At Anchor, Hot Water Beach, Bay of Plenty

Hello eveyone,After a busy 24 hours, we have achieved all of our training goals,and had a very enjoyable afternoon’s sail as we departed the HaurakiGulf. We are now at anchor at Hot Water Beach, which has hot springswhich flow out onto the beach at low tide – unfortunately the weatherhas turned pretty foul, and so we have decided to weigh anchor andsee if we can get to White Island, an active volcano in the Bay ofPlenty.Seasickness has grabbed as few, but the vomitometer is still at lowto medium – more to come, perhaps….And now, a word or two from Youth Crew Member Fel:Imagine it… Living at sea, waking up to a different set of islandson the horizon each morning. Opening bleary eyes to darkness andclimbing the main mast at five in the morning. Visiting a volcanoalong the way. Everyone coming together in the most surprising ways.My own fears – of admitting I was scared as anything – cut down alongthe way. Unwinding from a tiny berth to find out more about how toswing a cat and who the wench is from one moment to the next. ‘Makingdo’ with a choice of three different hot menu choices each meal, plusmorning and afternoon tea. How can it be that we’ve only been aboarda couple of days? A million different sailing terms jump into theirplaces. People looking at someone else and realising they make senseto each other, when they were strangers yesterday. People stumblinginto one another as the ship rolls, and laughing it off. You neverknow quite what will happen next. Here on our ship is where we wantto be above anywhere else in the world. Even the ‘Young Endeavour’herself rocks us to sleep (or not) each night. Remembering names ofpeople we’ll never forget. Every person here has already changed forthe better.From Fel.Until tomorrow, Shipmates,Yours Aye,ChrisChris GallowayLieutenant Commander, RANCommanding OfficerSTS YOUNG ENDEAVOUR