Bounty Boat on the last leg to Kupang

by Nancy Knudsen on 8 Jun 2010 The Talisker Bounty Boat, skippered by Australian adventurer Don McIntyre, is on the last big leg of their adventure to recreate the voyage in an open boat of Captain William Bligh and 18 men after his crew mutinied in Tonga.

The Bounty Boat expedition, recreated as faithfully as possible, started with four crew, but this was threatened as they closed on Restoration Island and Hong Kong's David Wilkinson had almost had enough! David Pryce, the third crew member is also the veteran of many an a sailing adventurer, and the fourth place was taken by rookie sailor Chris Kershaw.

However, Wilkinson decided to stay, the crew were greatly welcomed by Dave Glasheen in Restoration Island, then and all four crew made it to the tip of Cape York. They are currently heading for Kupang, where they are due to arrive by June 16 in order to replicate the seven week trip of 3,700 nautical miles.

The voyage has been marked at times by challenges and close calls, and at others by jubilation and celebration - they also have a wish list for arrival into Kupang, which we've received a short time ago and are happy to pass on:

'Here is our wish list for when we hit the beach in Kupang...Dave W would like hot water for his tea bag, a hamberger with the lot..fries...Dave pryce would like Nasi Goreng,Veg. spring rolls and a banana milk shake...Chris would like a diet coke, Peperoni Pizza, Fries and loads of Ketchup..( a few good looking girls would please him too??)..and I would like a club sandwich with fries, loads of Ketchup and a bitter lemon and a Mango juice with a sliced mango on the
side??..will update you regularly of ETA so it can be waiting on time...thanks!!'

Obviously even with the primitive conditions they are sailing under, their sense of humour is still intact:

Here are some of the latest highlights:

Making it to the Tip of Australia:

'...about an Hour later there it was...Cape york...we were sailing about three miles offshore and then saw a small pass between the Cape and two islands north of that...we decided to cut through it as we are shallow draught and thought we could anchor off it which is exactly what we did..about 15 mtres off the very tip of Cape York!! what a buzz..I let all the crew swim ashore first as we were in a two knot current and very exposed...they took their pictures and came back so I could do the same thing...it was all over in 20 minutes and we were underway again to Horn Island.'

Life on board after the Tip of Cape York:

'My legs are a bit of a mess now with festering Restoration Island sand fly bights..always something..but everything else is better now..so should be in peak health and fitness by the time we make Kupang..it seems really close now and we run the risk of getting very frustrated if we run out of wind..this will be a roller coaster of emotions and feelings ..so close but so far..

Dave P. is very relaxed with the attitude of we get there when we do but it will be fun on the day..Chris has calculated that if we average 6kts all the way we will be there in a few days..Dave W is still not settled and even though he got 14 hours sleep yesterday at Horne Island and an afternoon sleep he still says he is shattered as he can't sleep because Chris and I talk too much on watch...he is still here though and that is a good thing..he will be there at the end which will be big news for him but last night was funny..Dave P asked him to check that the buckets were tied on..conditions were getting rough..and Dave asked which buckets??.. so maybe he is getting tired or confused?? we only have two and they are both always in the cockpit..'

Conflict resolution:

'Last night we also passed Sunday Island unable to stop in the dark. It was here that Blighs authority was challenged by one of his men and to settle the matter Bligh in turn challenged him to a duel on the beach. The stop at Restoration Island at the end of the epic crossing had lifted the lid on interpersonal frictions and this came to a head as they crammed themselves back into their tiny boat and resumed the voyage.

We were all keen to be on our way again from Restoration Island despite the amazing hospitality and company there. The final stage of our voyage beckoned but like Bligh's men, returning to the tiny bounty boat raised interpersonal issues. Wilco's on again, off again struggle had left a dent in the team I feel and yesterday felt horrible as we all grated against each other like gears that just wouldnt quite mesh. While we missed Sunday Island last night we found our own cay today that Bligh would have loved. 221 years on a duel on the beach wasnt the path to conflict resolution and instead we resorted to frank discussion. I take my hat off to the humility of my crew mates in the way the matter was addressed. An evening of eating crayfish on the sand cay under a stary sky around a driftwood fire, there seems no doubt we couldnt be better placed as a crew to really revel in the final stage. Not to say it wont be a struggle and there wont be moments of frustration but it looks like we have the ability to deal with what may arise.'

Close calls negotiating coral reefs:

'We knew we were in the shipping lanes as it got dark and we had the last headland with a light house on it insight ahead...so when we got around that there was another light way in the distance but we had no idea to leave it to port or starboard...we knew roughly where we were from Blighs hand drawn chart but that was very basic...anyway with our scare on the reef earlier in the day and no chance of an anchorage before dark we were commited to sail on which was scary..I decided to stay offshore tiill the morning..

We were all ears and eyes in the gloom fortunately sailing very slow....the first fright came at about 0300 this morning..I said to Chris can you smell that!! we could smell a reef very close...I could just decern a small island or something off to the left of the boat but this smell meant we had reef on the right side where the wind was comming from!!!...then we thought we could also pick up a dark patch low in the horrizon forward..we could not sail back the way we came in so we were potentially trapped...I made the decision to turn on the GPS and find out where we were....and yes we had sailed right into the middle of a group of seven reefs and had already worked our way past a few to get there...unbeknown to us!!!...conditions were calm and we were moving at about three knots but we had the gps on for about 30 minutes to work out how to safely get out.... no regrets..yes we used torches again too!!..Bligh was smarter than us here as he tried to anchor at night...we had been caught!!'

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Sailing like the original Bounty Boat - no charts, no toilet paper, not enough food or water, in an 18th century traditional open timber whale boat would be a challenge for the most seasoned of 21st Century sailors, and the way the crew have survived is also tribute to Don McIntyre's fortitude and persistence. Stay tuned for their successful arrival into Kupang.