Morale is still high among crew
DAY 7:
May 5th 2010: The crew of the Talisker Bounty Boat have survived their first knock down in the sea area known as Bligh Water, Fiji.
The crew of four are in the midst of conducting the first ever accurate re-creation of William Bligh’s Mutiny on the Bounty voyage from Tonga to Timor.
Don McIntyre described the experience, “We just had our first knockdown about an hour ago. TBB was full of water with three crew bailing and one on the helm. We are still in gale conditions with 5-6 metre seas and 35 knots wind from the south east.
I have dislocated my little toe during the knockdown but now Ok but swollen and bruised.
We are needing to bail every 5 -10 minutes as the waves continue to break in the cockpit. The watertight bulkhead is holding and moral on board is chipper!
It was a tough night with heavy weather, pitch black and had two close calls with reefs. We surfed at 15-20 knots between two reefs.The seas are bigger than they should be, but we will continue on!
The Talisker Bounty Boat is a great vessel and she is handling the conditions really well. Pulling together as a crew to face these kinds of conditions is bringing us closer to one another, and closer to understanding Bligh”.
From here, the crew will head north and attempt to anchor in a safe and sheltered position, however if they are unable to find one, they will persist through Bligh Water.
It has been seven days since the launch of the Talisker Bounty Boat, which began with a short stop on the volcanic island of Tofua where Bligh first made land-fall 221 years ago. The crew descended a sheer cliff to make a daring visit to ‘Bligh’s Cave’ where Bligh originally sheltered to gather supplies with 18 of his crew.
In the early stages of the expedition the crew have been writing a daily blog and have been boosted by a letter of good luck and encouragement from ‘The First Sea Lord’, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope who has described the expedition as ‘a remarkable venture’.
Don McIntyre and the crew are attempting to raise money for the Sheffield Institute Foundation. For the location of the Talisker Bounty Boat and to follow the crew’s blog visit www.taliskerbountyboat.com