Day 11 – Weather Starts to Improve

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 11 of our voyage. Overnight we have continued our journey east and are slowly starting to improve our boat speed. We are still fighting these headwinds but they are slowly starting to moderate and hopefully by tomorrow they may veer to the south east and drop to below 15kts. Even though we ran another Saturday Sea routine today we still managed to fit in a number of activities including another set of highly competitive rope races and the first of my sail theory presentations which I gave to White Watch late this afternoon. I will give this same presentation to each of the other Watches over the next two days.  After so many years at sea you would think that I have seen most things but even I was taken by surprise today when informed that we had just had an owl land on our main mast. Pat tells you a little more about our visitor in tonight’s log so I won’t steel any of his thunder but it is the first time that I have seen an owl at sea!  Tonight we are back to Red Watch’s turn to write the Captains Log so please enjoy tonight’s edition written by Patrick. Enjoy!  Until tomorrow, take care.  Yours Aye  Captain Gav  Captains Logs 13 April 2015DAY 11As I write it is 2020 and the fearsome red watch has come to the bridge through until midnight. Over the last 24 hours we have continued to move across the North African coast towards Sardinia which remains some 300nm away. Headwinds are still our chief frustration. After our barnstorming transit of the Straits of Gibraltar we are now comfortably into our third night of 20-25kt headwinds. The STS Young Endeavour is a marvellous creature but she does not take kindly to headwinds. Our meteorologically adept Captain Gav assures us the winds will turn as we near Italy in the days ahead.  We are presently 35nm N of the port of Algers (Hi Kira!) and have covered 94.1nm over the last 24 hours.  Our XO Kenny (Knuckle) has been gracious in giving the crew three consecutive Saturday schedules (11am starts for those not on watch) giving us a chance to catch up on what little (largely disturbed) sleep we’d been getting.  After yesterday’s wildlife encounter at the end of Shaun’s fishing line, we were today visited by of all things…an owl – 40nm off the coast of Algeria. I assure you the owl met a far safer but less tasty end. Clearly rather lost we did our best to coax it onboard but despite those efforts it couldn’t be convinced and returned to its oddly seafaring life. Special mention to our resident wildlife rescue specialist Bec (Chook) for her efforts.  I’m pleased to report that we appear to have put the ‘Mal de mer’ behind us. Even the most heinously affected are looking chirpy again. The aft starboard deck is no longer the monument to pyroclastic gastrointestinal disturbance that it once was. For that we are all grateful.  Lauren, our effervescent and affectionate watch leader has been consistent in providing us with a steady supply of seasickness medication.  I feel it necessary to mention our ship’s cook, Aaron. Seeing him up close with Logan while on duty in the galley for 36 hours was great fun. His food is simple, wholesome but most of all flavoursome. The variety is wide and the work applied creating it immense. I swiftly learnt that many things were not designed to be used at a 30 degree incline. I also credit Aaron with the permanent relief of my seasickness. If you can endure a 2m swell while stuffing 200 vol-au-vents in the galley then you’re sure not to quail at the fury of a gale.  On a sidenote, our VHF is proving to be a lively companion on watch in the dead of night. Channel 16 continues to be an amusing sideshow of communications. What is strictly a distress channel is more of an all purpose chat room here in the Med. Last night was a particular treat with a game of ‘container ship chicken’ being played out with two bridges floridly berating each other.  Chief Engineer Lindsay again took command for our voyages’ second instalment of Rope Races. What a spectacle it was. Following a decisive victory in the opening round, Red watch regrettably fell victim to the dishonourable skulduggery of the other watches and failed to cement their stranglehold on the event. We look forward to reasserting our dominance shortly.In parting, as I’ve sat in the galley over the past few days I’ve pondered an extract of Joseph Conrad’s ‘Youth’ that is hanging there.“But you here – you all had something out of life: money, love – whatever one gets on shore – and, tell me, wasn’t that the best time, that time when we were young at sea: young and had nothing on the sea that gives nothing except hard knocks – and sometimes a chance to feel your strength?”Over the last week we have all had to peel away “whatever [we] get on shore” and have had plenty of Conrads ‘hard knocks’ to contend with’ but with those knocks come moments where you can discover, even push, your own capabilities – chances to feel your strength. It is those moments that make it all worthwhile.Yours aye,Patrick   P.S. All my love to Kate, Kate, Alisha and Brigid                “