Voyage 6/13 Day 8 – Command Day Part 1

Ahoy there Shipmates,After a restful night at anchor in Port Stephens, the crew were awoken by Sail Master Guv at 0630 and mustered on deck for an early morning swim. We then dined on another of Squizy’s delicious breakfasts prior to the Morning Brief, which included a dramatisation depicting the origin of the Naval expression ‘2 – 6 heave’, followed by a visit from ‘Goth’ Nana. This led into, as usual, the ‘happiest hour of the day’.After lunch my Staff Crew and I got dressed-up in our best holiday outfits and conducted the handover ceremony at which I handed Young Endeavour over to Captain Emelie and her able-bodied crew to use for Command Day to achieve their tasks and most importantly to have fun!Until tomorrow at 1300 when the adventure of Command Day draws to a close!Yours AyeCaptain Mike————————————————————————————————–Ahoy there me hearties,Okay let’s cut Captain Mike’s report short. I would like to announce to the people of Australia that there has been a mutiny on the Young Endeavour- the youth of Australia are now in control. Well only for 24 hours.At 1300 Command Day began with the assignment of 22 ‘missions’ to be completed within 24hrs. Our main goal of the day being to sail through several check points on our way to Newcastle, while navigating and sailing on our own. The adventures began with all the youth crew climbing the foremast to take a photo of us all sitting aloft on the yards. After this the more creative of us filled the decks with chalk murals, which included both the memories of our voyage and our impressions of a life at sea (mainly sea sickness). During this time a crew of 6 set off to conquer the beach at Nelson’s bay. In order to claim this ‘foreign’ land they needed to convince the inhabitants on the beach to join in our patriotism in singing the National Anthem. They were successful in recruiting around 15 individuals whose voices were broadcast over the ship radio for all to hear. With everything running on time the Indian themed dinner was served at 1715. The crew were welcomed into the Youthies’ restaurant ‘the Good Delhi’ with a delectable meal. Promptly after we headed to the deck to test our full crew hammock skilfully fashioned from ropes earlier that day.Our anchor was lifted at 2000, and we were piloted out of the bay by the Staff while we prepared to set the sails. It seemed that we executed this with such ease that everyone is looking forward to the next 16 hours. Currently the conditions are smooth; we have made it to our first check point and on course to our second. Now the fun begins.TTFN (Ta ta for now)Youth Captain Emelie   “