Day 6 – Port Stephens pitstop

Ahoy there,

Overnight, the youth crew undertook the “bearex” activity, practicing our leadership and followership skills. A challenge was set by our Watch Leaders and we worked together as a team to accomplish our mission. We had no assistance, making it a great opportunity to put our newfound knowledge into practice. With a sense of urgency, the watches rushed to meet our set time goals and succeeded! Afterwards, lengthy discussions were had over ways to improve and communicate as a team in preparation for Command Day.

In the morning, our sleep was disrupted by the squawking sound of white watch’s remixed sea shanty. In the dreary weather, the youthies headed up on deck for our daily briefing. We began the day with a practical and theoretical lesson on tacking.

Our morale was lifted by the sight of Chef Steve and the smell of massaman curry and sun-dried tomato pasta.

We dropped anchor, but unfortunately, were unable to go ashore at Port Stephens due to poor weather.

We filled the day with other activities, such as the essential Happy Hour. The Happy Hour song was not sung, but cleaning commenced regardless.

After an hour and a half of siesta in our sparkling ship, we competed in “ropies”, testing the watches’ knowledge on objects of the ship.

The three watches were then separated for mid-voyage chats with our Watch Leaders. We reflected on past goals and our growth during the trip both individually and as a team. Each team member then reflected individually using a “stop, start and continue” worksheet.

Soon after, a scrumptious dinner of a selection of meat and homemade buns was devoured. Duff (butterscotch pudding) with ice cream was served and conquered in minutes. Anchor watches began, including a navigation challenge for each group.

Farewell, and tune in tomorrow for an update on our progress.

This update was brought to you by the future saltines, Crystal and Tamzin.