At anchor off American River (Kangaroo Island)

1. Situation at 21:002. Last night was less exciting then the previous one as the shipsailed in the lee of Kangaroo Island. The wind reduced throughout theevening and it proved to be a very pleasant and quiet sail.3. At today’s morning brief, Navigator Hibbo reviewed the progress wehave made since departing from Portland. He noted that the’Spewometer’ was finally reading zero and there were no green facesto be seen. The Salty Sea Dog described the nautical origins of acommonly used phrase followed by Engineer Horto displaying theharvest he collected for his scran bag.4. After Happy Hour was completed it was time for demonstrationaltacks. Over a series of tacks, Captain John takes two members of eachwatch and describes the when, why, who and how of the process oftacking the ship. This is a complex evolution that the Youth Crewwill need to master if they hope to sail the ship and achieve themission they will be assigned for command day.5. At 12:30 (after another round of rope races), YOUNG ENDEAVOURanchored off the mouth of the American River. After the Youth Crewwere ferried ashore, their first activity was to contribute to ‘Cleanup Australia Day’activities by collecting 20 kg of rubbish from akilometer-long stretch of the local beach. This was followed by’Beach Olympics’ that included volleyball, flag races, dodge ball andrunning races, as well as a sand sculpture competition. The afternoonproved to be tremdous fun and all hands enjoyed the opportunity torelax ashore and enjoy the beach. After arriving back onboard, ChefSpeedy treated us to another of his magnificant BBQs.6. After supper was finished and all cleared away, Captain Johnbriefed the Youth Crew on how command day is conducted and assignedthem their mission. Their challenge is to take command of YOUNGENDEAVOUR and sail the ship from American River to SemaphoreAnchorage off Port Adelaide, passing through pre-determined waypointsalong the way and completing several tasks that relate to the lessonsthey have been taught since the voyage began. The Youth Crew wereleft to elect their team and to determine the command structure theywill use tomorrow. Congratulations to Captain Johnny and his team.The last activity of the day was the viewing of an amazing videoshowing the only known footage of a square-rigger rounding Cape Horn,in 1929. Suddenly, the creature comforts found in YOUNG ENDEAVOURdon’t seem quite so austure.7. Overnight the Youth Crew will stand anchor watches. This will givethem a chance to stock up on sleep ahead of command day, as well asprogress their plans for tomorrow.8. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: The ship has three square sails, eachcarried from its own yard. The largest and lowest is the Course. Theother two are the Topsail and the T’Gallant. The ship carries a totalof thirteen sails that are available for use in almost any weatherconditions. These range from the Drifter, used in very light winds,to the Storm Jib and Trysail, used in heavy weather.9. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Sheets – Lines attached to the clew ofsails and used to control their horizontal movement. Halyards – linesattached to the head of sails and used to control their verticalmovement.10. Thought of the day: When the morning’s freshness has beenreplaced by the weariness of mid-day, when the leg muscles quiverunder the strain, the climb seems endless, and, suddenly, nothingwill go quite as you wish it – it is then that you must not hesitate.Dag Hammarskjold.Yours, AyeJohn CowanCMDR, RANHey Guys, Sal from seven mile here to say hello 🙂 We are just offKangaroo Island on a calm night, no wind and it’s stunning! Thesunglasess marks are a very attractive look and I really think it’sone I’ll be holding onto. I’m having the time of my life in so manyways and I hope that when I get home I can share them in as muchdetail as possible with you. See you in four days :)Hey youpla, Jared from T.I just saying I don’t wan’t to come homejust yet, all though Kangaroo Island gives the best wind burns andhas got the coldest ocean. In good points now, I have achived allgoals and had a good time doing it. see you real soon, love me.