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Day 8 – Command Day
Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 8 of our voyage. Rather than me write anything tonight I will handover to Youth Crew Captain Raffa and his crew who will tell you all about their day since taking over Command of Young Endeavour. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain Gav
Day 8: Command Day
We woke this morning from a calm night at anchor allowing for a much needed rest before the 24 hours of command ahead. All youthies are both excited and nervous about their roles and the responsibility of taking over the ship. The day started with Keely making some delicious fluffy pancakes with ice cream and berry toppings before the youthies in command positions went off for our one on one meeting with the staff to ask for any last minute advice.
At 1000 all staff and youthies gathered mid-ship where captain Gav commenced the handover ceremony giving over command of the ship to me as captain along with a fitting captain’s hat before declaring they are all now on holiday. The youth chefs were already straight to working hard on planning and preparing the days food in the gully and me and the others in command gathered together at the bridge to set course and plan out the day’s activities. 1115 came and lunch was served, chicken or steak burgers all made by the youth chefs keeping up with the tasty meals that would have made even Keely proud. Along with command of the ship the youthies also have 23 tasks to complete ranging from fun activities to steering the correct course all while the staff crew assess us of what we’ve learned as a crew and as individuals. Our first task in command was to weigh anchor at 1500, a tight schedule we had to keep to maintain good time sailing to our destination, tensions were high with a lot of confusion of roles and responsibilities but the youthies pulled through and the ship was sailing under our command.
There is a lot to do, with the daunting 24 hours now looking like no time at all to do it all, but with our confident and competent command and enthusiastic and well fed crew we should reach out destination in port Phillip Bay by our allocated time and prove to the staff and ourselves what we are really capable of.
Signing off,
Acting Captain Raffa.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 10nm to the NE of Cape Wickham sailing under all three square sails and experiencing moderate-strong 15-20kt SSW winds with a 1.5m SSW swell. The temperature is 12 degrees but it feels colder.
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Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!
