A typical day sees us getting up for breakfast at about 8am then breaking camp and being on the water between 9 and 10am. We probably sail for 4 to 5 hours depending on the distance for the day and of course the weather.

Unlike some raids in Europe and the US ours are not timed events, there's no formal race, only the friendly rivalry inevitable when two or more boats are heading in the same direction. We plan to create opportunities for the fleet to meet up for lunch – this will help keep the boats together and makes for a sociable break in the day's sailing or rowing.

We generally get to the camp site mid-afternoon. Because of Tasmania’s long summer there’s plenty of time for lazing around, swimming and exploring as well as getting the tent set up. Of course in Tassie everything depends on the weather but we have been very lucky in the past (except for a few days in 2015 but it had to happen sooner or later) - actually it’s not just luck as the Raid is timed for February which typically has the most settled weather.

The Raid is fully catered - breakfast, packed lunch and dinner - so no need to cook in the evenings. We do expect people to muck in and help with general camp set up, clearing up after meals etc but if everyone takes their turn it’s not too demanding and not everyone is needed every day. We will organise a roster so that people know in advance when it's their turn to help.

At this stage we’re not planning to organise additional entertainment as we’ve found that with the number and variety of people involved the Raid tends to become its own very sociable travelling event. Communal singing of sea shanties became a feature of the 2017 Raid and this may happen again - so if you have a favourite please bring along the words – who knows, we might even have an informal tn19 sea shanty performance at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival when we get there.