Noosa and ashore we must go!

Ahoy there, Well it has been a most interesting day. We remained at sea overnight and sailed down the East coast of Fraser Island. We had excellent sailing conditions and were doing an outstanding 9kts in only 18kts of wind on a broad reach. We were going so fast in fact I was forced to reduce sail and slow the ship down otherwise we would have reached Noosa at 0315. The Watches have performed brilliantly during the last few days with so many nights at sea their core sail handling skills are developing very well. If they maintain this level of progression the sail training side of the voyage will be finished in a jiffy. The day started well at 0700 with the watch waking up those below with a rousing rendition of ‘The Voice’ with some of the words changed to suit the situation. Once the watches below were awake the morning routines soon kicked into gear with the galley being a buzz of excited chatter about what each of the watches had gotten up to overnight. As stories were exchanged over mouthfuls of croissants and gulps of coffee a joyful buzz of contentment was felt in the air. Soon enough it was time to take in all sail and proceed to anchor at 0850 and everyone was soon gazing at the pristine white sands of Noosa Beach. There was a certain longing for some shore leave after spending so much time at sea. So everyone was quite happy when Jordo announced that they would have a chance to get ashore this afternoon. With an incentive like that the rest of the morning seemed to fly by with the ship being cleaned and then a snappy set of rope races conducted. It was then over to Luke to provide what could only be described as yet another outstanding lunch. With everyone full and ready and raring to go the Youth Crew embarked the boats and were sent ashore to have some fun. Now it was a difficult beach to get ashore as it was low tide and we could not cross the river bar so the Youth Crew were forced to jump and wade ashore, which added a certain challenge for those not used to the surf that was rolling at about 1/4m. Once they were ashore they had the chance to play some sport and burn off some of their energy before their watch leaders took them to have a mid voyage chat. This is a good time for them to reflect upon their voyage so far, and gives them a chance to make any changes necessary for the second half of the voyage. After these chats were finished then the time was their own and they were set loose on the beach for a bit of old fashioned fun. Once they all returned onboard there were grins from ear to ear as they all enjoyed telling me how much fun they had ashore. Luke decided to put on one of his famous Teak Deck BBQ’s for dinner and the spread was once more fantastic. Everyone must have enjoyed a bit of the local tucker however because there was slightly more left overs then there normally would be. After dinner was secured and put away it was decided that tonight would be movie night with an old favourite being shown up on deck with popcorn and all. There is nothing better then watching an old movie on a projector on a tall ship, with the screen gently flapping in the breeze and the deck rolling below your feet. It adds a certain realism that you will never get in a cinema. We plan to remain at anchor tonight with the Youth Crew getting their first good rest in a couple of day I am sure they will be full of energy tomorrow. Ready and raring for yet another Young Endeavour Day Until tomorrow CAPT Matt Out of sight of land a sailor feels safe, it is the beach that worries him Charles G. Davies It isn’t that life ashore is distasteful for me. But life at sea is better Sir Francis Drake