Diary on board the Passat 1948

- 16 the job he couldn't have breakfast, so then he burst into tears. This afternoon he was sent up again, but wouldn't go out on the yards, stood on the to'gallant cross-tress. The Hitler Youth then went up after him to chase him out, so he burst into tears again! He seems a hopeless case.

Friday Feb. 25th. A most perfect day, air almost frosty, but sunshine and a cloudless day, sat on deck all day. The new foresail is not a success. Captain says he is to blame as he cut it very much too big, it certainly looks rather odd. Old "sails" cut a to'gallant sail to-day and there was a good deal of activity in the motor-boat. Espaniola has informed the Hitler Youth that he ran away from a lunatic asylum just prior to joining the ship!! Gladys and one of the Australians came to blows yesterday, but someone intervened before either was beaten. Still becalmed, it is apparently almost unprecedented in these parts.

Saturday Feb. 26th. A perfect day again, very cold air but cloudless sky - and still becalmed! The foresail that is a failure was unbent and was to be bent again on the mizzen mast, but was found too big even for that position, so now is going to be "cut and shut". Great activity changing fore and crojack sails all the morning. A. rising later in the mornings, says it is "unfortunate that she has taken to doing her thinking in the morning now" - made me think of a boy I once knew who, when a man referred to his small boy as "the greatest thinker in the world", said to his father "Did he say the greatest stinker in the world, Dad?"

Sunday Feb. 27th. Wet, cold and foggy al day, and a rapidly falling barometer. In the evening half a gale started to blow and sails were taken in, much to the crew's disgust. Rolled heavily all night.

Monday Feb. 28th. A strong wind blowing, more or less favorably, and a heavy sea running, sometimes almost Cape Horn-like! Ship rolling and being "a little difficult", anyway we were "getting somewhere". (Captain invariably says "we're getting nowhere!") However, the wind gradually died down and by night we were practically becalmed again!

Tuesday March 1st. No wind, but fine sunny morning, very pleasant on deck. About mid-day wind increased and we are moving on again. Ship being scrubbed down with soda and water - getting cleaned up for Port Victoria!

Wednesday March 2nd. Sailing well, at last we seem to have picked up the Westerlies, have fair wind and following seas - doing about 10 knots. In Lat.43 [degrees] Long 53 [degrees], some hundreds of miles north of the Crozet Is. Have another member of my Crazy Gang - the Chief Cook. A morose young man with a very blank expression. He was always throwing water over A., or giving her a hit [xxxx] when passing, so at last she spoke to Captain. He apparently "read the Riot Act" in the galley, as now Steward and cooks and even mess-boy are extraordinarily polite to her.

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Thursday March 3rd. Lat, 43 [degrees]S. Long 60[degrees]S, sailed 222 miles in last 24 hrs. at last we are running our masting down, in the approved manner. Strong following wind and sea, not so cold, everyone saying "Port Victoria in 20 days" - or 18 or 21. My motto is always "Wait and see" on a sailing ship. A. deserves a medal for evading work, to-day she went on to the wheel with one of the boys learning to steer whilst Steward did her jobs. They have rather taken the view that it is no use expecting her to work.

Friday, March 4th. Good following wind and sea, 209 miles in the 24 hrs. The first of the two smaller pigs was killed to-day. Steward wept, and the gentle middle-aged "gent" said "Ah, well, the pig is now in a piggy paradise eating acorns!" These rough sailor men!

Saturday, March, 5th. Dull day, still good wind, Lat. 43[degrees], Long 68[degrees].

Sunday. Mar. 6th. Good wind, dull cold and inclined to rain, 3000 miles to go. Roast pork for dinner..

Monday Mar. 6th. Another grey day, we are bowling along steadily and smoothly. but the "approved manner" of "running our masting down" has hardly materialized, the Roaring Forties are not even purring! The following sea is not at all rough, the wind steady but not strong. Everyone making plans for the arrival at Port Victoria.

Tuesday, Mar. 8th. A sunny day - in patches - and wind freshening considerably tonight, and Captain estimates between 10 and 17 days to Port Victoria. Long 80 [degrees] odd today, also our 80th day at sea. Gladys was a shop assistant before going to sea, one can almost visualize him in the "Ladies" underwear!"

Wednesday Mar. 9th. The Roaring Forties must have resented the remark about not even purring", as all day we have been racing along with all sails set. A rather uncomfortable list between 20[degrees] and 25[degrees]; occasional crashes in pantry etc. In the 4pm to 8pm watch we covered 50 miles, 229 for the previous 24 hours. Royals and upper to 'gallants and flying jib taken in- every time two whistles sound the crew tears its hair, they want every stitch of canvas left on.

