Day 55 – Final Night at Sea

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 55 of our voyage and the last night at sea as we arrive in Rio de Janeiro tomorrow, which is our final destination for Passage One of Young Endeavour’s 2015 World Voyage. Since departing Sydney on the 22nd December 2014 we have sailed more than 8,000 nm and have experienced some amazing things. We always new that this was going to be a tough voyage but the enthusiasm, spirit, and sometimes sheer determination of this Crew got us through the most challenging of times.  As the Captain of STS Young Endeavour I could not be prouder of this group of 24 Young Australian’s and Navy Crew who over the past 55 days have achieved something really special together.  From all of the Navy Crew we wish the Crew of Passage One all the best and thank every one of you for the efforts that you put in throughout this amazing voyage. Stay safe, continue to challenge yourself and we look forward to catching up on our return to Australia.  Please find attached the final Log for Passage One written by Greg and Katherine. Enjoy!!  Until next voyage, take careCaptain Gav  Young Endeavour will commence Passage Two of the World Voyage when we depart Rio 18 Feb 15Capt”s Log Friday 13Feb2015Ahoy friends, family and followers! Welcome to this, the final captains log for voyage 01/15. It feels like Rio will be yet another port stop, however it’s slowly dawning on us that this is, in fact, the end of another amazing life-changing trip onboard this beautiful vessel. I think all of the Horners are experiencing some mixed emotions – on the one hand we’d love to keep sailing onwards, but on the other it’ll be great to get home and be reunited with everybody.  After a 2000-0001 watch last night which gave us a spectacular thunder and lightning display on the horizon, today saw Red Watch take the forenoon watch (0800-1200) after another hot humid night down below. Numerous people attempted to sleep on deck last night – I think I’ll be among them for tonight! 0915 saw our second-last morning brief aboard, with Salty Sea Dog (matt) and the “burly” bosun (sandy) dropping by to give us a lesson on the cat-of-nine-tails. Ever wondered where the term “not enough room to swing a cat” comes from? Ask a Horner, they’ll be able to tell you now…  Following morning brief but prior to Happy hour, we re-arranged our above-deck laundry of wet weather gear, re-hanging the still-damp gear and stowing the dry gear below. Following happy hour we reconvened on deck to practise our voyage song; however rehearsals were rapidly adjourned when the call “sleeping bag overboard!” was made by the ever-attentive Liam.  The crew leapt into action at this call, racing forward to secure the other sleeping bags that were hanging on the bow, or to grab boat hooks to fish it out of the sea. A rapid Man Overboard turn was initiated and eventually we came up alongside the errant sleeping bag, however attempts to recover it with boat hooks proved unfruitful, thus we sent Taffy in to retrieve it. Several attempts were made to turn the retrieval into the long-awaited SWIMEX, but unfortunately we are still under the pump and so we quickly reset course for Rio.  Following lunch siestas were enjoyed, however shade on deck was a valuable commodity, with the choicest spots quickly staked out, leaving the latecomers with little choice. In this weather regular showering is important given the communal living, however it has also emerged as one of the only ways to cool down enough to have a chance of sleeping below deck.  By midafternoon the last of the wet weather gear was dry and stowed below. The crew hurried to get ready (slip, slop, slap!) for another on-deck pool party under the fire hoses. All crew were called to the party by the Beach Boys and we rushed under the cool sea water. The buckets were brought back out and everyone seemed rather pleased every time one was emptied over their heads. Unfortunately for those who indulged in a bit of deck sliding, the floatie was lost over the side when it flew out a poorly-sized and located scupper. The despair was short lived however, and the party quickly resumed once we realised that the floatie wasn’t as valuable as a sleeping bag and would not warrant another MOB drill.  Following the pool party and the inevitable race to the showers, those of us off-watch continued our attempts to stay cool by doing as little as possible until dinner. Following dinner, Red Watch took the Second Dog (1800-2000) where we have been enjoying our second-last night onboard and have just handed over to Whiteys.  Currently we are sailing a course of 030 with just over 140 Nautical miles left to Rio. We should arrive alongside sometime on the afternoon of Saturday the 14th. As the voyage winds down, our thoughts begin drifting to life after Young Endeavour, and how fortunate we all feel to have been part of this amazing adventure. We wish the oncoming crew for Voyage 02/15 the trip of a lifetime along with fair winds and following seas for your adventure to Cadiz, and are all jealous that you will be crossing the line – guess we can’t have it all!!  Farewell to all our loyal followers. Thanks for being along for the ride, and I’m sure that your respective Horner looks forward to telling you all about our adventure when you are reunited with them whenever that may be.Yours Aye  Greg & Katherine (Red Watch)PS Hi to Mum and Dad from Katherine, I hope Mirage is feeling better!  “