COMMAND DAY (PART 2)

Ahoy Shipmates,Please find attached the Captains Log entry from the second part of command day. This Log entry is written by Captain Alex.Yours AyeCaptain GavCaptains Log Youth Crew Command Day Part 225th January – Captain Alexander SchultzFor the first 12 hours of today the ship continued to be under the command of the youth. Due to the amazing pace that the youth crew were able to set under the command of our previous Captain, Mick-Dee the crew was able to reach way point 6 which was our final destination at 0030.The trek from WP 3, through to WP 6 should have been the extremely simple, but as we were all a bit new to the game there were plenty of times were the heart was racing a little.We took over the command sailing a straight line with the wind blowing directly from behind us, this made for a good opportunity to set the course (a sail that we hadn’t set before). It was great to see the enthusiasm from the crew as they set out to set the sail, as they attempted it, it was obvious that they had never done that sail before. After we realised that we were pulling on the wrong lines and that we were actually clueing the sail, we were able to set it and have all three of the square sails up. For the crew to work together and solve this dilema I think was a great achievement, also I think the crew thought that it was impressive to see all the sails out, I certainly did.After that things were running very smoothly, we past WP 5 with ease, then it seemed to get more tense on the bridge as the navigator (Di) realised that the ship was heading for what seemed to be a maze of buoys, ones that showed up on the map but the lookouts couldn’t spot. After Di’s suggested course changes we managed to get the ship through, and past several buoys, and safely to the anchor point. The gods were out to help us, because as we approached WP 6, the winds subsided, so that it was possible to clue the sails with the two watches that were available. The staff also assisted with the dropping of the anchor.With the ship anchor, it was time for the anchor watch, which a few of the crew couldn’t stay awake for, come morning we also managed to have the anchor watch consisting of one crew, not the recommended 3�(still not sure what happened)Having got to our destination early the crew was pumped to get some of the tasks that we had been given checked off, we started with a very entertaining morning brief. We then went to a very enthusiastic happy hour and brass polishing half hour, the boys were very keen to get the cannons polished (if they were cleaned the staff said that they would be fired tomorrow, very exited). We also managed to make a hammock that could carry all of the youth crew.At 1200 the ship was given back to Gav and the staff, a very sad time for all the youth as it was the end of the 24 hours were we really came in to our own. We all really enjoyed the experience, and we all now have a little more respect for the jobs that the staff do.