A SPECTACULAR DAY

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 26 of our voyage. It was a spectacular morning that greeted the World Voyage Crew with a clear blue sky, breaching whales, pods of dolphins and even the stray seal popping his head up to take a look at the ship. The wind remained light and variable which meant the continued use of main engines but the forecast was for the wind to freshen later this afternoon which thankfully it did.

Given these were the first real calm conditions for the voyage we took the opportunity to stop the ship and give those that wished the chance to have a quick swim in the extremely cold South Atlantic Ocean. Group pressure is a powerful tool and strangely enough the majority of the World Voyagers and Staff including myself chose to take the challenge and jumped into the water and enjoyed the amazing experience of swimming in this cool but very deep (4,800m) ocean.

The rest of the day has been spent conducting end of voyage chats and other activities in preparation for our arrival in Cape Town. I think today that it finally hit home that the voyage is quickly coming to an end so everyone is trying to make the most of these last two days at sea.

Thankfully the weather gods have not let us down and the wind has once again freshened and we are now back under sail, enjoying the last 200nm of this great voyage.

Kindly volunteering to write tonight’s Captains Log is Alice who has done a wonderful job of enlightening you about another brilliant day onboard STS Young Endeavour, Enjoy!

As we arrive in Cape Town tomorrow this will be the last Captain’s Log for Passage Seven, however we have a fantastic port program scheduled for our World Voyagers so look out for updates on our Facebook page!
www.facebook.com/YoungEndeavourYouthScheme

Until next week, take care

Yours Aye
Captain Gav

Ahoy there wide world!

White watching coming to you from the bridge for our last ‘last dog’ watch (1800-2000) and consequently, Captain’s Log. Today has seen a flurry of activity, the morning watches saw a seal then dolphins playing around the ship and caught an amazing sunrise just below a few clouds, some people climbed the mast to appreciate the view even further.

From there onto ‘Happy Hour’ and ship cleaning with extra attention to detail as we will be showing off our lovely lady at an open day in Cape Town, the more we do now the less we need to do alongside. Anyone in Cape Town on the 21st of November, please come down and see us at the V&A Waterfront where we should be berthed.

After Happy Hour today brought a long awaited and highly anticipated ‘Pool Open!!’, by which we were allowed to dive into the Atlantic Ocean after it being declared shark free (as good as you can get in the open ocean) by Captain Gav ceremoniously taking the first leap from the ship’s side. The water was a balmy 17 degrees but still got a few gasps from the eager participants, everyone got in except the Territorians, go figure…. The bow sprit (the pointy bit jutting out over the water from the front of the boat) was the diving platform, some leapt, some dived and a few slipped not so ceremoniously into the open waters with squeals of glee or perhaps trepidation. Marcos was surf patrol with the rescue board, gliding around in the water casting a watchful eye over everyone making sure we weren’t too close to the dolphin striker or jumping on our fellow shipmates. Many a person had a go on the rescue board, some more gracefully than others and some even trying to turn it into a surf board. After 20 odd minutes the pool was declared ‘closed’ as we had to get underway again making tracks for Cape Town, the task of getting out of the pool was somewhat more challenging that the gravity assisted getting in. It involved placing a foot on the Mediterranean ladder lashed to the side of the ship and hauling your body weight up the ladder, the only problem was the roll of the ship, due to the swell the ladder went from being 1 metre in height from the deck to about 4 metres. If you grabbed the ladder mid roll, the ladder would shoot up in your hands and if you didn’t have a good enough grip or upper body strength you would flop back into the ocean, and made to try again. Luckily, once on the ladder there were two helpful guys at the top reaching down and giving hands to those who required a little boost to make it back on deck. Up on deck somewhat resembled a seal colony basking in the warmth of the sun and enjoying the heat from the deck.

After the brisk much loved swim was another delectable lunch by Jenko and his band of galley swags. Yesterday saw the original watches’ reform and we gathered in those watches today at 1300 for our ‘end of voyage chats’. This was an opportunity to reflect on our goals that we had put together at the start of the voyage and reviewed/amended half way through, also to see how we had come along as a team and individuals. Having our original watch back together meant that Dougie was again our illustrious watch leader and this equated to our reflection session being conduced above decks on the lower top platform, a great place to feel teamly, huddled on a deck 12 metres up.

After our end of voyage chats we were treated to an informative slideshow with narration by Michael and Leighroy about our fast up and coming port, Cape Town. They talked about the history of Cape Town and a list of the sights to see while there. Michael had a ‘Hot Tips’ section for each destination, the one I think to be most wary of was the pesky and somewhat aggressive baboons at some locations that may harass you for food and other prized items.

After the slideshow was a documentary on Cape Town, a little slow to get going and as some people were a little weary from the jam packed day, it resulted in a few of them falling asleep with heads on tables and peoples’ shoulders. The afternoon was spent enjoying a nanna nap or taking some of the last opportunities to climb up the rigging to take photos or hang out on deck in the beautiful warm sunshine that has been missed over the past few days.

Dinner time was quick to come around and as usual another fine feast was laid on. Nasi Goreng, plum chicken, beef red curry, steamed potatoes (some of, if not the last of) and veges followed by home made profiteroles.

The other watches are enjoying some down time before they come on duty later in the evening. As I write this the wind has freshened a little, enough to send the crew up the rigging to untie and cast loose the gaskets so we can set some more sails and hopefully turn off the engines, allowing us some more sailing before our adventure comes to an end.

And so it is with a taste of bitter sweet that I sign off for the final time for our watch and our leg of the world voyage. I am looking forward to seeing Cape Town, to participate in some amazing community activities, show off our beautiful lady to the public and take in the sights that the city has to offer. With this means a little closer to home to see family and friends that have not been seen in months but it also means the end of an amazing, horizon broadening journey that has inspired and challenged many, in many ways.

May this find each reader well, the sun on your face, the wind at your backs and good weather on the horizons? Cheers and out, Alice 

Shout Outs:

Matt, family and co, much love and see you all soon!! Ali xx

Wilks Family, can’t wait to see you all! Just went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, it was freezing, and even though we were completely cut off from the rest of the world, I managed to crash into the only thing that was within a 1000km radius around me and up to 5 kilometres below me…the ships hull as I tried to exit the water. Call it bad luck or stupidity, either way steel does not yield to flesh and bone :p

Toze family and my other followers. Here’s me writing my last shout out. I have had an absolute blast and I can’t believe how quickly it has flown. Cannot wait to tell you my stories and memories. I miss you all dearly and love you all more. Em xx

From Oscar; Only about 36 hours left until we dock at Cape Town. I will try to find some internet and get onto FB Videochat or Skype as soon as I can once ashore. Awesome day today as I’m sure you read from the log. Talk soon, hope everyone is doing great! Cheers