Day 9 – Command Day

Ahoy landlubbers! Keira and Alex here with the Captain’s Log for the most important day of the voyage: Command Day!
We started our day with a classic Chucky wake-up and a perfect breakfast, which was followed by our handover ceremony for Command Day, which got everyone well hyped for the 24 hours ahead of us! The handover ceremony included our talented new Captain Pat receiving his very official captains hat aka pirate hat, the “telescope of challenge” and the keys to the ship.
With that, we got given our Command Day instructions which included a scavenger hunt for the navigation team to find their actual navigation instructions, as well as 26 tasks for the youthies to complete. We got together as a team to sort out these tasks, as well as help the Navs with their treasure hunt.
Then, we decided on how we wanted to handle the tasks and we sorted ourselves into our new watches; Green, Pink and Purple. We ran a few “dry tacking” drills to ensure we were all ready for the day of sailing. Afterwards, we had our first meal of the day cooked by our youthie team, which was a lovely selection of pasta. The food helped to get us energised for the long and exciting day ahead of us!
After a good feed we all gathered with our harnesses to complete the first of the 26 tasks; of climbing aloft to the foremast with all 24 youthies and snap a pic of us all up there. To start off the travel process we weighed anchor with the help of the staffies, then we got into the business of setting the 3 square sails, which is the first time we have seen all 3 in use. After a very slow crawl, the wind picked up and we headed to the first of our navigational waypoints. Soon enough it was time to set the rest of our sails (one of our many tasks), and continue on our merry way towards our next waypoint/s.
Soon enough it was time for dinner cooked by the youthies being a themed dinner “because you made this voyage your own, the theme is MAKE YOUR OWN DINNER!”. With our choice of nachos, burritos or burrito bowls. After that delicious feed, we kept on our way, and as this is being written we’ve just hit our next waypoint, we had to head out for a good ol’ wear and are now looking forward to a cracking night ahead of us.
Youthies Alex and Keira signing off.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
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ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”


After a rather nonchalant guts watch with the Bluies, Reddies came in guns a blazing, setting our beautiful square sails preparing us for a speedy and eventful day at sea. Scaling (laying aloft) the Foremast, whilst the ship swayed kept the Reddies on their toes, holding on for dear life as they let out the gaskets for the Topgallant and Topsail Yards. A challenging activity to start off our day rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over Starboard.
During the day we participated in a Meteorology Brief led by our resident Nav guru TOMO, learning everything there is about fluffy, rainy and stormy clouds. This was followed by Lunch and a needed Siesta.
Whilst some slumbered, Bluies kept watch. They had brave volunteers to climb both main mast and to the topgallant yard to sea furl the sails.
In the afternoon, our Watches came together to have Mid Voyage Chats, where we had the opportunity to reflect on our voyage goals, experiences and discuss our hopes for Command Day. There were some very heartfelt talks, from overcoming fears, to gaining confidence in working as a team, and we set our eyes upon what we want to achieve in the rest of the voyage.
The first dog (Reddies) (from 1545 to 1745) was full of excitement, with over 50kn winds and up to 50 degrees on the OOOH AAAH meter (heel). Watching the waves break higher than the rails was an exhilarating experience and kept us holding on tight. Sites of sharks and a Cargo ship kept our lookouts entertained, while Callum lead an engaging activity on Charts. At the end of the first dog watch, Nick and Phil braved these treacherous conditions to lay aloft on the mainmast to wrangle the mainsail!
Rockin and rolling, Youthies (the newest salty sea dogs) Hugh, Bridget, and Nick!!