Day 7 – Command Day Elections

Ahoy there Land-lubbers!
Today has been the wettest yet!
After a busy night of anchor watches and little sleep due to the rolling seas, this morning’s weather seemed promising. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Wineglass Bay with dolphins in abundance, chasing and playing alongside the boat. However, there was a spicy **Insert ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls here** call over the intercom from Chucky to don some wet weather gear.
The ‘Captain’s Challenge’ (aka the Pre-Command Day Examination) took place after morning briefing, used by the man who makes the sea seasick (El Capitan Gav) to test the Youthies capability to sail the Young Endeavour by themselves. This was made incredibly difficult by the rain. While many hands were on deck and climbing the rigging, the elected navigators were busy (and dry) pinpointing our location. Given the circumstances, we were able to successfully complete the Captain’s Challenge with 10 minutes to spare!
There was a brief respite for lunch, cooked by the ever-amazing Haydo and his Gordon Ramseys’. After which, all hands were back on deck to continue setting and furling sails. This task quickly turned from practice into reality, as we were hit by several squalls that became progressively worse over the course of several hours. The Youthies fought bravely against the roaring winds and blistering cold rain to furl the sails. We succeeded in making the ship safe. We have weighed anchor, and are taking shelter in Prosser Bay (near Orford) tonight.
Command Day gives the Youthies (almost) total control of the Young Endeavour for 24 hours. This evening, we conducted elections to determine the leadership team that will be running the ship throughout this period.
Here are the results:
Captain Paige
Sailmaster Sophie
Navigator Lochie
Officer of the Watch Jeremy
Red Watch Leader Summer
Blue Watch Leader Jack
White Watch Leader Alistair
Chefs Aria, Tiffany & Anna
We wish all our (land-lubber) families back home all the best.
Love ya,
Gibbsy and Jezza xoxo
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!!