42 years ago

21 August 2013

Update by Maarten Teuben:
“This voyage with the ‘Oosterschelde’ is a nostalgic one for me. About 42 years ago I left Southampton with the ‘Southern Cross’ and sailed to Australia. Fremantle, the harbour of Perth, was the first place where I set foot on Australian soil. So when I read about the voyage of these Tall Ships I was sold. The opportunity to sail along on a leg of this journey again after 40 years appealed to me. Five days ago we departed from Perth from the exact same quay left 40 years ago to go to Melbourne. Life on board ‘Oosterschelde’ is quite different compared to life on board ‘Southern Cross’, then I was a crewmember and now I am part of the ‘guest crew’. We take part in the watches, 6 hours on, 6 hours off, we help with setting the sails (with changing winds this happens a few times a day). And we help with all kind of chores on board, re-painting the letters on the life-buoys, repairing chairs, repairing sails etc.
To do all these chores, we of course need to eat, but that is no problem because we have Wouter our cook. He prepares the tastiest meals. In 8 days we arrive in Adelaide, where I spend the first 2 years in Australia, I am curious to see all the changes there.“