MORE LIGHT CONDITIONS

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 20 of our voyage. It is amazing how quickly the time fly’s as it only seems like yesterday that the World Voyage Crew of Passage Six were joining us in Amsterdam and here we are day 20 and a 1/3 of the way through the voyage already.As forecast for most of this week the wind is still light and variable and we are still having to use one main engine and motor sail. That said, the wind should start to freshen a little tomorrow so hopefully we may have the opportunity to shutdown the engine and again enjoy the peace and tranquillity of sailing this beautiful ship.The lack of wind has certainly not disheartened our enthusiastic crew as they continue to find new things to do as well as enhancing the skills that they have already developed over the past 20 days. Most have taken an interest in astro navigation and given the amazing clear nights and sunny days they have had plenty of opportunities to learn how to ‘swing a sextant’.Given the warm and slightly humid weather today it was decided that rather than stopping the ship for a swim we would just rig fire hoses and let everyone cool down at what is known onboard as the Young Endeavour ‘pool party’. This activity is always enjoyed and today to top it off everyone enjoyed home made iceblocks (thanks Jess) and a bit of good music to go with it.The time is now 2100 and we are currently located 100nm to the east of the Islands of Madeira still motor sailing but enjoying another beautiful night on the Atlantic Ocean.Tonight we are back to White Watch writing the Log so enjoy reading about today’s activities.Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain Gav CAPTAINS LOG 09/09/15“White watch ready” was the call of the day, albeit occasionally a little late (thanks Vita).We had an action packed day today, starting with watch at 0800, some sextant training, and breakfast, and ending with a pool party and ice cream. The weather has been on and off, with some high cloud blocking our sun, and periods of sweltering heat. There is little to no breeze, so unfortunately, despite being on a beautiful sailing vessel, we are steaming across calm seas.You would think that on board a boat for 20 days straight the days would blend together and boredom would set in, but not so. Every day is different. Today, after morning brief, where we learned the origin of the term “buccaneers” and what it means. Next we went into Happy Hour (cleaning time), followed by our first session of group games. It was here that blue watch shone, though they may have had an unfair advantage, being aware in advance of the game rules, and having had time to practice.This lead nicely into another sumptuous lunch prepared by our chef Marcus (1 oceanic Michelin star), followed by “make and mend” time, which is time allotted for washing and repairing personal possessions, as well as sails, lines, and the ship itself. During this time, we were supposed to fix the topgallant staysail, but I think Dougie got distracted, and a few of us had a sleep in any case. During this time a number of interesting ‘floaties’ were sighted, starting with turtles, and including a shark spotted at a distance. These were added to the tally for the trip, which includes whales, dolphins, and glimmering phosphorescence at night.Next came the highlight of the day, the pool party! ‘How do you have a pool party on a boat’, I hear you ask? Well the answer is simple: fire hoses. Shawn rigged them up to spray salt water amidships, and we all had a refreshing shower, some of us mistaking it for fresh water and taking our icy cups) (homemade ice blocks) under it. After being cooled down, it was, once more, siesta time (obviously), and we all retired to our favourite stations, some reading, some sleeping, some playing a particularly nasty little card game (which I can highly recommend) called “cards against humanity”. Before we knew it, it was dinner time, and after stuffing our faces (food coma anyone?) white watch was back on duty. So here we are, cruising over the ripples of a crystal clear Atlantic Ocean, on a warm, sunny afternoon in September, with hopefully plenty more of the same to look forward to!See you next timeWhite Watch