Day 8 – Command Day

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to day eight of our voyage. On a normal day I would be writing a full days log explaining what we have experienced, observed and achieved but as of 1300 today I handed the ship over to Youth Crew Captain Challenge and his loyal Crew for their 27hr Command Day so this responsibility has now fallen upon his Crews shoulders and I am sure that you will enjoy reading about their exploits.Until tomorrow evening, take care.Yours Aye Captain Gav.Starting our day off once again with a lovely morning groove on mid-ship at 0630 we followed with a nice long stretch, stretching out the bad vibes and breathing in the good. The usual routine following breakfast, watching the sunrise and smelling pretty. Happy hour had us moving and grooving in the 12 berth.
Breaking off into our watches, we were set a challenge by our watch leaders to reflect on home and think about things that we want to stop doing, start doing and continue doing to be the best versions of ourselves. After some deep thoughts and writing we shared what we were comfortable with and really delved into the best parts of life.
At 1300 the real fun began, the ship was officially handed over to the youthies for command day. We experienced some initial chaos plans but plans slowly started to fall into place. Straight off the bat we were set with the challenge of finding clues on where we are to navigate to. Two youthies climbed aloft to attain a riddle which told us where our navigation instructions were located upon the beach. A crew of six then paddled the RHIB (small boat on the back of the ship) ashore with canoe paddles to get our navigation instruction. With all clues we set a plan for the day including a route to reach our destination of the Port Phillip Bay Heads. Just before setting sail we all climbed aloft together to get a photo of our adventure. Ticking off on one of our 23 command day activities we set off into the horizon with our trusty youthie crew calling the shots under close inspection from staffies.
Hope you all had a great day and we’ll see you all soon.
Sam and Zac
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 10nm to the east of Oberon Bay and experiencing moderate 10-15ENE winds with a .5m SE swell. Our current speed is 5kts and the temperature is 16 degrees.
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ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”


After a rather nonchalant guts watch with the Bluies, Reddies came in guns a blazing, setting our beautiful square sails preparing us for a speedy and eventful day at sea. Scaling (laying aloft) the Foremast, whilst the ship swayed kept the Reddies on their toes, holding on for dear life as they let out the gaskets for the Topgallant and Topsail Yards. A challenging activity to start off our day rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over Starboard.
During the day we participated in a Meteorology Brief led by our resident Nav guru TOMO, learning everything there is about fluffy, rainy and stormy clouds. This was followed by Lunch and a needed Siesta.
Whilst some slumbered, Bluies kept watch. They had brave volunteers to climb both main mast and to the topgallant yard to sea furl the sails.
In the afternoon, our Watches came together to have Mid Voyage Chats, where we had the opportunity to reflect on our voyage goals, experiences and discuss our hopes for Command Day. There were some very heartfelt talks, from overcoming fears, to gaining confidence in working as a team, and we set our eyes upon what we want to achieve in the rest of the voyage.
The first dog (Reddies) (from 1545 to 1745) was full of excitement, with over 50kn winds and up to 50 degrees on the OOOH AAAH meter (heel). Watching the waves break higher than the rails was an exhilarating experience and kept us holding on tight. Sites of sharks and a Cargo ship kept our lookouts entertained, while Callum lead an engaging activity on Charts. At the end of the first dog watch, Nick and Phil braved these treacherous conditions to lay aloft on the mainmast to wrangle the mainsail!
Rockin and rolling, Youthies (the newest salty sea dogs) Hugh, Bridget, and Nick!!