Welcome the Zucchini Brothers

Situation at 20:00- Throughout last night the wind slowly backed around to the Nor’West and we were able to avoid tacking as we made ground towardsLorne. The watches were busy climbing aloft and setting and furling the various sails. In the last hour of the morning watch, the wind firstly fell away to nothing and then blew from the Sou’ West at 25 knots.Morning brief was another hilarious affair. Salty Sea Dog Lolli (with some help from Watch Officer Jarrod) explained thenautical origins of the term ‘Hijack’. Engineer Stewy made another impressive haul in his scran bag of gear he found sculling. Happy hour had a special emphasis today-Deck day. Before long the decks were gleaming and XO Chooka was beaming. Chef Polly made someterrific scones for morning tea, just what the Doctor ordered. The second round of rope races was won by the mighty Whities, but overall they are tied with the Bluies. There is still ample time for any of the watches to be victorious. The last activity of the forenoon was demonstration and rotational tacks. This is a series of tacks and wears that allows the watches to rotate through the different tacking stations in order to better understand what is required to tack the Ship. At the same time, each member of the Youth Crew is able to observe a tack from the bridge where Captain John describes the ‘big picture’ considerations when tacking. The whole process is designedto help prepare the Youth Crew for command day when they will be responsible for tacking and all other aspects of sailing YOUNG ENDEAVOUR.The Sou’ East wind proved too tempting to miss out on so the plan to anchor at Lorne was changed to Rye. Accordingly a course wasset to close the Rip and we made good 9 knots. As we made ground to the North, XO Chooka led the Youth Crew through a communication exercise designed to highlight how groups can effectively passinformation through different mediums. This proved to be very valuable and will hopefully be of benefit during command day. Aseries of deck games was next on the agenda. The Zuccini Brothers, a well known band of wandering Mexican-Australians, arrived onboard to lead the Youth Crew through a series of fender racing, apple passingand other similiar zany games. A good time was definately had by all, and by the time the games were over all hands were ready for a break. When last seen, the Zucchini Brothers were headed towards Athens wherethey hope to revolutionise the Olympics-Good luck. At 16:00 we passed through The Rip and made our way into Port Philip Bay. As we let go the anchor off Rye, Chef Polly announced that his Aussie Barbeque Spectacular was ready and all hands shifted into their loudest shirts and proceeded to load up their plates.The Youth Crew have just finished their three-way talks. They are divided into groups of three and given 45 minutes to learn the life stories of the other two members of their group. Next, they arerequired to act as one of those people and tell their life story to the assembled Ship’s Company. This provided some great laughs and loads of fun. The Youth Crew have been briefed on what is required of them during anchor watches overnight. Instead of four hours on watch, they will each spend just over an hour monitoring the cable andensuring the Ship doesn’t drag anchor throughout the night.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: The Ship is fitted with two 215 HP turbo charged diesel engines. These are capable of generating speeds up to 10 knots. Total fuel capacity is 17,860 litres, situated in two tanks beneath the cafe. Electricty is produced through 2 40 KVA diesel generators.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: List- The inclining of a Ship to one side or the other due usually to a shift in the cargo or theflooding of some part of the hull. It is a more permanent situation then a heel which is more often due to the pressure of the wind and lasts only as long as a ship’s course relative to the wind is heldwithout alteration. Pelorus- A circular ring fitted to the rim of a compass bowl and carrying two sighting vanes, used for the taking of azimuths (bearings) of objects.Thought of the Day: Not everything is good because it is old, nor poems always bad by being new. Good people try both before theymake their choice, while the fool but takes the view of others.Sanskrit.Yours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RAN