Day 4 – Brampton Island

Some wise person once said, “Attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal”… Our Youthies, ladies and gents, are fully conversant with this maxim. I’m very pleased to say that they have all made it through the ‘green fog’ of sea sickness, or ‘mal de mer’ (it’s French 😉 ). The word nausea springs directly from the Greek word naus (ship), don’t you know? But I digress… Our intrepid travellers continued to persevere throughout and were only temporarily slowed by the ill effects… now they are all ‘hunky dory’ (nautical expression – look it up!), so ‘Gangway!’ ‘full steam ahead’, its adventure or bust! Avast, enough of my ramblings, here are: Zac, Sophie and Aithnie, with today’s happenings. Captain Adam out+
We started the morning with a tack at 0010. Red watch was on lookout from 1200 to 0400; during this the weather was rough, with winds up to 25 knots. Thankfully, white watch took over as it calmed down, from 0400 till 0800. During this watch, they were lucky enough to climb aloft to see the sunrise.
The crew woke up this morning to a graceful harmonised melody sung by the white watch. The morning brief commenced at 0855, with an entertaining and educational speech from Salty, explaining the evolution of the term ‘letting the cat out of the bag’. The captain inspired us with his morning quote. Following this we continued sailing towards Brampton Island. On the way we saw some cool whales and cool sea turtles. Throughout the morning we practiced setting and furling different sails, with some of the youthies taking charge as watch leader in preparation for command day.
At 1300, we anchored under only sail power, as the conditions were optimal. This involved enormous amounts of coordination, with everyone working together to get the job done. Once we had successfully anchored, we all slavered up with sunscreen, ready to hit the beach. B-RAD acted as a fantastic water taxi to get us safely to the beach. Once on the beach, the crew commenced with games of soccer, snorkelling, swimming and sun-burning (this one’s for you, Blake).
Rope races today involved the aft and foresails, with the red watch (HELL YEAH) reigning victorious. The bonus round involved the watches forming a singing statue of the Young Endeavour using their bodies to create their masterpieces (although some were much better than others, props to you Matto).
Throughout the afternoon, we split into groups of three to learn more about our shipmates, in preparation for our new personas, and a game of charades. Later, a cheese platter was prepared by our master chefs. We then enjoyed a delicious, alfresco BBQ tea on the deck, followed by Pavlova, and watching the sunset.
At 1930 we all gathered at midships and put together a performance in our groups of three, where we shared what we learnt about each other. This included funny stories, hobbies, celebrity encounters and family. This was a great opportunity for us all to gather and gain a better understanding of each others lifestyles and personalities.
From 2100 the crew started A.N.C.H.O.R.S.S. (Anchor watch). This involved 90 minute watches, with a member from each of the three watches to look after the ship. Ryan would like to say hello as he begins his anchor watch. WOO HOO RYAN. Munzo would also like to contribute words of wisdom, ‘Sun hot. Water cold.’ Zac: “Hey guys missing you all, especially you Tyra