COMMAND DAY CONCLUDES

Ahoy there from Youth Captain Angus,Over night ‘Young Endeavour’ remained at anchor in Gladstone Harbour. But while the ship slept the decks teemed with activity, full sea watches were kept as the youth crew raced to finish more of their tasks before we headed to sea.Day 10 would represent for the Youth Crew and myself the sailing leg of our ‘Command Day’. At half past three in the morning we weighed anchor and guided by the staff headed out into the channel to leave Gladstone. The Staff then handed the ‘Young Endeavour’ back to the Youth Crew at six o’clock with directions to circumnavigate Angus’ Isle which had shifted from east of Gladstone to the North. With sails set and over 20 knots of breeze the ship was flying at eight and a half knots. Unfortunately this meant we never stopped to circumnavigate Angus’ isle and instead ploughed straight through, splitting the island in two. When the wind did begin to ease, the Youth Crew then conducted their own morning brief, enticing a few chuckles from the onlooking staff at their antics and the mimics of certain crew members.After conducting a wear (gybe) we turned the ship back for Gladstone, hoping to make it back by our target time of 1200. Thanks to the continual strong breezes we handed the ship back to the staff half an hour early for the pilotage back to Gladstone. The Youth Crew were by now extremely weary and gratefully ate lunch, before completing happy hour (cleaning stations) with a will that we were all proud of. At 1330, after five renditions of the national anthem to various tunes the ship was officially handed back to Captain Damien and I relinquished the captaincy.Personally I could not be more honoured to have led such a fine crew and more proud to have worked with them through out the voyage. At no time did any crew members shirk from activities and tasks that I thought we would never complete, were done well before the deadline. The Youth Crew managed to complete all of our set tasks and were only deducted points for a certain captain walking through the galley with his size thirteen feet unadorned. The accomplishment of all the tasks is a massive credit to all of the youth crew who worked tirelessly throughout the 24 hours, demonstrating their spirit and willingness to ensure ‘Command Day’ was a success and huge congratulations must be extended to everyone.Fair Winds and Full SailsYouth Captain Angus  Ahoy there everyone from Captain Damien, After officially accepting the ship safely back from the Youth Crew at 1300, a quick review of the assigned tasks before all the Youth Crew were aloft on the foremast sea furling all the square sails. Back down on the deck a Command Day debrief was conducted. Then with a ravenous appetite, a pizza smorgasbord was turned out for a sunset feast.The Youth Crew then completed their final assigned task by presenting a slide show and ballad, capturing various memorable moments and experiences during the voyage. This gave everyone the opportunity to reflect on the past 11 days and their amazing once in a life time journey. The remainder of the evening was spent completing end of voyage questionnaires and letters to themselves, which are returned to each Youth Crew member six months after voyage completion.The ship will depart our anchorage early tomorrow morning for a final passage across Gladstone Harbour with the Youth Crew manning the yards before returning for a scheduled 1000 final berthing at Gladstone Marina before farewelling our young adventurers.Until then it has been an honour and privilege to sail with the Youth and Staff Crew of Voyage 05/12. I wish them all the best for their future endeavours.For the final time.Yours AyeCaptain Damien‘Carpe Diem’