Day 18 – Command Day Elections

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 18 of our voyage. Today we have continued with our final preparations before the commencement of Command Day, these have included my brief on how the activity will be conducted and of course the election process to fill the different positions required to run the Ship for the 25hr period. Both of these activities have gone extremely well and now with the elections complete and Command Team announced it is just a matter of handing the Ship over to the Crew at 1300 tomorrow.Besides these activities we also had Robbie (One of the Youth Crew members) give the whole crew a meteorological brief. Robbie is not a meteorologist he is just interested in the weather, and over the past few days he has been studying all of our books and putting together a presentation which he did a magnificent job of delivering today.Tonight’s Captains Log has been beautifully written by Sian and you can see that the words and thoughts have come straight from the heart. Thanks Sian for a wonderful edition of tonight’s Captains Log.Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavWelcome to the captains log aboard the Young Endeavour!Be it your first, second or 75th consecutive captains log for 2015, thank you for coming along and sharing the journey with us. Captain Gav has been generous to share the regular correspondence he receives from all corners of the globe and it is wonderful to think how many people not directly onboard the YE are along for the ride too. A personal ‘hello’ to all the friends and families of the 24 World Voyages (WVs) aboard! A little bit of paraphrasing here but…we are really well, happy, on top of sea sickness and are partaking in an all-consuming adventure that restricts us missing you all too much.Thursday 5th March has seen a seemingly ever-building momentum aboard the ship as we move towards our first command period of 25hrs, commencing tomorrow, Friday 6th March at 1300. Our ability to safely command and run the ship was tested yesterday, to which Amanda and Jezza wonderfully explained in their log (check it out if you haven’t already). Today the next step in the process commenced with a brief from Captain Gav on the command roles he recommends we fill to safely and logistically run the ship. It certainly starts the butterflies fluttering when the reality sets in that this point in 24hrs time, the WVs aboard will assume the roles of the very experienced Staffies and try our own hand at this thing called sailing.Elections will take place after our watch tonight to fill the 15 command positions including Captain, Sail Master, Navigator, Watch Officers, Watch Leaders, Chefs and Engineers. Whilst these roles assume set responsibilities, the old adage of ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ will certainly take hold tomorrow. Each and every WVs individual characters, skills, knowledge and enthusiasm will be vital to see this amazing ship advance safely and inch closer towards our fist land-fall of Cape Verde on Monday 9th March. I know we will be as proud of this ship as we will be of each other when 1400 rolls around on Saturday 7th March.We were treated today to a meteorological brief by red watches’ one and only… Robbie! Rob took it upon himself to inquire about all things weather a few days back and bravely ended up volunteering to deliver the ‘met brief’ to the whole crew – a job normally taken by the Navigator or Sail Master. His ability to take knowledge and apply it to our circumstance, explain complex concepts with lightness and humour and his quiet confidence in front of his ‘class’ made for a thoroughly interesting brief. I think we may now also take our chief-watch-prankster and all-round funny man a tiny bit more seriously too. Well-done Robbie!Every day onboard there are little victories, which become important to groups and individuals alike. Today a young lady named Fliss from blue watch made a gallant climb to the Topgallant (terrible pun, couldn’t be helped…), flanked by some dedicated cronies and she’s determined to climb every day onboard simply to become more comfortable above decks. Fliss set a goal for herself and reached it today (nearly a week early – that’s personal determination right there). Another bluey Tom has absolutely owned all things knot based – it’s reported he can tie any and everything you can imagine, including a very delicate and well-proportioned little rope man. Teddy and Cass from white watch jumped in (not literally) to assist with the cleaning of sea strainers – a vital maintenance in keeping the efficiency of our salt water system. Reddies have their very own superhero who shall not be named for fear of exposing his secret, but who has a dark cape and a scheming mind. He lights up our days! Sharing these experiences is what makes the voyage so memorable. The ship is a piece of nautical art; but the people are what I’ll always remember when the beauty of the blue sea and a lack of visible land repeat on you…day after sunny day.I’m very grateful that I have been given the opportunity to step aboard the YE for my second voyage – albeit after a 12year break. After disembarking in Newcastle in 2002, I left my first sail feeling like I hadn’t played my A-Game. Captain Gav briefed us early on in this voyage reminding us to not leave anything behind – not a question, an experience or a challenge unmet. It rang true for me. First time around, I didn’t put my hand up when I wanted to, hadn’t ask the questions that sprung to mind and it’s with this perspective that I’d love to share a less ‘nuts and bolts’ aspect of the voyage with you.17 Days in, the 12-year comparison of the experience has been vivid for me. It has filled me with confidence that time makes you grateful for the past but equally delighted in how positively you can grow and change when you seek to. More importantly though, it has made me more eager to share/encourage/gently force the wonderful people in my world to see how amazing and rewarding it is for them to seek adventures for themselves. Not just seeking an adventure but committing to actually making it happen.Adventure is a funny word; one that some people embrace and others don’t see as any part of their lives. For me, sailing on the YE again was something I had waited a long time to do, and will be one of the biggest geographical adventures of my life. It makes me smile from the bottom of my belly every time I think about what I’ve been given the opportunity to be a part of.But for you, your adventure could be that Spanish course you’re always thinking about starting, that amazing Tapas cooking class your friends talked about or a weekend road-trip to that favourite Spanish Gallery/B&B in the country you’d ‘love to go back to one-day’. You may have noticed I’m a bit excited to be heading to Spain – a warm mention here to our onboard Spanish teacher, Julie (we love your expertise, kind lady).Find in your mind that great ocean you have always thought about crossing.Find a way to make the crossing become a reality.Enjoy the experience that I guarantee the adventure will bring you!Much love and many hugs to the landlubbers around the globe,Sian.   “