Day 10 – Command Day Part 1

Ahoy there shipmates, The Ship entered Broken Bay and anchored at Patonga at 0230. When we woke everyone at 0645 the Ship was enveloped in fog, which had started to clear by 0800 when we held only the second ceremony of colours since we sailed from Wellington. At 0900 I handed control of the Ship to Youth Crew Captain Liz with the symbolic passing of the Young Endeavour Captain’s Tricorne hat and spyglass. I also gave her the list of 23 Tasks for the Youth Crew to complete during Command Day. Until tomorrow at 0900 when I will accept control of the Ship back and we will proceed into Sydney to clear Customs, Immigration and Quarantine. In the meantime Youth Crew Captain Liz will tell you of their exploits. Yours Aye Captain Mike Ahoy there from youth crew captain Liz! This morning at 0900 the staff crew handed over control of the STS Young Endeavour to the youth crew of voyage 19/13. Our elections last night were a great success, and the team we have created were excited to get started, especially after waking up in the beautiful Broken Bay, NSW. After the fog cleared we were all delighted to see land for the first time in a week. The staff crew paraded on deck to celebrate their ‘holiday’ and we received a list of tasks which are required to be completed over the 24 hours which is command day. We kicked off by reading through all of them with the entire youth crew and having a good chuckle at some of the challenges we had in store. Everyone was in great spirits as we started one of our first tasks, Happy Hour (some things never change!) The next task we chose to undertake was a row boat relay, which involved two teams of 6 youth crew each making one lap around the Young Endeavour, while getting hosed by some very gleeful staff crew. This allowed us access to our navigation instructions which were tied to the top of the main mast and set out a number of points we would be aiming for once we set sail later in the day. After lunch provided by our wonderful chefs, Graydon and Brittany we had a chance to ‘go bananas’ in the 12 berth cabin, with a 15 minute disco that had all of us short of breath but full of adrenalin. Once we had a chance to calm down, we got straight to work making a giant hammock across the deck which would be big enough to hold all 21 members of the youth crew – and I am pleased to report that we had great success, and lots of laughs in the process! The Australian heat was a welcome change, but it also meant we had to be extra careful not to get sunburnt. Next up, all members of the youth crew climbed aloft, giving us a much better view than the one we saw through the fog earlier in the morning. We came down from the yards and decided to set sail at 1600 hours, allowing us to make the set waypoints over night. As the wind was coming directly into the bay, we were granted permission to have the engines running for 30 minutes (no more!) to assist us getting out of harms way. None of the youth crew were used to seeing so many other boats after crossing the Tasman Sea, so it became really important to keep an eye out for any contacts. Later in the evening we enjoyed a fantastic Aussie-themed dinner provided by our chefs, making us feel very much at home after travelling New Zealand. Currently the youth crew are making great progress and we are now trying to slow the boat down so we don’t arrive at our finally destination too early! So far we have had a highly successful Command Day, helped a long by the enthusiasm and team work of the youth crew – looking forward to what tomorrow brings! Yours Aye, Captain Liz