On September 2, Sultana's first full day on the open sea, a stiff wind from the north-northwest died down to a light breeze, then calm. As the pressure on the sails eased and they began to sag and flutter, the crew set to work adjusting the stays that held up the masts, and setting up the rigging. The six days spent moving down the Channel had been, literally, a ‘shakedown’ – under their first strain, with the wind coming on and backing off, and the schooner rocking and pitching on the sea, the rain drenching the rig, and the sun and wind drying it out again, the new hemp rigging stretched. The sails stretched and re-tightened. The masts developed a bit of play, and perhaps moved slightly out of true. They would have to be shifted and the stays and shrouds tightened up. As far as we know, no one aboard this little vessel had ever sailed her before. Even those familiar with schooners needed to learn as much as they could, as fast as they could, about this particular one – how she sailed, what she could do and what she could not, what her strengths and faults were. Their lives depended on it.

Two days later, the winds were contrary, which required a sailing vessel to take a zig-zag course, rather than a direct course, toward her destination, at least as long as the contrary winds held from the same direction. The Polynesians, perhaps the most skilled navigators in human history, were not so remarkable because they were blown downwind to islands that lay that way. They were remarkable because they settled the Pacific islands upwind of them. In addition to the extra work, and the extra fortitude, it takes more skill, both in operating the vessel and in navigation, to sail into the wind.

So, Sultana's crew tacked the schooner at half past four in the afternoon; that meant, first, making sure she was making good enough way through the water that she would have adequate momentum to swing her bow through the resisting wind far enough that the sails would fill on the other side. Then, the orders would be shouted, lines would be pulled, and the helm put over. It required a well-timed, coordinated, choreographed effort by the crew to execute the maneuver properly.