Voyage 11/13 Day 8 – Command Day Part 1

Ahoy there Shipmates,After a restful night at anchor at Cottage Point, the crew were woken by Sail Master Guv at 0700 and mustered on deck for an early morning swim and rope swing. The water was fresh and the odd passing shower also wet those who had decided not to go for a swim. We then dined on another of Luke’s delicious breakfasts of fresh fruit, yoghurts, hot fresh-baked pastries and bacon and egg rolls cooked on the barbie.The 0830 Morning Brief included a story from ‘Salty’ Dougie including a dramatisation depicting the nautical origin of the expressions ‘to have someone over a barrel, not enough room to swing a cat and to let the cat out of the bag’. That was of course followed by the usual Happy Hour and then we did ‘Opposites’ where the Youth Crew Command Team members have the opportunity to discuss their impending roles on Command Day with their equivalent Staff Crew members. Andrew and I had a very productive discussion and he took copious notes as we talked.After lunch my Staff Crew and I got dressed-up in our best boardies and conducted the handover ceremony at which I handed Young Endeavour over to Captain Andrew and his able-bodied crew to use for Command Day to achieve their tasks and most importantly to have fun! On completion my crew and I all jumped over the side courtesy of the rope swing. Until tomorrow at 1300 when the adventure of Command Day draws to a close!Yours AyeCaptain Mike————————————————————————————————–Ahoy there family and friends,It is currently 2129 and after a slightly slow start we are finally at sea. After the handover ceremony the youth crew assembled port side of the bridge where we read through the tasks that need to be completed over the next 24 hours. We spent the majority of the afternoon completing the necessary tasks so that we could get underway. This included sending an assault team to try to convince some innocent café diners to sing the national anthem. Needless to say, our youth crew managed to draw a crowd.The assault team also scouted our navigation instructions from the mainland. Once they returned our navigator Mallorie set about planning our course. We have five checkpoints to achieve overnight. This will involve tacking the ship a number of times. Needless to say, the youth crew has a long night ahead of them.Tomorrow the plan is to arrive at our final checkpoint at 0830 am with all sails set as we enter Sydney. We will then proceed to anchor and complete a number of other challenges.For those playing along at home, we currently have the Jib, Top gallant staysail, Forestaysail, Main Staysail and the Main Sail set. As I write I can hear some heaving going on above, so I imagine something else is going up. It is truly a magnificent sight to see the ship under sail. We are travelling at around 4.5 knots on a bearing of 170 degrees. One of the tasks it to ensure that all the sails are set at some stage so our Sail master Lachlan is working hard to work with the wind to get as many sails out as possible.Our watch officers will spend much of the night checking the ships location using techniques we have learned during the voyage. They will also be fine tuning the course and ensuring the ships safety over night. The watch leaders will be helping and also making commands as we set and furl sails overnight.We had a fantastic dinner prepared by the youth Cheffos’ there was a grand selection of spaghetti, pork with apple sauce, fried rice and other assorted goodies. I particularly enjoyed the chefs special that was a kebab the had been prepared using apples and I think part of a lemon?… It provided for an exquisite dining experience! Then for dessert we had Tim Tam cheese cake, from what I have heard we can expect more great culinary treats tomorrow!So as I write, we have no motors running. It is just us against the wind. We are now at the mercy of nature.Youth Captain Andrew   “