Day 9 – Command Day Part 2…Hello Nelson Bay!

Ahoy shipmates…Day 9, Command Day Part II and Cap K is still on a break! Over to Captain Hoff and his merry band———-
Hello everyone! Gosh has it been an eventful 28 hours however our long awaited Command Day has been a wonderful success! Our Captain Hoff left you last night as we sailed towards Port Stephens.
Overnight our limited crew battled seasickness, large swells, no wind and busy shipping lanes; running on limited sleep and pulling their weight throughout their watches. Our keen eye lookouts kept us away from dangers large and small, whilst our navigators successfully hit all our way points, and our sail master used newly acquired tall ship sail knowledge to keep the ship moving forwards as we have not been shown how to sail backwards yet.
Our wonderful chefos did an amazing job below deck, making the crew wonderful meals all the while battling rough seas and flying pots! Thanks again for keeping us fed (not all of it stayed down though it was delicious)
At 0300 we motored into Port Stephens and entered the bay, large following swells were at times breaking on an adjacent sandbank. We pulled through and finally made anchor at around 0400.
After the great morning wakeup performance (thanks to watch leader Mikey and his watch) and an amazing breakfast, we cracked into our remaining Command Day tasksâ€¦26 in all!
We started the day with morning brief and a great comedy skit, followed by our ever favourite happy hour! The crew completed many of the tasks throughout the day whilst racing against the clock to get it all completed before ship handover at 1400. Some of these tasks included; making a rope hammock, creating a chalk mural depicting our journey so far, a quiz for all aboard, disco in the 12 birth and a creative beach assault. The beach assault was conducted by a CRACK SQUAD of 6 youths that had to land ashore and commandeer as many people as they could to sing the national anthem for the rest on board. We concluded our 28 hour command day with a photo of the youth crew aloft on the foremast.
Once safely arriving back on deck we conducted the hand-over ceremony back to Captain Kenny and the Staffies. After all our hard work and sleepless nights we were awarded with a trip to shore and a swim for the hardier souls, followed by a majestical dinner/teak deck bbq thanks to by kiki-dee and bobby.
Shout out to our wonderful sissy Phoebes, for all the energy and enthusiasm when need it most.

Written by: Lexa, Tayha and Captain Hoff Man

Latitude/Longitude:

32 42s / 152 08e

Conditions:

Wind: Light and variable Weather: Fine and cool Sea: Calm Location: At anchor off Nelson Bay marina.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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