DEPARTED AMSTERDAM

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day three of our voyage and the first log for Young Endeavours World Voyage Passage Six. Firstly let me apologize for not posting a Captains Log last night but following our departure from Amsterdam, Parade of Sail, long pilotage through thousands of spectator craft, entry and exit from a dock then berthing the ship again at 2100 I was physically and mentally spent! So once we were safely alongside I closed my cabin door and got some much needed rest so that I was ready to sail again today.Firstly let me introduce the highly experienced Navy Staff Crew that will undertake and facilitate this voyage:Captain – GavSail Master – DougieNavigator – MiquelaBOATSO – IanRed Watch Leader – TugWhite Watch Leader – KennyBlue Watch Leader – ShaunChef – MarcosEngineer – Horto2nd Engineer – ShaunDoctor – NickMedic – MarcosOur journey for this voyage commenced when we departed the wonderful city of Amsterdam, Netherlands and will see us sail down through the English Channel to Brest in France, then south to the Canary and Cape Verde Islands before making our crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to Rio de Janeiro. We have an enthusiastic and highly motivated World Voyage Crew who are extremely eager to experience some great sailing and to visit these exciting ports.Since joining us in Amsterdam it has a busy time for our new World Voyagers and they really have hit the ground running and when you read tonight’s Captain’s Log you will see what I mean.At the moment we are located 50nm to the south west of Amsterdam heading for the English Channel and trying to get as far south as quickly as possible in an attempt to avoid some forecasted bad weather. Overnight our new Crew will settle into their watches and hopefully get their ‘sea legs’ as quickly as possible.Writing the first of Passage Six’s Captains Log is White Watches Caitlin and Rowan, please enjoy.Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavCaptains Log 150824“Don’t let go don’t let go don’t let go” was the only thing going through my mind as I clung to the spar fore dear life 32m above the ground. The ship hadn’t even left the dock.So here we are, a few hours later, and obviously I didn’t let go. This is the first Captains Log of the STS Young Endeavour on the 24th August. We have had a whirlwind three days so far, experiencing everything from hosting ambassadors at cocktail parties through to cleaning toilets, pulling up sails, and everything in between. We are finally getting to know our watch mates a little better, and have nearly learned everyone’s names!I’m really not sure what everyone ashore would like to know, so let’s start with the highlights:From the beginning when we all met in the centre of Amsterdam I think everyone knew we would get along. Since then, even in this short period of time, we have all made friends, bonded, and become thoroughly accustomed to conversations starting with “where are you from and what do you do?”.So far we have ridden in a WW2 troop launcher, been hosted on a Swedish sailing vessel while watching a solid 30 minutes of fireworks, been paraded down a river for 3 hours in front of 2.5 million people, had a personal cannon salute by the Dutch royal family, overcome our fear of heights, eaten way too much amazing food, and learned to work together as a team (mostly).I think we should leave it at that for now, as we are only 3 days in, and if we give away too much you might not read the rest of the Captains logs to come! We have 60 days to go for you all to get bored of the updates, but suffice it to say that given what we have already done, its going to be a wild ride!Caitlin & RowanHi to the parentals, Karla and all back home in Perth. Would love to say I miss you all like crazy, but it’s been a crazy ride so far, not much time to spare. Climbed to the top of the mast today, and that’s just the beginning. Hope my babies are all doing well. Love to all, Caitlin xxxxxTo fatness, vita says her pirating skills are coming along nicely.