Day 9 – Command Day

Ahoy landlubbers and armchair sailors! If you’ve been following along, you’d know today is Command Day!
Wakey Wakey was at 6:30am which included a game of Ubuntu on the deck where Clem was the winner!
After a delicious breakfast courtesy of Haydo and the Master Chefs, we gathered for the Morning Brief followed by the happiest hour of them all, Happy Hour, which was unfortunately cut short by Command Day handover! Captain Libby reluctantly handed over the keys to the ship to our new Captain Trinity! The Staffies then began their holiday with a dive off the side of the boat from Matt, Seb and Mother Theresa, and the Youthies came to the realisation they were in control for the next 24 hours.
A list of tasks was given to the Youthies which included going back to Middle Percy Island where we spent the afternoon yesterday. While we were there we had to try and find the navigation instructions to see where we were setting sail to. One of our restrictions for the day was no engines, so the team of 6 were required to row over and back.
The Youthies were also enlightened to find out we could open the pool and use the rope swing! There were some screams, backflips and one back flop but mother nature cut the fun short as the weather closed in again.
Starting on more tasks, we had to build a hammock to hold all Youthies for a photo, which was a success. After the completion of that task, we weighed anchor, and set sail for our destination aided by the strong winds.
Down below the Cheffies had prepared a themed Mexican dinner which was enjoyed by all.
From dinner we then proceeded to start our night watches, while mother nature is currently back on our side, we are expected to reach our destination after a midnight tack where all Youthie hands are required on deck. If everything goes to plan, we are expected to reach our destination by 6 am tomorrow morning. Tune in tomorrow to find out how we went!
By Lucas, Mike and Sav
Shoutouts:
Lucas – To my family I will see you soon
Big Mike – To the Princess x
Sav – To Mitchell, I miss you x
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Partly Cloudy, Wind SE 15-20 Kts, Swell SE 1m
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Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!

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”
