Day 8 – Another Perfect Day at Sea

Hi Everyone,                   Welcome to day 8 of our voyage. Normally I would have something to write about prior to introducing the author for the Captains Log but I think that tonight Amanda has covered everything so I would only be duplicating her fantastic work. Please enjoy tonight\’s Log perfectly written by Amanda in her own unique style. Enjoy     Until tomorrow, take care.  Yours Aye  Captain Gav  Ahoy there to all those groovers playing along at home!Welcome to the [eight] instalment of the captains log coming to you from somewhere in the middle of the Romantic Atlantic that looks remarkably similar to where we were at exactly this time yesterday- surrounded by ocean and out of sight of land. I may have actually been able to tell you exactly where in this great big ocean we were had it not been for the toxic gas alarm this morning who kept our brilliant “Matt” igator busy and therefore unable to impart the subtle arts of navigating a tall ship upon us – not your usual Monday morning onboard this mighty tall ship. Needless to say our plans to commandeer the ship have been put on hold pending the transfer of this integral knowledge!  In other news I’m very pleased to announce that I have undoubtedly discovered the cure to Monday-itis – yep, it involves bobbing along somewhere in the middle of the ocean on a legit pirate ship with a bunch of incredible people. Twenty four youthies and another twelve staffies coming up with a new and unique way to make you smile at least once every five minutes and I’ll tell you, Monday’s have never felt so good.  This motley crew have all begun to settle into life at sea, the routine of watches, setting and furling sails, learning the ropes, helming and general run of the ship becoming second nature and all signs of sea sickness evaporating with each day spent on board. Of course, poor old Jezza made it to vomit number 564 when he imparted a bout of chunky rain from aloft on the Topgallant brace yesterday – thank god our cunning watch leader Lozza had the foresight to put him on the windward side so the unknowing youthies having a siesta below were saved from wearing Aaron’s delicious lunch for the afternoon.  The Young Endeavour has a history of helping each Youth Crew that pop onboard challenge themselves, realise exactly what they’re capable of and help them reach their goals. Having had the opportunity to sail her back in 2012 I can say it’s an extremely powerful experience and everyone lucky enough to participate comes back with full belief in their abilities and their potential to offer something incredible to the world and people around them. As such, setting goals is a vital part of our Young Endeavour World Voyage experience.  Upon watching a group of our fellow youthies doing a small PT session whilst still docked in Rio, Julie, Bridge, Fliss and myself decided that being able to do push ups by the time we reached Cadiz, Spain would be a good goal to set. As fate would have it, former naval recruit trainer Lozza was to be our watch leader and as such, what a good goal it was to set! The aim is therefore to be able to do ten full blown (not on the knees) push ups – easy right? Well…after eight days we’re still yet to smash one out but we’re getting closer by the day and I’m sure by the time we reach the Verdes we’ll have it well underway. Travis is our push up hero – smashing out thirty in a row before the cruel sea cast its spell and had him running to feed the dolphins! Stay tuned for the second instalment of the push ups saga!  Sailing this beautiful ship, our watches are generally the biggest part of the day. A full four hours with your watch maintaining the ship and taking charge of everything that needs to be done – setting and furling sails, making sure fixes are done (or harassing the officer of the watch to teach us), keeping look out and helming. The mighty blueys – whilst a bit behind the eight ball with Ropies have proven to be naturals at the helm and with a few shaky starts and near accidental tacks and under flawless instruction of both Lozza and our Yoda like, drink bottle throwing, tough love but gentle soul assistant watch leader Kenny (or Knuckle, or Duddle – we’re having a slight identity crisis) we’ve now got it down pat and are consistently the watch who makes the best speed and course on our watches (which of course we maintain has nothing to do with luck or conditions and all to do with our natural nautical talent).  Of course being on night watches and most of us as inexperienced as we are with any kind of shift work, the Blueys have been coming up with interesting ways to keep ourselves amused. In between our usual deep and meaningful chats, learning about the running of the ship, singing along to our resident very talent maestro Vinny’s singing and guitar playing (Captain Gav, we hope you have enjoyed our serenading you with our singing at 3am in the morning). Our latest guts watch saw Jezza, Vinny, Julie and Bridge in the kitchen at 2am in the morning baking banana bread (yeah, I really did score the best watch ever!) We’re all excited and eager to see what our creative souls will come up with next watch!  The third instalment of Ropies went much the same way for the Blueys as the previous two…with an absolute smashing, water bottles being thrown, a classic rendition of the Rivers add but a lot of heart and soul and encouragement – we may not be winning on the non-competitive, competitive ropies but our tenacity and spirit definitely makes us winners in my eyes! On another positive note, I’ve also found my sea legs and managed to contain my excitement upon realising that I know where particular lines are to avoid the bone breaking stacks and determined crawling over my competitors that occurred during the last round of ropies – the teak deck burns that litter my knees and elbows standing as a reminder to curb the excitement.  I know it’s such an easy thing to say that we’re living the life but as I sit here in the bridge, the sun having just said goodbye to another adventure filled, challenging and ridiculously fun day I can relay that this crew really is. The opportunity to sail this incredible ship across the Romantic Atlantic is an opportunity that very few will ever be lucky enough to receive, and I can say that each and every single one of the Youth Crew onboard are seizing each day and throwing themselves into every challenge that this ship presents – whether it’s conquering the 34m high topgallant, avoiding the accidental tacks, becoming a Masterchef for the day in a galley that is never still (one really learns how to catch) or simply talking to people they wouldn’t normally at home, everyone is excelling and embracing this experience. I can say that I feel more than blessed to be able to share this experience and this journey with both the Youthies and Staffies that are here with me, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this voyage has installed for us.  We’re all settled into watches for the night, making a steady speed of 9knots towards the equator under fore and aft sails and if we’re lucky enough we’ll be able to spot some of those fabled shooting stars!Until next time,Yours Aye,Amanda  “