High on the Giggle Factor

Situation at 22:00- Last night all hands were called to tacking stations at the start of the middle watch. After arriving off Grassy Harbour at02:00 the Ship hove to and the rest of the night was relatively quiet. At 07:00 we got underway once again and started to closeGrassy Harbour.Engineer Rags and Salty Sea Dog Chooka were up to their usual tricks at morning brief and the giggle factor was turned right up.Happy Hour today was Brasso Day, and by the time morning tea was ready sun glasses were needed below decks as well as above. Thesecond round of Rope Races saw the day being won by the Red watch. It is still anyone’s contest and too close to call. At 11:00 the Ship came alongside the Wharf at Grassy Harbour. Thirty students from theBallarat-Clarendon College, who are attending school on King Island, came onboard for a tour of the Ship. At 13:00 all hands boarded a hired bus and we started a guided tour of King Island. We visited theKing Island Cheese factory where we were given, appropriately enough, a very large piece of ‘Endeavour Blue’ which has just been judged as the best Cheese in Australia. Other highlights of the tour included avisit to the Kelp factory, the UHT processing centre, a stroll along Devil’s Gap beach and a stop at the shops in the village of Currie. Many thanks to our tour guide Adrian for showing us around abeautiful part of Australia. When we returned to the Ship, the swell had increased to the point where it looked like we could part a berthing hawser or damage the hull or capping rail. A quick plan wasdeveloped and within ten minutes we had slipped and were on our way to an anchorage 15 miles North at Sea Elephant Bay. We arrived there just after sunset, having enjoyed one of Chef Polly’s famousBarbeques while enroute.The Youth Crew have just completed their three-way talks. This is where they are required to learn the life story of a memberof each of the other two watches. They then have to take the role of one of those persons and relate their life story to the rest of the Ship’s Comapny. This provided some very funny stretching of the facts, and was a good laugh.Overnight the Youth Crew will stand a one hour anchor watch along with a member of each of the other two watches. This willprovide them with an opportunity to get to know each other while they carry out rounds and ensure the Ship remains safe in her anchorage.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File:The Ship is fitted with two 436 kg Stokes anchors which each are connected to 5 shackles (450 ft) of17.5 mm anchor cable (chain). The cable is stored in two lockers underneath the 12 berth forward. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR typically anchors in water up to 12 meters deep, and with good holding ground has held fast in winds up to 50 kts.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Hawsepipe- The inclined pipe or tube which leads from the upperdeck near the bows to the outside ofthe Ship. The anchor cable runs from the upperdeck through the hawsepipe to the anchor which is shackled on outboard. Naval Pipe-The name of the pipe which leads from the upperdeck near the bows to the cable lockers below and through which the cable is passed.Thought of the Day: Be not content with the commomplace in character anymore than with the commonplace in ambition or intellectual attainment. Do not expect that you will make any lasting or very strong impression on the world through intellectual power without the use of an equal amount of conscience and heart. William Jewett Tucker.Yours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RAN