Day 8 – Command Day Baby!

2, 6, Heyyy everybody reading this amazing log. Today was huge for the Youth Crew as the day has finally come, COMMAND DAY. Each elected role was voted in last night and officially given to the Youth Crew for 24 hours starting at 10:00. Today’s adventure started with introductions to our new Youth Leader Crew; Ines as our captain, Lucy as our sail master, Penny as our navigator, and Tildy as our watch officer, as well as appointed new roles including Engineers Scottie and Nick. Beach Assault team, and media Crew Aiden and Simone.
It was safe to say that our original staff were excited as they went for a dip in the ‘drink’ to celebrate their holiday. The adventure continues as the Youth Crew were given a list of tasks to achieve before we set sail, planned to happen at 13:00. The crew enthusiastically chipped away at the list before the terrible news hit us. It had been communicated to us that the engines had ‘malfunctioned’ and it was going to take the new engineers about 4 hours to fix them, as this was their first big job.
As the engineers got to work, the beach assault team were given a briefing – going out on the water in the GPIB to measure the depth of the water and how far away it was from the main boat. As they went off to do their duties Youth Crew Members, Liam and Sandy got to work on one of the task creating a HUGE hammock in the middle of the boat using only rope. The hammock had to hold all 25 Youth Crew members on it for 5 minutes.
After 2 hours and lots of rope and blisters later, Liam and Sandy had finished the hammock just as the Beach Assault Team got back, so everyone hopped on the hammock as it creaked and got a couple of photos as it held hundreds of kilos of weight. The Youth crew then all got safety briefings from their new watch leaders and some completed some Setting and Furling drills.
As Liam and Nick report to you Live we are still in Port Arthur Bay as the anchor is playing hard to get. Ship crew are working hard to get us unstuck but it is fair to say that every one of us is still having heaps of fun.
Goodnight everyone come back tomorrow to see updates.
Liam and Nick Out +
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Sunny Wind: 10-30kn NNE Temp: 26C
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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!!