LAST DAY AT SEA

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 27 of our voyage and the last night at sea for the Passage Seven World Voyagers. As forecast the wind strengthened today so we have enjoyed some more great sailing as we head for the African Coast. As the wind backed to the SE we had to clew up the squares and have just been sailing under fore and aft sail for most of the day but that should change overnight when we alter course to the north to make our final approach into Cape Town.

Being the final day at sea for this voyage we have kept the crew busy with activities such as the final round of Rope Races, a SOD’s Opera, farewell cake for Miquela and to finish of the evening a wonderful slide show which was put together by the World Voyagers so that we could all reflect back on the amazing time that we have had throughout this voyage.

If we keep to our schedule we should enter Cape Town Harbour at 0800 tomorrow morning where we are due to rendezvous with another yacht who is going to assist with taking footage of Young Endeavour entering Cape Town (hopefully under a full press of sail if the conditions are right) so that we have some historical record and photographs of this visit. Once completed, we will embark a Pilot then proceed alongside berthing at the scenic V&A at 1000.

Tomorrow evening we will co-host a reception onboard with the Australian High Commission for approximately 50 guests which should be a great evening and it will give us a chance to show our guest our fantastic ship and talk about our experiences throughout this voyage.

Prior to farewelling the Crew from Passage Seven we have a number of other community activities and tours organised for Cape Town so even though this is their last night at sea the majority will still be remaining with the ship until 21/22 Nov. That said this will be the last Captains Log for this voyage as I am hoping to take a couple of days off prior to commencing Passage Eight which is our final voyage to Fremantle.

Volunteering to write the final Captain’s Log for Passage Seven is Nath and Kate, Enjoy!

To the World Voyagers of Passage Seven the ‘Staffies’ of Young Endeavour would like to thank you for your efforts throughout the voyage and wish you all the best for the future. We have loved having you onboard and look forwarding to catching up with you once the Ship arrives back in Australia.

Until the commencement of the next voyage on the 23rd November, take care.

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Captains Log 17 November 2015

Ahoy there!

Kate and Nathan here, from the reunited Blue Watch (you’re my boy blue!)

The best place to start seems to be the beginning, which for today, was wakey wakey, with the awesome tune Africa by Toto! Not because we had reached Africa yet, but because we are almost nearly there! Yay!

The rest of the day followed the usual routine, starting with morning brief, followed by happy hour and then lunch. The grand final of the rope races was then held, with White Watch taking out the event. One of the best moments was the infamous Bonus Round, where each watch had to construct a Marshmallow Slingshot, which was then used on their Watch Leaders, ending with an epic shootout between Red Watch and Blue Watch! The only thing that could possibly top such a fun moment was the pod of dolphins that joined us for a few minutes before hand and well and truly showed off for all on board.

Our afternoon was interrupted by a very serious and grave sounding voice over the PA system, requesting all hands report to midships. We quickly mustered and wondered what could possibly be going on? We were pleasantly surprised to find an amazing cake prepared for Miquela, who is on her final voyage with the Young Endeavour after two years of service. Congratulations Miquela, we wish you all the best for your future at ADFA!

We were then told about our performance afternoon. We, as World Voyagers, were under the impression that the staffies would be performing for us. As it turns out, each watch was set to be the entertainment, with only an hour or two to prepare. Needless to say, we all hurried off and attempted to scrape together some sort of presentable act. We had our amazing MC’s with Liam ‘The Upside Down Banana’ and Oscar ‘The Irish Jamaican’. We began with the staffies accappella group Afternoon Delight, and you could definitely see the amount of practice they put in, which is to say, none at all. But it was still an awesome performance of some classics,. Including We Will Rock You and A Home Among the Gum Trees.

Following the singing, we had a few random jokes from the man Horto himself, then Red Watch sang an original song, which was actually quite moving and beautiful, good work Red Watch. Liam and Oscar provided some entertainment between acts, with an impression of some exploding dynamite (don’t ask, I can’t explain) and a very animated Irish Dance accompanied by Dougie on his flute. White Watch performed their own version of Thank God You’re Here with Leighroy jumping in as a celebrity guest. He faced seals from Tristan Da Cunha, A pregnant (and very hairy) wife and a quick drive to a press conference. All within 5 minutes!

We also had a recitation of a poem by Casey, which was very, very impressive. Horto also got up and recited a poem about Australian Pride, which touched the heartstrings of all around. Finally Blue Watch finished up with a grand tale of the sinking of a tall ship, and the two lovers on it. Think Titanic, but Rose was definitely not as pretty, especially with her beard (sorry Mark).

Now, we are sitting up in the challenger room, trying to digest the amazing dinner of cheeseburgers, butter chicken and vegies. Thanks Jenko! Some of our watch are up the foremast, sea furling the squares. Others are having a throwing competition with rotten oranges, and others are steering on a direct course for the Cape of Good Hope.

This is the final Captains Log that will be done at sea for this voyage. And we can’t decide how we feel. On one hand, we are absolutely excited at the prospect of seeing some more land, and stepping onto friendly shores, where all sorts of new adventures await us.

But on the other side of things, we will never be in this kind of circumstance again.

Sitting on a ship, in the middle of the Atlantic, surrounded by calm seas, stirring winds and great friends. It’s the kind of thing dreams are made of. We could stay here forever.

But the world moves on, and unfortunately, so will we. We just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us. In particular, we want to thank all the staffies on board.

Gav, Adam, Horto, Jenko, Markos, Miquela, Dougie, Marty, Kenny, Evan, Nick, Caitlin and Paul. We love you all and can’t thank you enough for all that you have done for us these past 20-something days. It has been an outstanding and incredible adventure with memories that will never fade.

The sun is setting, and we have to go. This day is ending, but a brand new day is on the horizon.

Peace and Love.

Nath & Kate.

Shout Outs!

Hi Jacqui & Family.

As you can read, we are almost to Cape Town. It’s been an amazing ride and I have so much to tell you. I will hopefully be able to call you sometime within the next day or two. Love you heaps and can’t wait to see you. – Nathan xx

Hey family, Katie poo here. Arriving in Cape Town tomorrow, so I’ll try get in touch over the next few days! Flying out on the 23rd. Have had such an amazing time and as much as I miss you, I really really wish I didn’t have to ever come home… haha. Lots of love, chat soon! xxx