THE CAPTAINS CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 8 of our voyage. Well the weekend sleep-in is now just a memory and it was back to reality today. Rather than morning brief it was straight into Captains Setting and Furling Drills followed by cleaning stations, lunch, rope races and then the Captains Challenge. The Challenge today saw the World Voyagers take over the ship, put her under a full press of sail, navigate around a number of waypoints and tack and wear ship. This they did extremely well and as with most things onboard Young Endeavour learnt a number of good lessons along the way.Besides conducting these activities we have continued our passage down the west coast of Denmark and are now only 120nm from Bremerhaven. As the forecast is for the wind to veer to the south then the north west overnight we have gone further west than previously planned but should now be able to take full advantage of these wind shifts and be able to shape a course straight for Bremerhaven when we tack later this evening.Writing tonight’s Log is Blue Watch who did remind me today that they have had limited opportunities to contribute to the Captains Log so please find tonight’s edition written by Amber and Jess T from Blue Watch. Enjoy!Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavCAPTAIN’S LOG – 10 AUG 15Avast ye scurvy dogs and read our Captain’s Blog written by the awesome Amber and Jess T!It was a slow start for the Young Endeavour, losing speed at 10pm due to inexperienced wearing, and our speed not picking up again until 4am. From there it was steady winds and smooth sailing.Our wake-up to Grease Is the Word had us all dancing out of our bunks (some with more enthusiasm than others) and ready for a full day ahead! Little did we know what was expected of us.First up: Captain Setting and Furling! Under the watchful eye of our dear Captain Gav, all watches were assessed on their setting and furling of sails with safety and speed being the main priorities. There was a lot on the line, with rewards of mint slice biscuits, redskins and sherbies for the successful watches. After a gruelling hour and a half, we are happy to report that all watches passed with flying colours! The rewards were thoroughly enjoyed and deserved.Don’t relax yet! Next up was Happy Hour, with Travis out for revenge after Amber’s “apparent” harsh judging on his cleaning skills the day earlier. The mood was tense as everyone cleaned like troopers to meet the standards of Tough Guts Trav. No luck for the wicked; the cleaning was so thorough that Tough Guts Trav was left with egg on his face! Amber was free to roam the corridors with pride once again.Lunch was well needed, as we had a tough afternoon in store. Voyage 5B was to run the ship! What’s that you say? By themselves?? Correct! There was a mutiny on board and Captain Gav walked the plank! No, not really. After only a 10 minute briefing and a quick discussion on time frames, the timer was set and the World Voyagers were flying solo under the watchful eye of Captain Andreas, Sailmaster Sam, Navigators Chris and Denis, and Helmsman Marlon. Turns out it is rather stressful running an entire ship. Go figure! After 2 and a half hours, only half an hour over our target time, we were passed out on the deck with exhaustion after setting all but one sail (sometimes furling and setting sails multiple times. Thanks for that, Captain Andreas!), wearing twice and tacking twice. Full of pride, we celebrated as a crew over dinner. Note: there were apparently no more mint slice biscuits left so no rewards for us. Not sinking is reward enough! Along with Chef Markos’ AMAZING golden syrup dumplings!!Tonight is set to be a smooth one, with only one and a half days until we reach Bremerhaven.Thanks for tuning in. See you tomorrow, same time, same place.Garrrr!!Shout outs to our homies!Jess T: I miss you more than life itself.  OYJ.Amber: Hey family (if there is more than just Ma following these…James you better be reading these!)! I’m still alive. Turns out sea legs are harder to earn than I first thought. However I’m now upstanding and loving the journey. A few threats from my watch of throwing me overboard due to my singing; the sea must be making it sound worse than it is… weird! Miss you all and can’t wait to hear about how everything is going back home and what Digby has been learning! All my love xxxGrace: Hey Fambam and 5Aer’s. I’ve had a pretty rough week with the green sea lurgy haunting my lungs and even managed to sprain my ankle getting out of bed for breakfast. I love Marcus’s cooking so much I was too enthusiastic to get my daily eggs, but never fear, I ended up with breakfast in bed so all was not lost. Anyway, after a couple of days having my ankle in a brace, a couple of nights bed rest (5Aers will know how much that was appreciated) and a whole heap of honey & lemon tea I’m on the mend. Hope Penny, Bobby and Julius are behaving themselves. Love to all xxxKendall: Hi to the family, Mum, I’m alive, well and having a great time of course. Dad, we’ve been sailing the North Sea I know you would have loved it. And Hi to Nanna, Brian, Beverley, Maree and Berenice – I know you’ll be following along at home  Hope all is well, I’m thinking of you.