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Day 8 – Command Day…And Sun At Last!
Note: Captain Kenny is on holidays…over to the Youth Crew!——
Finally its command day! The staffies are out and we are in! After we had the official handover ceremony at 10am, the staffies kicked into holiday mode and brought out their alter ego vacation personalities and went for a swim. We watched on with jealousy as we began to start planning the next 24 hours. We have been given 25 tasks to complete and some navigational waypoints to sail to. First up one watch had to row out to the shore to retrieve the hidden nav directions. We also learnt a vast array of sailing knots, built a hammock out of rope that supported all 23 of us, and we all climbed aloft the foremast and took an awesome picture! Because we completed these tasks with such ease, the command team generously spared some time to open the “pool†for us so we could cool off in the heat, and finally enjoy some sun. The rope swing opened for the second time, and some youthies decided to attempt to match the ease and grace of the staffies and attempt to backflip off the rope swing. Many were unsuccessful and there were several belly and back flops. After this we were ready to finally set sail. As we came out of the protected Jerusalem Bay and out through the heads, the wind picked up some speed so we set some sails and we are making our way down to Sydney Harbour now. The wind is gusting up to 40 knots (the fastest we’ve had yet), the swell is unrelenting and cracking 4 metres (the highest we’ve had yet) and the oooh aaah meter is showing angles of boat lean up to 38 degrees (the biggest we’ve had yet). We’re in for a challenging night battling some tough conditions on our own! Half the boat will be trying not to roll out of their bunks due to the lean, and after two peaceful nights at anchor, there may even be some sea sickness coming back. The new chefs cooked a delicious Christmas themed dinner for us, including a pavlova, so hopefully it stays down. We’ve spent the past seven days preparing for these 24 hours, and so far we’ve handled them well, thanks to the hard working command team and all the youthies for working together as a great team. We are all looking forward to tonight and are well equipped for the challenge!
Pip and Darcy
What a day in the bridge! After taking over command at 10, we were immediately given a range of challenges for our team complete. Some challenges are fun, entailing the team making a song to celebrate the trip while others demand physical labour such as building a hammock for all the youthies to fit on. Of course, with the teamwork that keeps beaming from our team, we managed with flying colours and cooled off in our ‘pool’ with a swim. Setting sail afterwards we have faced immense waves and rocking. As I type this right now I am straddled in the bridge, rocking back and forth, looking outside the window every few sentences to subdue the seasickness.
It has been a fantastic opportunity for us youthies to put our skills to the test on Command Day.
Until tomorrow,
Captain Mike 🙂
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: NE at 30 knots Weather: Passing showers Swell: NE at 2-3m Course: 121 Speed: 6 knots Location: 12nm east of Sydney
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