Coal-built storeships and a staggered resupply plan

Borrowdale, Golden Grove, and Fishburn were small, strongly built coal-trade vessels accustomed to carrying heavy cargo from Newcastle to London. Those qualities made them sensible storeships because both the hulls and their indispensable cargoes had to survive the voyage. The expedition still needed roughly twice as much storeship capacity. Follow-on groups about ninety days apart, each carrying people and supplies, could have let the settlement absorb newcomers while retaining a continuous logistical connection. Shared instructions for Botany Bay and Port Jackson would have allowed later ships to find the colony if the first landing site changed. The return passage showed how little margin these small crews possessed: scurvy left one master too weak to berth without harbor assistance, and five crewmen died, including his father, a former coal-trade master mariner. Sturdy hulls could protect essential cargo, but they could not compensate for inadequate manpower and medical resilience. The voyage needed a sustained supply system rather than a single convoy.