James Craig - Sydney to Melbourne

In the dead of night the wind backs to our favour, and hands are
sent aloft to loose topsails. Sailors swing through great arcs in the
sky, shadows clanking out along the yards. At dawn the higher
topgallants are set, and later, the royal sails, 90 feet above the
deck. The ship is a cloud of billowing canvas, pitching and rolling
across Bass Strait, while the wind backs further to E, then NE, 25
knots and building...
After Alan Edenborough led the successful salvage of James Craig´s
hulk in Recherche Bay in 1973, he was interviewed on ABC TV. Despite
his optimism for the wreck´s future, his famous words were, "She´ll
make an excellent museum piece, but, of course, she´ll never sail
again." Now he is standing on the quarterdeck, beard streaming
sideways in the wind. A wake of white lace streams behind the ship,
and white ribbons of foam stream from her bows. "We can´t stop her!"
Alan cries.
We gallop past the Kent Group Islands, a rugged bastion of cliffs and
sloping hills. Beyond that, another collection of rocks, including
one with the appearance of a lower mandible. The northern part of
Bass Strait sports a rocky island with every appearance of a human
skull, and I wonder if the two were once joined....
A large seal tries chasing us, leaping off the face of the waves, but
soon admits defeat. The dolphins have better success, taking great
delight in darting about our bows, and under our keel.
Sail is reduced, but she refuses to slow down. The ship has a mind of
her own, and land will soon be loomng up ahead....