Monday, January 22, 1657, the ninth day of the twelfth month of the Lunar New Year, is a memorable day.

This morning, the planned first voyage began.

The voyage will take you back and forth from the island to the southern Australian mainland, with a stop on Bentinke Island to visit several landing sites and important mining sites to collect first-hand information for future wharf construction and various subsequent constructions.

The voyage was about 500 kilometres, the training lasted a week, and it was planned to return to the Red Pier on Saturday, January 23.

Although the voyage was not too far, it was the first voyage away from the island after all, and it was six days to go, which was a real voyage away from home, so everyone in the Red Mansion gathered at the Red Wharf early in the morning to see off the training team.

This voyage, plus Gu Jin and Li Sanduo, there were a total of thirty-three people, which was about half a small number less than the original plan.

Except for Gu Li and Dai Xiaoshan, who boarded the ship as a ship doctor, the candidates to participate in the sea were decided by lottery.

Because everyone didn't want to miss this outing, and it seemed that it was impossible to use the training results to decide who got on the ship and who didn't, because everyone actually worked hard, and although there were outstanding results, on the whole, everyone was not convinced by anyone.

Gu Jin also comforted those students who did not participate this time, and said, don't be impatient, this time to go to sea is of a pathfinder nature, and each of you will have the opportunity to sail next time in the future.

Of course, another reason that is not explained but everyone knows it is that the current work at home still needs labor support, and if all the main forces of work are withdrawn at one time, there will be some old and weak people left in the family, and all work will be stagnant.

So after weighing the pros and cons, everyone decided not to change the original plan of four voyages, but the number of people each time was halved, which is equivalent to halving the number of voyages for each person from four to two.

As for the situation that this may lead to insufficient training, Gu Jin said that he can only find a way to make up for it in the future.

After all, it is now the end of the rainy season, the dry season is approaching, and it seems that it is about to reach the peak period of engineering construction and agricultural production, so everyone is seizing the period before the Chinese New Year to make preparations for various projects, so the various miscellaneous things have increased a lot recently.

At eight o'clock in the morning that day, the weather was sunny, the sea was calm, from half past six in the morning, the students who were ready to go to sea were busy nervously on the boat, Zhu Beiguo and Xu Zhi were still on the dock trestle under the ship at this time, Cheng Fangfang had a big belly and Cao Limei, who was already a little pregnant, was talking to their respective husbands.

Cheng Fangfang is about to give birth in a month, Xu Zhi looked at his wife's belly with some worry, but Xia Xiaoou next to her put her arm around Cheng Fangfang's shoulders and said to Xu Zhi, you can rest assured that you will go to sea, we are at home......

At this time, Cao Limei carefully checked Zhu Beiguo's satchel, which contained all kinds of small items related to survival in the wild, from lighters to ignitions, from external trauma medicine to internal snake medicine, these are all carefully taken care of by Cao Limei, a professional in field activities, for her husband.

In addition, Zhu Beiguo also has a red ribbon tied around his waist, a talisman sewn on his intimate underwear, and a jade Guanyin hanging around his neck.

The girl keeps in her hands, and her mouth is full of all kinds of non-stop advice.

Over there, Cheng Fangfang is almost like this, but Cheng Fangfang has an extra Xia Xiaoou couple by her side, Xia Da Beauty looked at her best friend's worry about her husband, and joked next to her, saying that she was going to the Australian mainland, but there were indigenous girls over there, I heard that people are tribal societies, and they are group marriages, and the girls are very open.

You Xu Zhi is also a handsome guy with a little white face, don't be hooked up by others, these words made Xu Zhi blush, Cheng Fangfang glanced at her husband and said, if that's the case, the child in this belly will be surnamed Cheng, and I won't give you the surname Xu......

Woo——, a whistle sounded on the Pride, and finally ended the scene and gave all the single dogs a dog food repertoire.

People watched Zhu Xu and the two who were the last to get on the boat, and watched the iron anchor at the bow of the ship being pulled out of the water by the iron chain, at this time the hull began to float slightly, and various commands to set sail came from the deck, and the sea breeze gradually blew the main sail slightly, and the crew used bamboo poles to resist the steel pontoons, and slowly pushed the slender hull of the Pride away from the dock.

Another whistle sounded, the Pride Horn, and finally began her first voyage away from the island in New World.

There was cheering on the dock, people were waving, and people on the boat were waving in response.

At this time, the sun was shining over the Red Pier, but the sea in the distance was dark and low, and it was the time of wind and rain, and the people on the pier watched the Pride gradually move away and plunge into the dark clouds in the distance......

During the rainy season in Australia's northern islands, the temperature is not too hot, and although the northwest wind blows the sea, as long as there are no storms, the waves are not very high, so it is a good time for beginners to start sailing training.

At this time, on the deck of the Pride, the sound of passwords and various shouts came and went, the busy figures of the crew haunted between the deck and the sails, on the main mast, the blue sails were unfolded one by one, and on the lookout, Xu Zhi, who was on the first shift, tied himself to the mast with canvas straps and cables, and carefully observed the sea with binoculars in his hands.

Today's sea breeze is very suitable for sailing south, so there is no movement in the engine room, and the sailors who are not on duty gather excitedly on the fore and aft decks and on the left and right sides of the ship, and when they look back to the north, Mornington Island has become a hazy line, and the vast sea is full of water!

So people finally felt a sense of loneliness in the lonely boat entering the sea, but the seabirds around the sails and masts made people's loneliness disappear, and at this time Xu Zhi shouted on the lookout: A pod of dolphins was found on the starboard side! Immediately, everyone took out their binoculars to observe......

After sailing for half an hour, the crew of the Pride opened the left and right wings of the sails under the command of Gu Jin, raised the top sails, and hung the sails at the front end, so the Pride began to speed up rapidly, and the slender hull was like a swan with wings spread in the waves, quickly leaving the distant mangrove forest behind, the only flying shear sailing ship in the new world, rushed to the unknown sea in the distance at a speed of eleven knots......

A few years later, the day was recorded by the people of the Red House and became a nautical anniversary in the Australian Commonwealth. That's an afterword.

For most of the students, finally facing the vast water without any obstacles for the first time, everyone's mood was somewhat excited, and they felt that it was only at this time that their sailing career really began.

Without the barrier of land, the wind is unhindered on the sea and runs rampant, becoming more and more powerful, at the stern, the trainees are using the traditional cable method to measure the speed under the leadership of Li Sanduo, the trainees hold pocket watches, while counting and casting the measured cable, and the final measurement results make the students present rejoice: without any mechanical power, the side downwind cruising speed of the Pride has reached fifteen knots!

Crucially, this is done at ordinary wind speeds, and in this new world, what it means to have such a high speed is well known to everyone present.

Of course, the speed of the ship would have been sacrificed if it was fully loaded with cargo, but even so, the Pride was fast enough to be proud of the world.