Day 52 – Command Period Day 3

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 52 of our voyage. The Command Period continues with the Crew (Now Known as Cape Horner’s) doing a fantastic job. Today they took on the job of putting the Fisherman Staysail back up which is no small task. This is a light weather sail which as soon as it is set the wind strengthens and today was no exception because before that sail went up the conditions were light and variable and now we are experiencing thunder storms with 30kt winds. Captain Sam has put pen to paper tonight for the Log so please enjoy tonight’s edition.Until tomorrow, take care.Captain Gav  Captains log 10-2-15 day 50Ahoy there to all those at home and abroad, Captain Sam here for the final log of our command period.Today has been action packed and full of fun and adventure on the high seas. This morning we awoke to a warm and sunny day. The wind unfortunately continues to be on the nose and very light which means that we have had to continue to use the iron headsails to propel us north towards Rio De Janeiro.  At 0930 today we held our usual morning brief during which as per normal we were given the plan from today from sail master Robyn, navigator Julia and officer of the watch Michelle. It was during this brief that we informed the crew that our command period has been extended by another 24 hours!!! For this last 24 hours of our command period the watches will have a bit of a shuffle up with Reece, Rose and Liam becoming watch leaders for their respective blue, red and white watch’s. There will also be a change in the galley and engineering teams. Grace and Effie will be stepping in as master chefs with Fiona and Hannah, Rusty and Karri becoming engineers.  After morning brief it was straight into one of our command period challenges which was to draw a chalk mural at midships that says “Sharelle I love you” along with any other messages to loved our loved ones. The result was a very colourful, exciting and floral themed mural of which we are all proud of. Once the mural was complete and the obligatory photo taken it was time for happy happy happy hour and then lunch.  At 1400 it was time for challenge number 2 for today which was to rig the fisherman sail. The fisherman is a very large fore and aft running sail which is rigged between the foremast and the main mast. It is only used in very light winds. With limited instruction we all got stuck into the task at hand and there was a hive of activity as people split of into teams and attached the various lines such as the sheets, gaskets and in-hauls just to name a few.  Once this was complete 6 people were sent up to the lower and upper tops so that we could start the second part of the job started which involved hauling the sail up on a gant line into the track and stay on which it attaches to. This proved to be quite a task but after a solid 4.5 hours the sail was in place and ready to be tested should we get the right conditions. It was great to see everyone come together as a team and achieve this formidable task.  The command period has not been without its challenges for all involved. Given that we have been on the ship for so long and know each other so well tho it has been a great opportunity for us as a group to show what we are capable of. It has been great to see everyone’s enthusiasm throughout our command period which still has over 12 hours to go and to see everyone take ownership for Young Endeavour which has become our home over the past 50 days. We have a very special group full of amazingly talented and successful people. It has been a huge honour to be able to be captain of such a special group of young Australians for our command period as it has been for the whole command team. Everyone has stepped up to the mark and played their equally important and vital roles.  We are currently halfway through the last dog watch as the sun starts to set and are about to do a short PT session before we get into the watches over night.Yours AyeCaptain Sam    “