8. Bligh turned toward Timor under sail that same evening
The launch was equipped with two masts, fore and main, each equipped with a lugsail. They were under a freshening wind, with following seas, as the boat turned onto their course. Bligh divided the men into three watches. Those not on watch were to lie in the bottom of the boat, or on store chests, as out of the way as possible. William Peckover, the Bounty‘s gunner, had managed to bring his pocket watch with him out of the ship, and though its accuracy was questionable it was better than no timepiece at all. Bligh used it to assist him while navigating by dead reckoning. In order to assist him further, he needed a means of measuring the boat’s speed. Accordingly, he directed the carpenter, William Purcell, to make a log with which to measure speed.
Purcell formed a triangular piece of wood from the tray of his tool chest, with a hole bored in one angle. He attached a piece of lead, to weight it, on the opposite side. He attached a line to the chip, with knots tied into it at measured intervals. When the chip was cast over the stern it trailed aft, the line passing through the fingers of the man casting it while others counted the seconds which elapsed. When the predetermined time had passed the line was clamped in the hand, and the number of knots which had passed was reported to the Captain. The speed of the boat was measured in such manner. Though primitive, when Bligh’s journal of the voyage was examined it proved to be extremely accurate.