Thursday Mar.10th. A hectic night, wind roaring and blowing half a gale, sails taken in. About 3.30 a.m. in a minor panic. Captain woke up and heard crashes and banging below and thought the timber keeping the ballast fast had shifted, he went on deck to find sails he had ordered to be taken in were still up. There was much shouting and roaring of men and wind for awhile. Wind increased all night and a very heavy side sea, tremendous rollers at times, very difficult to stand or do anything but hang on. Sat all the morning in the shelter of the charts room and watched the seas. Covered 284 miles in 24 hours, 2100 miles to go. Wind roaring loudly and rolling very bad at times.

Friday Mar. 11th. Another night of roaring wind and rolling, but

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wind dies down by morning, leaving a heavy sea, which makes rolling even worse. Cold wind and grey skies all day; covered 241 miles, in Long.97[degrees] Yesterday several sails were damaged, but none entirely lost. Barometer falling again, night cold and wet. Espaniola goes up the rigging with the boys, but will not go out on the yards, stands by the mast, holding on with both hands and cries.

Saturday Mar. 12th. 84 days at sea, and about 1700 miles from Port Victoria. Heavy squalls all day and ship [xxx] listing and rolling uncomfortably, occasional nasty bumps when a big cross sea hits us. Hitler Youth looks a little anxious at times, in one bad squall Captain took the wheel with 2 of the boys. Logged 234 miles but Captain says log is a bit slow and we probably sailed 40 miles more. Have sailed approximately 1140 miles in 4 days, barometer falling fast so may mean more winds. These are definitely the Roaring Forties, Long 103[degrees].

Sunday Mar.13th. Very heavy squalls with hail and rain all day, listing and rolling to 34[degrees] or more, but 35[degrees] degrees is the limit of the instrument! Very difficult to dress or do anything except hang on! Logged 264 miles, long 109[degrees]. The gentle middle-aged gent's heart has begun to rebel against the very strenuous exercise it had been getting, so he has been put on day work, lamp-trimming and chores. The spineless Spaniard has dissolved into tears again after bucking up for a few days. Captain took a poor view of his crew to-day, including the very delicate youth who can't see, there are three "invalids" amongst them, he says; as he regards Toni as "mentaal wrong", as he calls it! A. seems to have "had it" rather, as to-day said she was beginning to feel cooped up and would like a long walk on a beach somewhere. I don't think she is so very keen on the sea.

Monday, Mar.14th. Grand sailing all day - 100 miles in 2 watches. Towards evening sails were take in, so it looked squally, and as usual, the wind eased off, but side sea was still heavy. One or two tremendous bangs on the ship's side sounded rather alarming, one could easily imagine ice or some submerged object. The ship being empty and high out of the water makes her somewhat like an empty drum and sounds are very much magnified. A. has been tallying up how many words of her story she has written, so far she has penned 40,000.

Tuesday and Wednesday March 15th & 16th. Fair wind and following sea, easy smooth sailing, still going well, 257 and 157 miles respectively. Neptune Is. about 500 odd miles away. Everyone getting very excited to think they are almost "there", but when they see Port Victoria ....!!!! A. for the time being seems to have "had it", she says Steward has "ceased to be funny". Yesterday she had a deep discussion with the Finnish M.A., H., and others on the subject of dimensions, time, space and speed etc. and so on, she's very imaginative and young, and gets carried away, as it were, coming to earth and getting afternoon coffee was really opportune. "Passat" is almost a University College this trip, earnest young men poring over tomes, maps and charts everywhere,

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or snowed under masses of foolscap penning furiously, deep and wordy discussions about everything under the sun - a real "school ship". As our revered late King George V said (on a gramophone record, anyway) "Git knowledge"!!

Thursday Mar.17th. Wind getting lighter but we are still sailing quite well, weather noticeably warmer and it's grand to see more sun. "Stoo-erd" in a "stoo" all day, working like a beaver, cleaning the saloon, the harder he works, the louder he mutters about the short-comings of "Flicks" (A.) He is just like an overworked farmer's wife, can't think of anything but chores and is tessy with everyone.

