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Day 7 – Anchored in the shadow of the Isle of the Dead
Ahoy there readers of this fine journal. Today was a massive day for out Youth Crew so I’m back providing you with an update while they are enjoying an amazing Dit called “Around Cape Horn” to inspire these Salty Sea Dogs for their Command Day tomorrow.
The adventure continues with the ship starting the morning at sea conducting Captains Setting and Furling Drills. This is an opportunity for the Youth Crew to demonstrate to me that they are confident and competent in handling our sails. The focus is on the procedural setting and furling but even moreso on the safety aspects. Each of the three watches did exceptionally well and all were deemed competent.
Navs sailed us in to Port Arthur and anchored up in the shadow of the Isle of the Dead. The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme worked their magic and secured us with Ghost Tour tickets to head ashore and explore this sombre town. The Youth Crew took their wallets and I am told enjoyed some of the luxuries of life ashore like icecreams, soft drinks and the like. Nothing wrong with that after a week at sea!
The evening rounded out with a brief on the conduct of Command Day. I focus on the fact that the Youth Crew have survived their development journey and arrived at a place where they are independent, competent and able to take this ship from me to execute a very top secret mission which they will find out about tomorrow. It is the very purest form of Freeplay and myself and the crew can’t wait to see how they go!
So its goodnight for now! Watch this space for updates on the Command Day adventure. I really don’t know where we will end up but I do know the Youth Crew will attack this challenge as they have every other; with gusto, grit and camaraderie.
Captain Leups Out +
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Sunny Wind: 15NE Temp: 27C
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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!!
