Command Day Part 2

Hi Everyone,                      Welcome to day ten of our voyage. Following a busy night of sail plan changes the Youth made their final waypoint at 0800 when we came safely to anchor in Twofold Bay’s Snug Cove.Once at anchor the Youth Crew set about completing the remainder of their tasks including putting harbour furls on the three squares prior to handing the ship back to the Staff Crew at 1100. With Command Day successfully completed the Youth Crew were ferried ashore where they visited the Eden Whale Museum, completed End of Voyage Chats and enjoyed a nice coffee at some of the local cafes.This evening with everyone back onboard we conducted a facilitated Command Day debrief with all of us agreeing that this was an extremely successful activity. Dinner followed with Chef Zac spoiling us with some wonderful pizza’sAfter we had cleaned up from dinner the Youth Crew completed end of voyage questionnaires then after sunset mustered up on deck and watched a slide show of pictures taken throughout the voyage which gave us all a chance to reflect on our adventure over the past 10 days. To finish the night’s activities the Youth Crew again headed back down to the café where they wrote letters to themselves which will be returned to them in six months time.                            The time is now 2200 and the Youth Crew have finally settled into their last anchor watches for the voyage.Tomorrow morning, we will depart our anchorage, man the yards and berth for the final time for this voyage at Eden’s Mooring Jetty at 1000 where I am sure that we will be welcomed by a large number of family, friends and well wishers.Once alongside family and friends will be invited onboard for a tour of the ship and to witness my final address and the presentation of Certificates of Achievement to all of the Youth Crew. Following this presentation we will say our final emotional farewell to the Youth Crew of Voyage 07/18 as they depart the ship.On a personal note, I would like to thank all of the Youth Crew for the effort that you have put in throughout this voyage. We sailed 660nm over the past 10 days in some extremely strong conditions and you came through it with smiles on your faces and with many stories to tell. Thank you all for making this such a great voyage.The Ship will now have a 2 day break in Eden before embarking the Youth Crew for Voyage 08-18 and sailing from Eden to Sydney.  Prior to the Ship sailing for Sydney I will hand Command back over to Captain Mike who returns from a short break. It has been fantastic being back onboard and I look forward to returning again later in the year.Please find attached an entry for Captains Log for the 2nd part of Command Day written by Campbell, Edward and Eyrl Until next voyage, take care.Yours AyeCaptain Gav  Command Day Part 2 – Sat 31 MarchAhoy,Welcome to the final log of our exciting and riveting voyage on our way to the safe waters of Twofold Bay and the Port of Eden. Over the course of last 24 hours we have faced many challenging wind changes and sailing conditions or lack thereof (wind I mean!), resulting in a variety of different sail plans resulting not only in the use of the fore and aft sails but that of our majestic three squares – making best speed to Eden at approx 5 knots, after a watch change out at midnight with ‘Salt watch’ taking safe conduct of the bridge during the silent hours.Despite the lack of sleep, challenging conditions and amending the navigation track on the fly we somehow managed to arrived at the beautiful entrance of Twofold bay at 0700 and anchored in a ship-shape fashion by 0800 filled with a sense of achievement, exhaustion, and relief.We were welcomed by the fishermen and townsfolk of Eden to their peaceful waters, and after a few runs ashore with the sea boat under the helming skills of Adam we went ashore and visited the infamous and historic ‘Old Tom’ (Orca skeleton) housed within the whaling museum, and armed with a frothy coffee in our hands, we enjoyed some much needed relaxation in the Emerald Coast.As of the present time (1800) we have completed an inspiring command period debrief with the help of the Staffies and enjoyed a celebratory pizza extravaganza upon the teak deck courtesy of Chef Zac. The entire crew successfully completed the command day in trying conditions demonstrating outstanding communication, teamwork and resilience.We are all feeling a sense of accomplishment and looking forward to a good night of rest, despite the odd anchor watch here and there (only 1.5 hrs though!). Eleven days have gone in a blink of an eye, and we are all looking forward to returning to our normal lives, but will be sad at the prospect of saying good bye to our shipmates who have all grown so close after this life-changing voyage! Carpe Diem…Yours aye,Youth Command TeamCampbell, Edward, Eyrl