13. The men continued to make improvements to the launch’s seaworthiness
On Sunday, May 10, Bligh directed the carpenter, Purcell, and boatswain William Cole to construct a weather cloth. The cloth, made of canvas supported by wooden strakes nailed to the gunwales, raised the freeboard of the launch by several inches. Seats of the stern-sheets were cannibalized to add additional height to the boat’s stern quarters, where most of the following sea entered. The shrouds which supported the masts were strengthened. For the next several days the improvements were tested by the sea, as miserable weather and cold further weakened the exhausted, hungry men. Another small archipelago was sighted and passed, with no discussion of stopping, though many glances at them with longing.
Bligh had no intention of stopping at any other islands until inside the Great Barrier Reef. The men were far weaker than they had been at Tofua, as was readily evident. For most of the month of May, they were wet from heavy rains, heavy seas, or both. Some of the men developed open sores on their bodies from the chafing salt, aggravated by the lack of nutrition. On May 20, Bligh noted in his journal, “some of my people seemed half-dead”. Men who lay down to sleep in the boat did so in cold water. All of the men complained of pains in their limbs and bowels. Bligh was obliged to shorten rations even further on May 25, to the point where what remained would last another 43 days. The weather continued foul, other than brief periods of sunlight when they attempted to dry the rags which were all that remained of their clothes.