Friday Mar. 18th The wind completely died and we have been becalmed all day, but such a lovely day, hot sun and blue sea again. Steward told A. to polish the panelling in the saloon, so I helped her and we soon finished it and got out on deck, where I spent the rest of the day reading and making a small Finnish flag for the Motor Boat. The weeks that have been put in on that boat must have cost the ship a fortune in wages, everyone takes a hand, occasionally the engine is persuaded to tick over, and it shakes the whole ship!

Saturday Mar. 19th. 13 weeks at sea. A dull cold day and still becalmed. Everyone busy painting and and getting ready to arrive. The motor boat the centre of attention, Captain finishing an orange colored sail for it, Chief making a mast, Holger painting the outside, Moss and A. painting inside, all and sundry looking on, and I am still sewing the flag for it. The last pig was killed to-day.

Sunday Mar. 20th. A lovely morning, blue sea and light S.E. wind, getting stronger later, and towards evening it almost developed into a minor blow. Sail was taken in as we were making too far West. At. 4 a.m. we changed on to the other tack. On Saturday night we met a steamer - first sign of the outside world since Tristan da Cunha. There was the usual running around with torches, no one specially deputed to morse a message. The ship signalled quite a lot. "Mossy" morsed "Passat" several times and received a satisfatory reply, so we may have been reported. Poor old Captain doesn't know anything about Morse, so looked on gloomily and muttered "Dey really shouldn't do dat".

Monday Mar 21st. Dull and cold, head wind and tacking all day.

Tuesday Mar 22nd. Strong S.E. wind, tacking all day again. Sunny and warm with lovely blue seas. Tonight for a short while there was a beautiful display of the Aurora Australis, the southern sky was lit up with red and shafts of rose light shot the sky, the south western horizon was a pale green, it was lovely but rather eerie. A's nerves getting very frayed with Steward and mess-boy.

Wednesday Mar.23rd. Still battling against strong S .E. winds, tacking back and fore in very much the name spot. Everyone, especially A. getting restive at the delay in getting there. The sail for the motor boat is complete, also the flag - the latter not a

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great success, as the blue washed out and the white still very dirty looking. Steward's "name day" (Ascel)

Thursday. Mar. 24th. Tacking about over the same stretch of water, hoping for a change of wind, but the forecast always the same - S. to S.E. winds. The excitement of the day was putting up the sail in the motor boat, a jib was also run up and the flag, rather pale and raggy looking after its wash. All hands came to admire and Captain looked at the boat from all angles, with a broad smile of pleasure on his face!

Friday Mar. 25th. A Lutheran holiday, so a quiet day. Still tacking - we have been 5 days on the same spot! Both Watches now quite smart and efficient, when 3 whistles go for the 2 watches to make the tack, they come running out like a football team, 2nd mate at the head of the starboard watch stampedes across the flying bridge to the poop deck, it sounds like the German army advancing! Chief Mate, looking like a hobo, springs about like a live wire. Each day he gives warning that he is going to "drink plenty" ashore! He looks a "character". If one didn't know what a kind hard-working man he was, on his looks one would think he was the roughest type of hobo one could meet. Thin and big-boned, several days growth on his face, a "swivel eye" and a tooth missing, a filthy tweed cap on the side of his head, a huge baggy pair of trousers, the seat of them somewhere about his knees, golf shoes and an old uniform coat - and yet he is worth 20 of the beautious, gilded Hitler Youth.

Saturday Mar. 26th. Still tacking up and down the same few miles of sea. Everyone getting very restive, being 'so near and yet so far", seems harder for them to put up with, and there are some very glum expressions!

Sunday Mar. 27th A perfect day, blue skies and sparkling blue seas and a light breeze. The day is so marvellous, even the crew are not moaning at the delay in arriving. I sat all day in the motorboat, its sails set and flag flying, looking over the side one couldn't see the ship, but just the sea. With the slight movement of the ship the feeling that one was sailing in a small boat was very realistic. For a few hours at night there was a dead calm, but by 11 p.m. [xx] a fairly good wind had sprung up, and more sails were set.

Monday Mar.28th Land ho! Just after breakfast Kangaroo Is. was sighted, so we all stampeded to the fo'castle head to see a long blur of misty blue land ahead. The Australians are so excited, some look as if they could jump over the side and swim for it! "Going about" all day and tacking - much shouting and, apparent, muddle. "Second was late in arriving on the scene, and Captain flew in a rage when Second could not understand the orders. Captain went white in the face and stamped and roared! Second looked sullen and muttered for the rest of the day. At 9 p.m. a fair wind blew & we sailed into the Gulf. By noon we had dropped anchor at the ballast grounds off Wardang Is.; listening in, we heard that "In bright