Day 9 – Command day part 2

We awoke to a sunny day and a calm breeze followed by a delicious breakfast. We then knuckled straight down into it with a trivia game, followed by flying the colours, including singing the anthem to three different tunes (Jolene, Row Row Row Your Boat and Country Road, respectively) and morning brief with its own personal spin. Happy hour was conducted, followed by a quick disco with lights, music and vibes in the twelve berth. With an hour left until the handover, all youthies were able to complete one final task, getting all of us up the foremast and onto the yards for a picture of our achievements. We all did fabulously, with a fair few of us reaching new heights and climbing far past our personal perceived limits. Keys for the ship – including captaincy and running of the ship where handed back with a mixed sense of relief and a great sense of group achievement, WE DID IT! Frankie (partially acting captain) With a feeling of tired relief us youthies headed down to the galley for some tea and bickies (well, some of us had tea and biscuits, others worked on the slideshow of all our photos from the voyage), followed by a delicious lunch. Then it was time for snorkelling! But wait…the tide was too low for all the crew to land on the beach, so groups of us were taken out by Keithy on the RHIB. We hopped straight into the water and snorkelled around some beautiful coral reef- I did not see any turtles . We returned even more tired than before, most of us retiring to our racks, until we were abruptly awoken by a pipe from Jordo-time to 2-6-heave the RHIB in. Then we slept. Later, the whole crew regathered to debrief about command day. We received thumbs up all round for our completion of the tasks (let’s just ignore the fact we didn’t do two of them), before moving into a more serious evaluation. We’re all extremely proud of ourselves and our achievements. Command day taught us about leadership, teamwork and ourselves, and I think we all will apply this experience to the rest of our lives (just without the tall ship aspect). Next, a barbeque on deck! Liana, Theresa and Keely cooked up a heap of tasty meats and veggies with some cordial to wash it all down. We laughed, danced and admired the sunset. Now most of the crew is playing Emma’s flexibility game – I think Ethan is winning, but Frankie, Abi and Emma prove close contenders. Hang on – I’ve just been updated by Adrian, there’s a new game on, something to do with frog jumping. The rest of the evening holds anchor watches and our second last sleep on the Young Endeavour. Excuse me while I get a bit mushy, but this has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I think I can say the same for the rest of the youthies. We’ve pushed ourselves, explored beautiful islands we mightn’t have seen otherwise and met some amazing people in both the youth and staff crew. Thus, I conclude the last captain’s log written by a youthie for voyage 10/21. See you all soon. Grace_____________Thanks for following the achievements of the Youthies from Voyage 10/21, we all have achieved far more then we first thought we could 8 days ago and couldn’t be prouder of our achievements. Liana. Thanks again youthies couldn’t have done it without you. You are all absolutely amazing and will smash everything you put your mind to. Theresa. Huge shout out to all the youthies and staffies, cheers to a truly amazing once in a lifetime opportunity, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Lots of love always, Abi x Thanks to everyone on board voyage 10/21, it’s been an amazing experience and one that I will never forget! I’ll miss you all heaps. x Georgia. Yeah it was alright ya know… but thanks staff members you do a mad job at your job lol… – Elijah AKA chef Freshayyy. Translation: I had a great time with the staff and the crew on the voyage and would do it again xThanks to everyone on voyage 10/21, it has been a lot of fun and a lot of memories have been made with you lot. Thanks to the staffies for everything you guys do for us, and of course to Keely for the great food. – AdrianThanks to everyone on V10/21 for making these great memories that we can all share. It has been the experience of a life time and I couldn’t ask for any other group of people to do this voyage with. Also want to give a huge thanks to all the staffies that taught us and a special thanks to Keely for the best food ever. I hope we can all meet up some time, some place. – EthanTo all my fellow youthies on V10/21 I will never forget the hilarious, and challenging moments that we have shared together; bonding over our lack to sleep and clumsy moments. I will miss all of you so much! I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. Thank you to all the staffies, for your support and encouragement x, especially our watch leaders Jemma and Emma, I haven’t danced and sung so much in ages! I have learnt so much, not just about how to sail a tall ship, but more about myself as a person and I can’t thank the crew enough. – CharleyWho knew the days of being sleep deprived and exhausted would be the best days ever? Thank you to all the wonderful staff who made this journey inspirational and pushed us to further limits. Because of this voyage I can now cook (partially), clean really well (thanks Happy Hour), climb high without fear and of course, sail. I have not only been able to experience clubbing*, mateship, and hard work, but also appreciate the beauty in nature, the sun and the stars. The opportunities here have allowed me to grow and get a deeper understanding of myself and the people around me. Couldn’t have asked for a better crew! Thank you so much Keeley for the amazing food, I haven’t ever eaten so much! – GellaThe best time to see how far you’ve grown is to look back to where you started, back when you were nervous and anxious about where the journey would take you to, now you still have no idea where the journey will take you but your confidence has grown, you’re willing to learn and lead and you can go to bed at night knowing you’ve tried your very best. The youth of V10/21 have done just that with the help of the best staff crew you could find (that’s just a facts) we would not have been able to reach new heights (literally) and push our comfort zones without them. In saying that, we also would not have gotten this far without being a team. We worked, slept, and ate together, we were tired and sometimes grumpy, but we all pulled through to complete the task of sailing a brigantine ship. I’d like to personally thank all staff and youthies for helping me build my confidence and for gifting me with new knowledge and skills I can use throughout my life, I might not ever set a sail again, but I will always remember what a true team looks like, and that is the team of V10/21. – AimsThis voyage has been a life experience, I will definitely look back on this time with fondness but also with a sense of – whatever the word is that means to look back and be proud of what we accomplished and that I grew as a person, and how I now look at/do things – I am grateful to the entire crew and all the youthies that have been a major part in this experience and this mini life endeavour. Thank you. – Frankie*not real clubbing, it’s all good parents.