CAPTAIN'S LOG
- 13th May 1787: The First Fleet sails out of Portsmouth, to begin its journey to Australia. Eleven ships with a total of One thousand, four hundred and twenty souls aboard.
- 3rd June 1787: Fleet has made anchor at Santa Cruz at Tenerife to load up provisions. Fresh water, vegetables and meat are brought abroad. One convict unsuccesfully tries to escape. The convict is captured and thrown below decks.
- 10th June 1787: Excellent sailing conditions allow the Fleet to begin to cross the Atlantic to reach Rio de Janiro. Favourable winds and ocean currents assist the Fleet.
- 15th July 1787: As the Fleet nears the equator the weather has become increasingly hot and humid. All manner of vermin such as rats, bedbugs, lice, cockroaches and fleas, torment the convicts, officers and marines. The bilges became foul and the smell, especially below the closed hatches, was over-powering. On the Alexander a number of convicts fell sick and died. Tropical rainstorms meant that the convicts could not exercise on deck, and were kept below in the foul, cramped holds.
- 5th August 1787: The Fleet reaches Rio de Janeiro and made port for a month. The ships are cleaned and fresh water is taken on board, repairs are made, and Captain Phillip orders large quantities of food for the fleet. The women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and was burnt. They were issued with new clothes made from rice sacks
- 4th September 1787: The Fleet leaves Rio de Janiro to sail towards the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
- 13th October 1787: Arrrived at Cape of Good Hope. Last port before Australia so the main task was to stock up on plants, seeds and livestock for arrival in Australia. The livestock taken on board from the Cape of Good Hope destined for the colony of NSW includes: two bulls, seven cows, one stallion, three mares, 44 sheep, 32 pigs, four goats and "a very large quantity of poultry of every kind". The Dutch colony of Cape Town will be last outpost of European settlement which the fleet members would see for years, perhaps for the rest of their lives.
- 24th November 1787: Assisted by the gales of the southern oceans, the heavily-laden transports surge through the violent seas. A freak storm struck as we began to head north around Tasmania damaging the sails and masts of some of the ships.
- 18th January 1788: Supply reaches Botany Bay. Rest of the Fleet reaches Botany Bay on the 20th of January. The Fleet had travelled for 252 days, for more then 24 000 kilometres and only lost forty eight people.