is about the size of a small turkey...luckily he must have only been on the line Before we saw him..I quickly got Quilter to stop the boat, told Dave W to don gloves and get the multy tool/pliers/knife ready and Chris to don gloves too while I slowly started pulling him in ..I had to stop occasionally to let his head up for air and give him some breath by backing off the line and eventually we had him alongside, reached down and grabbed his body..luckily he was only hooked on the last hook and it had gone through the soft membrane in the center of his lower beak..Chris was carefully able to back the hook out and then we had to cut just a small part of that membrane to remove it completely...the bird was very helpful and full of energy so a final check and he was off..he decided to land and workout what the hell had happened...he was flapping and checking wings etc, shaking head and generally a bit confused but he was back in the air after about four minutes and flew back to us to see what we were about..I am confident he will be fine but we were all a bit disappointed it happened...we had not seen any bird interested in the lure before but this has happened to me back inn 1997 and of course it is a major bird killer in commercial long-lining...

About an hour latter another Booby came past interested in the lure so I was holding it ready to give a quick tug at the last minute if he dived on it...he had two passed but nothing then all of a sudden I almost lost my hand..we were hit big time by a 15KG yellow fin tuna..hard to get in but Brilliantly tail roped by Dave W. just as one of the lure hook in his mouth pulled out alongside the boat and the last hook was straitening...we started eating him withing minutes and now the rest is drying around the boat..in amongst all this we lost all the line and lure as it was not set up correctly when it was put out earlier today...it happens but still a disaster..so now we have to try to make up another one.

Love the moon..Temp, tail winds, company in fact life is good at the moment ..but Kupang is looking like a long time away...get me to Restoration Island!!!..Don