ANZAC Day

Ahoy there Shipmates, A well deserved night’s rest at anchor in Little Manly Cove was had by all. I think everyone onboard slept very soundly and for good reason, most were exhausted from Command Day, but that didn’t stop us from conducting our usual Early Morning Activity, which this morning was a quick game of ‘Knights, Mounts and Cavaliers’. Sail Master Harry mustered us all on deck in overcast and cool conditions for an ANZAC Day service, for which Tug was the Master of Ceremonies The service included singing the Naval Hymn, I gave an ANZAC Day reading, a youth crew member recited a prayer, Harry recited the Naval Ode, the last post was played and after a minute’s silence the reveille was played, Chef Zac recited the Benediction and Sumo finished up with a ANZAC Day address. We then lightened things up with the Morning Brief which included an explanation from ‘Salty’ of why we split the Dog Watches. This again was achieved with the use of Staffie dubious acting skills and dress-ups. At 0900 the youthies completed another of their command day tasks, the Beach Assault Team. That involved 6 youthies paddling a rubber boat 600 yards ashore to a local beach where they reclaimed a section of the coast line for the youth of Australia and then rounded up passers by to help sing the national anthem, which was transmitted to the ship by a portable radio. The youthies were then ferried ashore to Manly Wharf where they walked to local cafes to conduct their end-of-voyage discussions. They all returned onboard by 1300 and we all had lunch. At 1400 the youth crew began harbour-furling the square sails. To achieve this all of the Youth Crew proceeded aloft on the yards to fold-up the sails and then stow them inside their UV covers. On completion we weighed anchor and proceeded up the harbour and as we approached the harbour bridge we put the youthies aloft to ‘man the yards’ on the foremast to give them the experience of being aloft as we pass under the bridge and then we proceeded alongside the Fleet Base at Garden Island.  Once we were at the Fleet Base, Chef Zac treated us to a pizza night dinner enjoyed on the upper decks enjoying the views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Next we viewed a slide show depicting the voyage, compiled by Madison Lancashire, and listened to a song about the voyage, composed and performed by Alexis Taverner. The last thing on the agenda for the day was the post-voyage administration. The youthies completed a feedback questionnaire on the voyage and wrote a letter to themselves about their experiences onboard, which will be posted to them in 6 months. We then encouraged everyone to ‘hit the sack’ after another long exhausting day! Until tomorrow.   Yours Aye Captain Mike