Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

Ahoy, As you can see I DID survive the night and luckily, so did the boat. We were fortunate enough to get some more wind at about 0200 this morning allowing Sailmaster Jed to coordinate the setting of almost all of our sails.Those not on watch, were woken up by the nostalgic tune from the Lion King, the Circle of Life, at 0700 sharp. Our youth chefs had prepared another delicious hot meal including French toast, bacon and eggs. I am yet to hear any reports of food poisoning so it seems like the meals were as safe as they were tasty. That being said, there were a few weary heads above deck after our EPIC Arafura Dance Party at midships over night. The People’s Choice Dancing Award winner, Lachlan, was spotted twerking up a wall to Britney Spears the night before.Making good speed by sail, we passed our final weigh point at approximately 0800. The staff crew was called to the bridge of the Ship at 0850 to attend the morning brief. They heard reports from some regular faces including the Salty Sailor, Navigator James and Grandpa (in lieu of Nanna) in what was a fairly satirical affair at the expense of the staff.As well as hosting a HILARIOUS morning brief, we were able to complete a number of our tasks throughout the day. These included singing the national anthem to the tune of three popular songs, drawing an on-deck mural of our voyage, polishing the brass canons and bell, and completing another Happy Hour cleanup.Our final task for the day was a beach assault on the Darwin Waterfront. Youth crew were spotted assaulting ice creams, iced coffees and waves. I then handed the Ship back to Captain Mike and her able-bodied crew after what was a very challenging, entertaining and reflective 24 hours for all involved. Youth Captain Kai————————————————————————————————- Ahoy there Shipmates, As Youth Captain Kai detailed, the Command day for the Youth Crew was an incredible journey, a day filled with individual and team discovery, challenges, rewards, lessons, friendships and beauty. Now that we are at anchor in Darwin Harbour, we have many post-Command Day activities we need to complete before we can relax. The intention is to remain at anchor overnight and weigh and sail tomorrow morning to berth back where we started at HMAS Coonawarra. Tomorrow evening between 1700 and 1900 we will host local and visiting foreign Navy VIPs on a Twilight Sail on the Harbour. Members of the Young Endeavour Advisory Board will be present and will be keen to meet the Youth Crew and learn about their experiences on the Voyage so far. The Staffies will need to undertake preparations for that function alongside tomorrow morning whilst the Youth Crew go ashore to undertake their End-of-Voyage chats in their watches. During this they will assess if they achieved the goals they set for themselves and help consolidate their ‘take-aways’ from the Voyage. Yours Aye Captain Mike