Ah the joys of sailing

Ahoy there, Well what a day, I am amazed at how much activity we can fit into 24 hours sometimes. After being at anchor over night the Youth Crew have recharged their batteries and are now even more full of energy and ready and raring to roll. They were awoken this morning at 0700 and tempted over the side for an early morning rope swing. There is nothing better to wake yourself up in the morning then to jump on a rope swing and go for a quick dip over the side. I have to admit I was a lot more willing to go swimming further up north, but it would appear nothing will stop these Youthies from having some fun and with complete recklessness to the cold they dived in with style. Breakfast was a teak deck BBQ provided by Luke and his assistants and after a good swim there is nothing better then a bacon and egg roll to get the day started. The Youthies were then given a chance to catch their breath as we did a staff brief and talked about the plan for the day. I think the staff brief may have gone for a bit too long because before we knew what was happening the Youth Crew had decided it was Happy Hour and started to clean the ship, what a crew! After their self initiated Happy Hour we had a brief morning brief before conducting a sail away from anchor. Ricko really wanted to exercise a plan he has been working on for awhile so we handed the organisation of the departure over to him. Sadly the wind died just as we received ‘anchor aweigh’ on the bridge, Ricko would not take no for an answer however and with some very good backing and filling of his squares and the use of his headsails he managed an excellent sail away from anchor. It was an outstanding piece of seamanship from the whole crew and they really were working as a single entity as they worked the ship clear of the dangers. Once we were underway we sent the watches to lunch and prepared for the afternoon. After a snappy set of Rope Races we conducted a good set of demonstrational tacks where 3 Youthies from each watch came up to the bridge to see how we tack the ship from a bridge perspective. There were once again some great questions asked during the exercise and I think everyone took a lot away from the experience. After the demonstrational tacks were completed I got Sail Master Jordo to take in all sail and muster the crew amidships. Once all the watches were called in I proposed a Captains Challenge that the Youth Crew get the ship under a full press of fore and aft sails, including the fisherman staysail and main gaff topsail, two sails that the Youth Crew have very little experience in. I am very proud to say that the Crew did an amazing job with no help from the Staff Crew at all. A remarkable feet, and the ideal introduction to their command day. Its time like these that one can only think that Australia will be very safe in the hands of the next generation of Young Australians. After this very busy afternoon it was time for dinner and then watches overnight. Tonight the watches will be navigating in the vicinity of Mooloolaba with the challenge of heaving the ship to during their watch as well as completing a couple of other exercises. The voyage is going spectacularly well so far and I look forward to yet another amazing Young Endeavour day tomorrow.CAPT Matt Wind is to us, what money is to life ashore Sterling Hayden The perfection of a yachts beauty is that nothing should be there for only beauty’s sake John Macgregor