11:30 p.m.
At 7:30 p.m. the hands were mustered , when the chief and second officers proceeded to pick the watches . Bob , to his great satisfaction , found himself included in the chief officer 's watch , with Ralph Neville for a companion . They were told off , with two able and two ordinary seamen , for duty on the mizzen-mast ; the two lads being also required to keep the time and strike the bell , in spells of two hours each . By seven bells in the first watch -LRB- 11:30 p.m. -RRB- the _ Galatea _ was off the North Foreland , with a nice little breeze blowing from E.N.E. All hands were then called , the canvas was loosed and set , the tow-rope cast off by the tug and hauled inboard , and the voyage , which was to prove of so eventful a character to those entering upon it , may be said to have fairly commenced . The ship was soon under every stitch of sail that would draw , gliding down through the Downs at the rate of about seven knots , and the passengers , most of whom had remained on deck to witness the operation of making sail , then retired to their several berths , where , the night being fine and the water smooth , it is reasonable to suppose they enjoyed a good night 's rest . By eight o'clock next morning -- at which hour the passengers sat down to breakfast -- the _ Galatea _ was off Dungeness , which she rounded with a somewhat freshening breeze , and noon saw her fairly abreast of Beachy Head . The weather was magnificent ; the breeze , whilst fresh enough to waft the good ship through the water at the rate of an honest ten knots in the hour , was not sufficiently strong to raise much sea ; the only result , therefore , was a slight leisurely roll , which the passengers found agreeable rather than the reverse , and everybody was consequently in the most exuberant spirits , congratulating themselves and each other on so auspicious a commencement to their voyage .