Whitehaven Beach, Hill Inlet, and Apostle Bay

Ahoy shipmates,Overnight the crew of Voyage 13/18 spent a productive time at sea in conditions ranging from 5-10 knots to 15-20 knots of wind. Each watch completed the team challenge exercise known as the Bearex, with varying degrees of success…unimportant as long as the learning aims are achieved. Under overcast skies we rendezvoused with a boat containing a photographer and the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme media and marketing manager, in the vicinity of Whitehaven Beach. They had made the 90 minute trip out from Airlie Beach in order to get shots of the ship with some of the stunning scenery around this area. With drones in the air we did a few laps of Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet with Youth Crew either aloft or on the bowsprit. It was then time to head ashore on the Southern end of Whitehaven Beach for some swimming and beach games. Once all had returned onboard, around 1600, we then made a beeline for our overnight anchorage at Apostle Bay, Whitsunday Island…going from stunning white sand to dramatic cliffs in the space of an hour. After dinner it was into an exercise called “apples and onions”, where the Youth Crew feedback to each other (both positive and constructive) on their trip so far. It will then be into anchor watches overnight…an early start in the morning and another big day ahead. Until then,Fair winds,Captain Kenny From Bri and Pete,Ahoy there land lubbers. Day 6 of the voyage and we are still going strong. A tough night for all of us using many of the new and exciting skills we have learned on this trip to try and set a sail on the ship that we have not set before. The only catch is, we have zero help from the Staffies and can only use 3 questions. Codename Bear Ex the Youthies from each watch took it in turns to use teamwork and communication to overcome these challenges. While hard and frustrating at times we managed to push through as a collective unit in our watches to achieve the goal. Unfortunately blue watch was not able to set the sail. We (blue watch) soon realised that the Bear ex was not actually just about setting the sail, it was more about using different communication and teamwork skills to utilise everyone’s unique abilities in a positive way and grow closer as a watch. After a restless night we were awaken by Adam’s (Sailmaster) awesome tunes and blue watch took the opportunity to have a morning dance party before heading down to the galley for an awesome feed of…pancakes! Back up to midships we gathered for the daily non competitive/competitive rope races! After a very non competitive/competitive round of rope races, we then moved onto a new team building/challenging activity to build more trust and cooperation inside each watch. This activity resulted in many people getting wet and extending their faith to each. In the end, white watch won. Next, to move on to our next destination as a team we set sails and continued onto to Whitehaven beach. This stunning beach would be the place of many laughs, fails and awesome yoga tricks for the 2 hours we were there. We had a photographer join us briefly so that we could capture our great moments from our voyage. We then continued on to our final destination for the day, Apostle Bay. Enjoying a the lovely scenery before heading down to dinner and enjoying yet another delicious meal before getting together with our watch groups to play a round of apples and onions. Now on to bed and nightly watches. Over all it was a fun and eventful day for all and we look forward to catching up with you next time. Hello to Stephen, Corinna and the Lillington Family.