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Day 16 – Another Perfect Day
Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 16 of our voyage. Another beautiful day in the Mediterranean was enjoyed by all with light winds and a clear blue sky. All signs of yesterday’s seasickness have disappeared and the colour and smiles have returned to our World Voyagers faces. As forecast the wind did become light and variable overnight which sadly meant that we had to revert to the use of main engines, but as I write this log the wind has freshened from the NNW and we are back sailing again.   Being Saturday we ran a Saturday Sea routine which meant that everyone except for the forenoon watch (0800-1200) got a well deserved sleep in. Those that didn’t need the sleep enjoyed one of Taff’s famous morning PT sessions, which given the great food that Chef Adrian is feeding us all of us need to participate in to keep off those extra kilo’s.  At the moment we are located 70nm to the north east of Malta and given our current speed should arrive in Malta tomorrow. As we will be a day early we have gained approval to go to anchor then proceed alongside on Monday morning as scheduled which will give us time to complete a number of other activities prior to berthing.  Tonight’s Captains Log has been written by Derry and Blue Watch so please enjoy reading about their day onboard STS Young Endeavour.  Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavPS. To my Mum Marie have a wonderful Mothers Day!! As always I will be thinking of you.Lots of Love Gav xxoxCaptains Log09May 2015-05-09First and foremost, HAPPY (belated) MOTHER’S DAY to all of our wonderful mothers! I have it on good authority that all mothers of staff and crew can expect extravagant parcels in the mail at some stage over the next few weeks…  Morning got off to a cruisey, snoozy start with weekend routines delivering a much needed sleep in for the crewies and our hard working cheffos, until Taffy’s PT session began and all and sundry were rudely woken by the sounds of ACDC, heavy ropes slapping onto the teak decks and general fitness-related shenanigans. Meanwhile, Blue Watch attempted to stave off sea sickness by spinning around in circles repeatedly, with stockings and tennis balls attached to their heads. Not quite sure where Shaun was going with this one – perhaps a daily dose of public humiliation is an important part of life at sea?  Our afternoon brief kicked off with yet another wise piece of nautical history from Salty the Seadog, who gave us a brief account of Lindsey’s early years and enlightened us as to the origin of the Flemish horses out on our yards (which were used to haul ships through narrow canals in the days before motors). Miquela the Navigangasta updated us on our projected course and fascinated us with the Mediterranean’s ancient, crusty, evaporative history that resulted in the 3km thick salt crust that still lines the sea floor in this area.  Our delicious lunch was followed by a surprise toxic hazard emanating from the staff quarters, and the subsequent rescue of poor, helpless Dougie by Captain Flash and Wonder Woman (Matt and Miquela). Thankfully it turned out to be merely a drill, and an excellent excuse for the crewies to laze about the beautiful Mediterranean weather for half an hour.  Subsequently, our on-board nautical broadening knowledge lessons continued – life rings, tennis balls and chalk drawings providing the backdrop for a meteorology brief from the multi-talented Dr. Nick. After informing us that we would be learning all about northern hemisphere weather patterns, the good Doctor altered course and taught us all about the weather down under, advising us to simply reverse the process for latitudes above the equator. Physics and magic were both used by way of explanation for the Coriolis Effect.  As the warm afternoon sunshine beamed down upon the ship, most of the crew took Captain Gav’s quote of the day to heart (all the best things in life – kissing, laughing and dreaming – are best done with our eyes closed) and enjoyed a golden hour of free time.  Jenko (our talented cheffo) was firing on all cylinders after catching some extra winks this morning, and the picture perfect apple pie was a jewel in the crown of a beautiful day.Today’s first round of shout outs go to Derry’s family back home (particularly his beautiful Grandma, Mum, Les and Ross) – he’s thinking of you all.”Â
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 70nm NE of Malta and enjoying moderate 12-17kt NNW winds with a 1m NW swell. Current speed is 6kts and temperature is 17 degrees.Â
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This morning the youth crew of the STS Young Endeavour woke to the frightening sound of red watch singing a parody of Riptide by Vance Joy over the ships intercom. This was then followed by the message that blue watch, the watch that was on guts the night before, could have a well-deserved sleep in. While members from blue watch went back to sleep the rest of the crew made their way down to the galley to enjoy another one of Haydos fantastic meals. After everyone had had breakfast the morning brief was given at 0900 which involved informing the youthies of the day ahead and a very educational story by Matty on the origins of the nautical term “two six heave”. After the morning brief the crew went below decks for Chucky’s favourite part of the day: Happy Hour! (Also known as cleaning the ship hour). In the afternoon the three watches conducted rotational tacking stations. This involved the watches rotating through the positions that the other watches fill when we tack which helped the crew get a better idea on what happens when we tack. Captain Gav came up on deck to give us a crash course about sailing theory and the ships history. This was very interesting and gave the youth crew a helpful insight into why different sails are used depending on different wind conditions. Round 3 of the famous Rope races were then commenced at noon with a twist of the round being worth double points. This highly non-competitive competition ended with Blue and Red watch drawing making it a close race for the rest of the trip The biggest highlight of most people’s day was sailing through the straight between Tasman Island and Cape Pillar in the afternoon. We all gathered at the bow of the ship as we gazed upon the spectacular columnar basalt edged cliffs rose up on either side of the narrow passageway. We had to furl all the sails, which involved sending two youth crew members up the main mast in rough swells and high winds to gasket the sail. Engines where turned on for the first time that day so we could safely pass the straight. The effort was truly worth it as we passed the resident seal colony and schools of dolphins. One of the greatest things about the STS Young Endeavour is even though the ship may sway from side to side and youth crew struggle to walk straight without getting knocked into a wall; the ships Chef continues to work hard and impress us with meals made from a kitchen which is smaller than the size of most people’s laundry room. It continues to amaze me how he keeps this quality in these rocky conditions. Not enough praise can be given to the hard work this man puts in keeping everyone happy. Go Haydo!Hi mum and dad I’m still alive, somehow we are already halfway through. See you in six days. Jack. You probably won’t see this but love you to the moon and back mum and dad. Riley. Until next time… Youthies Jack & Riley
