James Craig - Sydney to Melbourne

There´s not much time to be wistful about leaving Melbourne. The
ship is a flurry of activity, and at 0900 sharp our berthing ropes
are heaved aboard, and, for the last time, the tug ´Vital´ and
workboat ´Kopan´ heave us off the Workshop Jetty and into Hobson´s Bay.
On board are Pilot John Carroll and one of our passage crew, David
Wharington, who is an Extra Master and a licensed compass adjuster.
They have kindly offered to improve the accuracy and steadiness of
the compass. While the ship spins a ´doughnut´ in the middle of Port
Phillip Bay, bearings and transits are taken from the distinctive
Bolte Bridge, Faulkner Beacon, the elevator tower East of
Sandringham, and the You Yang Mountains to the West. By moving and
adding magnets in the binnacle, the accuracy of the compass has been
improved from up to four degrees deviation to a maximum of one degree
at every quarter.
Our forty mile passage down the bay then continues. In the afternoon
we enter The Rip on an outgoing tide, against a head wind, which has
churned up a maelstrom of frothing, white water. Suddenly our
peaceful, sunny, jaunt along the Mornington Peninsular has become a
white-water rafting experience, with our one thousand tonne ship
slewing and pitching violently. Bass Strait rises to greet us with
several tonnes of salt water over the bow, and half the watch are
drenched to the skin. It´s met with good humour, and mostly laughter
can be heard, even amongst the victims!
At 2000 hrs we are waved farewell by dozens of fairy penguins ten
miles SW of Phillip Island, and our journey continues, into the
night. --- James Parbery.