We wake at our anchorage, enjoying the morning sun and the view of Sydney Bay.

After a breakfast on deck, we get the anchor up; we're headed to sea!

Depending on the wind forecast, we may have decided to head North; or it may be better to head South. Either way, we get the Søren Larsen sailing. This ship is famous for her shanties, and hearty halyard songs ring out as the sails go up; we sail out beyond the Heads of Sydney Bay and into the Pacific Ocean. Our tutor Barry Nisbet has sailed ober 60,000 miles in the Pacific abord this ship; there will no doubt be some stories to be heard from him and Captain Marty, who is a shipmate from those days!

As we sail along, our tutors will encourage some music; whether it's a smaller session on the foredeck, a big session near the wheel, some one-to-one tuition in the ship's office or a workshop in the saloon, there will be something for everyone.

If we've headed North, it's a five hour sail to the Hawkesbury River; or we may have headed South where a 10-hour sail takes us to Wollongong. If it's Wollongong, those among us who are still up for more head ashore to a Wollongong Irish bar and play a few tunes!

If we've headed South, we have the morning ashore to explore Wollongong, a city of 300,000 and Australia's tenth-largest; backed by forested hills and boasting some stunning beaches, the fishing harbour is also well worth a stroll, and the breakwater lighthouse is one of Australia's oldest.

Back aboard for lunch, we sail on in the afternoon. If the breeze suits, Jarvis Bay may be a good destination. It's a 50-mile passage, so we instigate the watch system aboard Søren Larsen, with the 12-4, the 4-8 and the 8-12 all getting a shot. It's likely to be midnight by the time we make our anchorage at Jervis Bay.

(If we've headed North instead, we will instead spend today exploring the Hawkesbury River and Kuring-gai Chase National Park area, a forested, hilly area of stunning natural beauty, with hikes, wild country and hundreds of anchoring spots.)

Photo: "Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse" by Bernard Spragg is marked with CC0 1.0.

If we've headed North and are in the Hawkesbury River area, today we start the day with a music workshop, after breakfast - Pepi and Theo teach us a tune that we can all enjoy for the rest of the trip. Thre's then time for breakout sessions - a bit of individual work with your tutors, going over this or other tunes.

Today it's also worth considering a piece of music you  might like to play - either solo or with a shipmate - at our final evening on board, back in Sydney Bay. This will be an informal and supportive evening, just for ourselves, with the emphasis on fun - but can give a nice focus to the music we will play along the way.

After lunch we raise Søren's anchor and sail for Dangar Island, home of a vibrant creative community. We anchor up, and head ashore that evening aboard the ship's dinghies and play tunes with some local musicians.

"Dangar Island" by Airbornedronesaustralia is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The true sailors' stories come out on the night watches! Barry, Captain Marty and the crew all have fond experiences of nights aboard Søren Larsen under sail, no sound except the whoosh of the wake, sails puling gently, white-lit in the moonlight. Maybe tonight will be one of those!

We'll depart our anchorage after lunch, and get the ship sailing as a crew; once underway, watches will be set - the whole ship's company, except those crew members designated as 'idlers' - the Engineer, Cook, Carpenter - will be assigned to one of the three watches.

We have quiet time after dinner as the night watches rest up; sailing through the night on our way back towards Sydney Bay, we steer, keep lookout, trim the sails as necessary, and attend to the ship's work under the leadership of the Captain, Mate and 2nd Mate.

As the day breaks, the sun appearing over the Eastern horizon, we will be getting close to Sydney. We sail back beween the Heads, then find a nice anchorage to spend the rest of the day at.

At Manly Cove, Balmoral Beach or any one of a dozen anchorages in Sydney Bay, we may head ashore for a stroll, visit the beach, or work out some music on board. 

In the evening, after dinner and ideally on the open deck, we gather all together and perform to our shipmates the music we have been preparing!

We have a breakfast together as the ship heads back to Campbell's Cove; once alongside, we say our farewells and look ahead to the next adventure!