On the 13th of August 2004 I started on my latest sailing adventure, this time as Leading Hand onboard the Duyfken 1606 Replica. Duyfken is a small (25.2m beak to taffrail, or 19.94m stem to sternpost) replica of the square rigged Dutch VOC ship that is the first known European vessel to chart part of the Australian coastline in 1606. The “Little Dove” has already completed two major voyages since being launched in 1999, the first from Fremantle Western Australia (WA) to Sydney via Indonesia and Northern Queensland (where she retraced the path of the original), and the second from Sydney to Holland via Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.

On having proved herself seaworthy and having suffered being laid up for over a year due to financial problems she is now running “Youth at Risk” voyages sponsored by the WA government. After being involved with Duyfken for a year and a half, predominantly as a guide and general crew I became a Leading Hand when the ship was recommissioned earlier this year. I have had previous square rig sailing experience onboard WA’s sail training vessel Leeuwin II and have done a number of daysails on Duyfken as a Leading Hand, but this would be the first time I’d actually done a voyage on Duyfken.

Compared to my previous sailing experience with Leeuwin, Duyfken is very basic. She is probably one of the truest replica ships in the world. The entire rig is how the original would have been, hemp ropes, flax sails, and everything covered in a sticky black layer of Stockholm tar. She does not have a modern area like Endeavour, which I’ve also done daysails on as crew and fails to meet most of the modern shipping requirements. We do carry engines buy hate using them and the galley (kitchen) is the size of a broom closet. Our crew are allowed to sleep below but it’s a case of drag your thin mattress onto the ballast bricks and find a corner where you won’t be trodden on or fight for the limited hammock slinging spots.

We were due to sail on Saturday when we took on our new crew of 5 students and their supervisor. Our permanent crew and volunteers would bring the total crew number to 17. Sailing was delayed due to bad weather and the wind coming from the south. A sailing ship cannot sail directly into the wind and the wind and swell meant that even if we did try to tack and wear (zig zag) down the coast, we would invariable be pushed north anyway. By Sunday morning the winds had shifted to allow an early departure.

Within the first 3 hours of leaving Geraldton (port town to north of Perth) I remembered why it had been 4 years since my last voyage on Leeuwin… I get seasick. I had to keep going though as I was Leading Hand of Port Watch which meant I had 3 students and 2 volunteer crew to manage and had to report to the Officer of the Watch, the First Mate. All of the crew except the 3 dayworkers – the captain, engineer and cook, all worked on a rotation system whereby the two watches or teams rotated through shifts ranging from 4 to 6 hours, 24 hours a day. This system means that sleep patterns are severely broken and any off watch time is spent trying to catch whatever sleep you can as the off watch team can also be called up on deck at any time.

After the first two nights where we’d made little progress south (the first night loosing ground and heading north) most of my crew had gotten over the worst of their seasickness. For the next few days all the crew were more active with the new crew trying to go aloft, helping out with the ongoing jobs such as tarring the rigging and helping the cook.

On the 19th we’d lost wind which was a bit disheartening for the crew. We were originally requested to be in Fremantle by the 18th and had provisioned for a 4-day trip. We were only one third of the way to Fremantle and were starting to run low on some of our stores.

This loss of wind was only a lull before the force 5 and 6 winds we were to receive the next day, which gave us a good run home. With the winds came a nice big rolling swell and the wind and swell combined caused the ship to pitch and roll, often taking in water through the scuppers (deck drainage holes) and gun ports which are about 50cm from the deck level.

Port watch was off watch and down below trying to sleep when we hit a roll and I peered out of my hammock to see tow of my crew flung across the hold. They picked themselves up and repositioned themselves back to their original spots before we hit another roll and this time the rolled bodily across the floor. At this point they listened to my suggestion they lie thwart ships (across the deck).

We received an “All Hands on Deck” call about an hour and a half before we were due on watch to help strike (drop) and furl (tie up) the mainsail. Captain then called for the foresail to be struck and furled and as Clare (an experience volunteer) and I sent the rest of the crew back to the main cabin for shelter, the storm that was lurking on the horizon decided to hit, drenching both of us before we could finish furling the sail. We were now travelling 4 knots under bare poles, no sails set, thankfully in the right direction. During our watch from 7 to midnight the winds eased off enough to reset the foresail and during our watch we finally spotted the lights of Perth’s northern suburbs. This kept my young crew awake on night watch for once.

After going off watch at midnight we were called at 3am for an “All Hands on Deck” where we were greeted with the lights of Fremantle and the task of striking the foresail again and furling it ready to come into port. After a couple of manoeuvres, one to avoid a commercial ship that ignored our presence (and shipping rules) and went to anchor in our path, and to sit out a squall, we came into harbour at 4:30am on Saturday morning.

Putting a voyage like this onto paper is difficult, as it is impossible to capture the feeling of accomplishment that comes from sailing a traditional ship where you are at the mercy of the elements. We are probably the first ship in years to have sailed down the WA Coast into headwinds without using engines. Other tall ships such and Leeuwin or Endeavour would have more than likely, turned their engines on in order to meet modern deadlines.

For me, its incredible to know that I’m learning an age old trade and I’m learning from one of the best Square rigged Captains who has a passion for his work and is instilling it in a new generation. Its also rewarding, as a Leading Hand, to be able to pass the same knowledge and experience on to my crew and see them grow from the challenge of being at sea. Sailing square-riggers reminds me that anything is possible and anything can be achieved if you put your mind to it.