Day 10 – Nara Inlet – The End is Nigh

Ahoy Shipmates,

Sadly tomorrow we must say farewell to an amazing group of young Australian, all of whom are now part of the Young Endeavour family. The past 24 hours have offered up some challenges to the Youth Crew…and that’s what it’s all about. We are all looking forward to arrving in Airlie Beach tomorrow, not so much to saying goodbye. Until next time adieu…I’ll hand over to the Youth Crew Captain Emily for the final word…take care and be kind to each other…Captain Kenny…out!

Command Day; the biggest day of them all.
1000 and one of the most exhilarating days of my life began. It was at this time that Captain Kenny handed over the ship to me as the V15/18 Youth Captain. I was extremely grateful to be given this opportunity, and to be trusted by my shipmates for this role. It was not until we were into the early hours of the morning however that I truly understood how much of an honour and a privilege it was to be entrusted with this position.
Command Day was a day like we had never experienced before. Our command instructions were to essentially circumnavigate Whitsunday Island, passing through designated navigational fixes and arriving at a Nara Inlet on Hook Island in time to hand back the control of the ship. Whilst doing this we also had to complete a number of tasks from taking a picture with all youthies aloft at the same time, to polishing the brass on the Upper decks. While we may not have achieved all of our tasks, nobody on the ship will say we didn’t try.
With mother-nature against us, and the wind pointing directly up our bow for the first long channel we knew it would be a long afternoon ahead. While it was a daunting task for the youth crew to Tack a 44m sailing vessel with “no” staff assistance, the motivation given by the island we were steering towards certainly helped to get things moving. All of the skills and knowledge the staffies had given us was showing. We began to truly feel like sailors.
It wasn’t until we were a few hours in though that our true colours began to shine. We had so much practice tacking that it was seamless. It was truly a beautiful sight from up on the Bridge to see everyone working together through sea sickness, hunger and fatigue purely because they did not want to let down the man next to them.
As the winds began to turn, attitudes across the deck were challenged. It was now a certainty that we would not make our destination if we didn’t alter course from the given navigational parameters and beg Captain Kenny to allow us to use the engines to assist the sails. It was a long night, and minimal sleep was had by all, however when the call went out for all hands on deck to wear the ship at 0600 everyone still promptly appeared and manned their stations. The spectacular sunrise we were gifted was a symbol of the light on the other side of the challenges we as a team had just overcome by withstanding one of the most tiring command days some of the staff had ever experienced.
There are few words to describe just how far we have come as a crew, as friends and as individuals since we stepped on to the boat with our mere land legs back in Cairns. The stories, the bonds and the memories will live on though through every awkward photograph and through the composure which we will bring to challenges faced in the future. Thank you to all of those who make this experience possible.
It has been an honour to go through this journey with all of those currently on board, the veterans and the future sailors. Our journey does not stop here.
Emily