Day 14 – King Neptune Holds Court

Hi Everyone, Welcome to day 14 of our voyage. Well what a day it has been, our young mariners got to meet King Neptune and his Queen, changed from Pollywogs to Shellbacks, are about to cross the Equator, enjoyed another swim in the Atlantic ocean, caught two fish and finally enjoyed a sunset pizza dinner up on deck. All this has happened in the one day!! Rather than me tell you all of the details I will handover to Vinny to explain in depth about our amazing day. Enjoy!!  Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavCaptains Log March 1st 2015Today was no regular day at sea. Today we as the crew of young endeavour woke to our Sunday at Sea as mere pollywogs, yet as the sun is now setting across the Atlantic, we prepare for our night’s watches as ‘shellbacks;’ seasoned sailors who have made it across the equator.  As the crew who weren’t on watch were enjoying a Sunday sleep in, White watch were busying themselves with some fishing, both the orthodox and not so orthodox type. Our Master Chef Aaron began the day by managing to hook his first fish for the world voyage – and what a way to start with a beautiful Wahoo – which was promptly prepared to be added to our lunch menu. After this as the sun was rising, white watch’s Cass managed to land her first fish too – a flying fish that managed to flutter its way upon the Young Endeavour, promptly to be given the hurry along to spend the rest of the day enjoying the flat seas.  When blue watch took over from the White watch we busied ourselves with doing some sail handling practice under the guidance of our watch leader of the day, Jezza, with many sails being set and furled in the eerily calm winds. Bluey’s Amanda and Tom then had us running through some drills so that come command day we would be able to carry out all of the essential tasks in our sleep. During this watch we also had the peculiar task of assembling a blow up pool in the middle of the upper deck, which was a slightly worrying sign as we had been warned that at 1330 Neptune would be boarding the ship as part of a passing over the equator ceremony.  As 1330 drew nearer we were fed some more information, to be dressed in attire that we didn’t hold on to too dearly, as it would be getting dirty. At 1330 by the request of Neptune: Amanda, Tilda and Goody, as well as pollywog staffy Tenille assembled a guard of honour for the boarding, whilst wielding the ship’s mops in lieu of baring arms. The procession for the ceremony included Neptune and his Queen, Neptune’s Bear’s (joker bear, baby bear and grumpy bear) as well as other assorted and somewhat ambiguous characters.  Before any of us could be declared fit to cross the equator and call ourselves shellbacks, we had to come before the wrath of Neptune, who uncannily knew many of the crimes that we as crew had committed over the last two weeks. These crimes included Sian’s so called plot to discover all the secrets of the ocean with her questions, Vic’s apparent habit of being somewhat less than punctual, as well as coming down hard on the various Defence personnel we have aboard for their land-lubbing tendencies. Regardless of whether we all pleaded guilty to these crimes we all bore the punishment individually, which was handed out by Neptune’s offsiders.  Some of the information of the ceremony must remain a secret as there are another twenty-four crew members due to cross the equator later in the voyage, but to paint a picture all of us emerged from the ceremony dirty, slippery and somewhat saucy, with a slight distaste for pasta. Blue watch Leader Lauren definitely earned the fall of the day, taking a massively loud slip across the deck. After the ceremony we took the opportunity to open the Atlantic swimming pool once again to clean off and enjoy the calming waters of the doldrums.  To cap off what was an amazing day we were treated to pizza cooked by the amazing staffies, which was enjoyed by all up on deck. During this time Fliss also took the opportunity to have a third shower for the day – many thanks to the bird that had decided to nest on the Course Yard while we had our dinner. As the crew took the opportunity to let the beautiful surrounds and the events of the day sink in we were also issued with one beer each while the staffies took responsibility for ship so as to avoid any chances of a D.U.I. – you don’t know where, you don’t know when. So now the sun is setting – the time of which blue watch’s Julie and Tom managed to calculate, and STS Young Endeavour is due to cross the equator in the coming hours, growing nearer to our first port at Cape Verde.  That’s it from us shellbacks for today - Love to all back at home, Vinny.      “