Command Day…Dunk Island to Fitzroy Island

Ahoy shipmates, I’m on holidays (apparently)…enough said!Captain Kenny A’hoy thereThe youthies have taken over! Today is Command Day where us youthies are running the ship for 24 hours, no staffies, no help, just us and our 8 days worth of knowledge. We have just reached our first way point, so all is not lost just yet. This morning’s wake up call ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’ was rather abrupt. However, what was more abrupt was the plunge into the refreshing waters of Dunk Island at 7am. Many of the youthies dived, flipped, and belly flopped off the bowsprit into the water which made for a rather entertaining morning activity. A breakfast on the deck set us up for the beginning of Command Day, which would kick off at 1300 with the staffies going on holiday and the youth crew picking up the slack. We had the chance before handover to have some much needed R&R before starting a really, really, really, long list of really, really, really, odd tasks that must be completed before the completion of our Command Day.At 1300, our new Captain Ian took command from a holiday ready Captain Kenny, and the ceremonial hat and periscope were received with sweaty and shaking hands. We then began our tasks. Dun dun duhh!One of these tasks was to retrieve our navigation instructions from…an island. Rachelle, our resident surfer, braved the wind and waves to complete the treasure hunt for the most precious of instructions. The rest of the youthies watched and cheered on Rachelle (some of us grateful for it not being us), as she powered over to Mound Island, 250 long meters away from the ship. The crew was ecstatic to see a sodden Rachelle flop onto the deck with the precious navigation instructions in her mouth. Our command, Ian (Captain), Benn (Sail Master), and Stuart (Naviguesser) could set us on the ‘right’ course. We called our new and rather stressed chefs (Tash, Sheena, and Jonah) up to the deck to begin task two – with the whole youth crew climbing aloft at the same time! This required much squealing, and shaking as we all balanced on the foremast yards (the square things), for the vacaying staffies to take pictures that seemed to require more time than necessary.  As we descended below deck a delicious smell of Asian cuisine met our noses, and a pile of dishes up to the galley ceiling met our eyes. Our wonderful chefs had been working tirelessly to cook us dinner (and use every dish on board). After much frustration, lost cookie dough, runaway butter, and flour everywhere, Jonah produced deliciously warm and scrumptious cookies with ice-cream. We write this now as we mentally prepare ourselves to climb in the dark, yet again, the foremast to untie the yards (the square things) for our night of hopefully smooth sailing. We hope that all reading this will have a better nights sleep than what all of us youthies are expecting this evening. “Please send love our way, as we continue our Command Day. Smooth sailing is ahead, while we wish to be in bed.We’ve left the safety of the bay, but we’ll soon be saying hooray,Our trust in each other is now like no other, as we chart our way on the Young Endeavour”.  For now we bid fond farewell, Alex H, Courtney, and Louise