Day 15 – Messina Strait

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 15 of our voyage. Overnight we continued to make good speed and by morning brief we were located 30nm to the west of the Messina Strait motor sailing in light and variable conditions. At 1100 we conducted a boat transfer 5nm of the city of Milazzo where we had arranged to pickup the Ship’s Executive Officer LEUT Adam Farley who had originally flown to Malta to join the Ship but as we ended up going via Sicily Adam chose to make his own way to Milazzo so we could embark him there.  With Adam safely onboard we headed directly to the Messina Strait were we conducted our pilotage through this picturesque stretch of water which separates Sicily from mainland Italy then entered the Ionian Sea.As tomorrow is now going to be the commencement of Command Day late this afternoon I gave my Command Day Brief which was followed by Commands elections.  Overnight the World Voyagers will continue to consolidate some of their mariner skills so that they are well prepared for the challenges of Command Day and the other adventures that we have ahead.   Tonight we are back to White Watch writing the Captains Log so please enjoy tonight’s edition which has been written by Andrew. Enjoy!!  Until tomorrow, take care. Yours Aye  Captain Gav  Captains Log 18 April 2015Ahoy there friends and followers,Today was another fantastic day sailing the Mediterranean. As the sun rose this morning, daylight revealed the spectacular mountains of Sicily in the south of Italy. The sun shone brightly on small seaside villages stretched along the coastline, and instead of keeping clear of enormous shipping containers we were now navigating around yachts and small fishing boats. There was not even a hint of seasickness on board our ship – this is what we were all hoping the Mediterranean to be!  A light breeze made for perfect sailing conditions and our team of 24 keen world adventurers become busy climbing masts and setting sails, which provided enough drive to switch off our engines for a period. We followed the coastline around the north of Sicily and through the Straits of Messina, separating the island from mainland Italy. The straits have some interesting water currents, with tides and the narrow width of the channel creating a series of eddy’s to negotiate on the way through.   We all took advantage of the great weather by spending the day on the upper deck. After our ‘Happy Hour’ morning cleaning routine we set some of the large square sails at the front of the ship and climbed the mast for a better view of Messina. Our White Watch climbed 35m to the top to release the Top Gallant sail – certainly a challenge when the ship is rolling across waves. We were lucky enough to see dolphin’s just metres from the side, but still hoping for an orca or two before the end of the trip! A few people with a skipping rope on the upper deck began an extreme skipping challenge, with even Captain Gav showing us his moves. Pedro (Brendan) impressed everyone with a record 21 push-up skips.  We welcomed another member of staff today – Adam, and gave him a six broom salute as he stepped onboard. He brought along a box of Italian chocolate pastries which were devoured very quickly. Our resident Masterchef Aaron managed to recreate the tastes of Napoli onboard with endless trays of delicious gourmet pizza for dinner – Alan was very happy. He also baked a giant double layer cake plastered in chocolate mousse to celebrate three birthdays onboard – Happy Birthday to Kel, Jarrod and Cara!As we begin to near the end of our voyage, Captain Gav today briefed us on Command Day – a 24 hour period starting tomorrow afternoon where the staffies take a step back and leave the ship in the hands of the World Voyagers. Caitlin was elected our Captain for the stretch across the Ionian Sea, and I was selected as an engineer. We’re all looking forward to a challenging and fun day.  It’s been a fantastic trip so far – becoming friends with an awesome group of world voyagers and Navy staff. Spending time without a phone or an internet connection seems almost impossible these days, however it’s been refreshing and given us all time to reflect on ourselves and the world around us. The small living conditions and constant rocking of the boat has certainly been challenging, but brought us all closer together as a team.  Over the next couple of days we are heading across to Greece and through the Corinth Canal. Hoping the weather remains warm and sunny because I lost a warm jumper into the sea today during a strong gust of wind!Bye for now!Andrew  PS. Hello to my family and friends back home, and to everyone at the NSW SES. I’ve managed to avoid seasickness for the last two days in a row – woohoo!Also a shout-out from Dallas – he says ‘Hi to Mumbo, Love Dallas’.  “