Day 8 – Command Day

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Day 8 of our voyage and Command Day. After a pleasant nights sail we came safely to anchor at 0810 this morning just to the north east of the township of 1770 in Bustard Bay. Once at anchor we conducted a short morning brief then went straight into Captains Setting and Furling Drills with a pleasing standard of safety and teamwork displayed by all of the watches.

Once completed the Youth Crew Command Team were given 30 minutes with the Staff Crew so that they could ask questions that may assist them in their elected positions throughout their Command period. At 1300 this afternoon I handed over the Command Day instructions and the ‘telescope of challenge’ to Youth Crew Captain Lewis which officially commenced the 24hr Command Day period. I will now handover to Hollers and Toby to enlighten you about Command Day.

Until tomorrow, take care.

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Ahoy Sailors,

Today marks day 8 on our endeavour of education. At 0700 sharp – with a 30 minute leeway for the boys – the crew were awakened to our worst nightmare: Chucky. As usual, the crew were filled with endless optimism and enthusiastic charisma to take on the multiple challenges that lay ahead of us.

The morning brief was surprisingly pleasant. As we trundled up to the upper decks we found ourselves anchored in the beautiful Bustard Bay. I wouldn’t know what was brighter, the crew in their floral themed clothing or the bay itself. Chucky lead the brief and the cap – AKA Gav AKA Gavnar – provided some inspirational wisdom through a quote I wish I could remember. Evan, AKA Uncy E also known as Hunky E ran through a short French lesson on the origins of 2, 6 HEAVE which was great food for thought.

However, this day was like no other. The waves of crippling anxiety infecting the Youthies were becoming obvious as command day loomed (takeover) just hours ahead. To assess the skills we have rigorously worked to develop, Gav and Sumo – the oldest men on board – ran through setting and furling activities for each watch team (white, red and blue). Every watch team absolutely nailed it and celebrated their progress with arguably a gift from the gods: Tim Tams. Meanwhile, drama fills the ship as happy hour (the happiest hour of the day) reveals some speed bumps along the way. Nonetheless, the crew were in great shape for the big lead up to voting.

As 1300 rolled by voting had commenced. This was massive. The staff would step away and let these bunch of strangers sail the ship to the final destination of Gladstone for twenty four hours. Surely, this was a recipe for disaster – as we are writing this now we can confirm that we have not yet sunk. Our captain was elected to be Lewis a humble New south Welshman, tough as guts and awesome around all the crew. Following positions included: Sail Master Sam, navigator Izzy, watch officer Chris B, watch leaders: Jono, Bella, Charlie and Mel, and last but certainly not least the three chefs: Henry H (Hollers), Henry S (Henry Built like a brick wall) and Toby AKA TJ or Tobz.

The past anxiety had immediately exploded into excitement. What are we supposed to do? Are we free from all the rules? Can we have longer showers? Too many questions we did not know the answers to. But the leaders were brilliant and the troops followed these guys straight into battle. The day rolled very smoothly with the crew learning about knot variations and the leaders mapping out logistics of setting sail. It was at first glimpse a well-oiled machine which showed the staffies that the crew were up to challenge. If we dive a little further into the machine, the three chefs in the kitchen – AKA the engine of the machine – were having minor complications.

Quick shoutout to Jarrod, the ships official chef. This guy embodies everything of what it means to be Australian: he’s a provider, he’s a battler, he’s a mate to all and above all he’s a role model. Despite, being thrown in the deep end, Jarrod gave us a spectacular menu to work off which pumped our egos large enough to beat seasickness. We had one role and that was to provide dinner to the staff and all the crew on board. Whilst the rest of the youthies had successfully raised anchor and set all the sails for our voyage, the kitchen was presenting all sorts of challenges.

Quick appreciation shoutout to Sumo and Josh for fixing the oven. If there’s no oven, there’s simply no tucker. The one word to describe the environment would be chaos. Third degree burn here, sweet potatoes there and even the occasional collision of bodies – not to mention the ship rocking all over the shop. But to everyone’s delight there was light at the end of the tunnel and we produced some shockingly good tucker.

Today has been a movie. We’ve all learnt so much about what it means to control a moving vessel as amazing as Young Endeavour. The seas are quite rough tonight, but the youthies are built like tanks. We shall continue this spectacular voyage to the final day with healthy spirits and most importantly good banter.

Written by youthies Hollers and Toby

General Shoutouts: KFC zinger boxes, all the families back home and land