2013.11.03 Day 7 V18/13

Ahoy there Shipmates, Overnight the ship continued to sail and motor-sail towards Queen Charlotte Sound in the north of the South Island. We crossed the notorious Cook Strait in very favourable weather conditions and after a couple of early morning wears, we entered the Tory Channel at 0900. Then we spent the remainder of the morning conducting a scenic morning cruise through the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound. It was quite simply stunning, a truly a remarkable part of the world which we are privileged to see and experience during this journey.In a very exciting development Stage Two was announced for climbing, which means that the Youth Crew are deemed safe to climb by themselves and those that feel comfortable in climbing without a staff member may do so from here on in. All of the normal safety rules apply. After another of Luke’s delicious lunches, we made our way to Resolution Bay, where we launched the ships boat (RHIB) and sent all Youth Crew and the majority of Staff ashore for an explore. They conducted a hike from their landing point up a mountain, across the saddle and down the other side into Ship Cove. Concurrently Guv, Lindsey and myself, relocated Young Endeavour to Ship Cove to await our shore parties arrival. When we arrived in Ship Cove, the distinguished figure of the Lord Nelson was there at anchor awaiting our attendance. Again it made quite a sight seeing these two very special tall ships anchored together. Ashore, there were games and challenges and the back drop of two tall ships at anchor in the Cove, made it a quite unique experience. Once everybody had returned on board, I briefed the Youth Crew on the aims and requirements of Command Day, which is planned to occur between 1300 tomorrow Mon 04 Nov and 1300 the following day Tues05 Nov. They were then given an hour to conduct their Command Day elections, the results of which are as follows: Captain: Elspeth Mildren Sail Master: Hayden Goldstraw Navigator: Jamie-Lee Cable Watch Leaders: Aaron Millican, Lucy Frizell, Tom HodgkinsonWatch Officers: Brooke Veitch, James Keating, Arizona Winter Chefs: Nicole Moran, Andrew Parker Congratulations to all members of the Youth Crew for what they have achieved in the Voyage so far and to those successful office holders for Command Day. After the ‘teak deck BBQ’ dinner we screened the film ‘Around Cape Horn’, which details the adventures of Captain Irving Johnson when he sailed as an ordinary seaman through storms around Cape Horn onboard the massive bark ‘Peking’. Navigator Caitlin then briefed the crew on their duties during anchor watches, which the crew began on completion of the brief and continued through the night. The intention is to remain in our current anchorage overnight and conduct the handover of the Ship to the Youth Crew at 1300 tomorrow. That will begin the adventure and challenge that is Command Day in Young Endeavour. I’ll hand over to Youth Crew for this evening and until tomorrow evening when we will also hear from the lovely Youth Crew Captain Elspeth. . . . Carpe Diem! Yours Aye Captain Dion CurtisSeven days at sea! Today we entered Tory Channel and headed to Resolution Bay in Queen Charlotte Sound. Along the way we saw some stunning sights. As we all had made it to level 2 for our climbing we were keen to head up to the top of the ratlines, then coming back down to deck for another amazing lunch. When we got to Resolution Bay we launched the boat for the shore parties. Once everyone was ashore we started hiking up the Queen Charlotte Track. The first 40 minutes of hiking was pretty steep and so we took it slow. When we hit the top of the track it was all worth it for the views. We could see Resolution Bay on one side of heavy rainforest and Ship Cove on the other. Next we needed to get down the other side to Ship Cove. There were a few slips and falls but we made it eventually. Ship Cove is where a Monument for Cook’s visit on the Endeavour, 15th Jan to 6th Feb 1770. Most headed up to check out the waterfall and some even went for a swim in freezing water. Crazy Mob. Finally we were all together again at the Monument. We played a bit of touch rugby then moved onto some trust and team building exercises. We tied the ends of a rope together, got in a circle and pulled back tightly for some tight rope walking. Had a couple of mishaps, slipping off the line, but nothing dire. Some were a bit nervous others a little too confident. Next we had most of the group head back to the boat while a couple more collected some muscles from the rocks by the water. All on board again and warming in the sun, we listened to the captains brief on the voting for our 24 hours in complete control of the ship, NO STAFFIES HELPING! At completion of voting we enjoyed a delicious deck BBQ where we ate the muscles and even some lobsters that a fellow ship gave us. Time to turn in now, wish us luck for tomorrow! Will & Arizona