Day 8 – Command Day Part 1

 Ahoy there Shipmates, After a restful night at anchor at Cape Fourcroy, the crew were awoken by Sail Master Kyle at 0630 and mustered on deck for an early morning activity to get the body warmed-up and the mind active. We then dined on another of Keely’s delicious breakfasts prior to the Morning Brief, which included a dramatisation, narrated by Salty and ably assisted by our willing volunteers, depicting the origin of the Naval expression ‘Son of a Gun’. This led into, as usual, the ‘happiest hour of the day’. At 0900 we held ‘Opposites’ where the elected Youth Crew talked with their opposite number in the Staff Crew. This is aimed at enabling the youthies to get an understanding of the full scope of the duties of each position to enable them to perform better in their role during Command Day. At 1030 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 Kai and her able-bodied crew to use for Command Day to achieve their tasks and most importantly to have fun! This was two and a half hours earlier than originally planned but we did so to enable the youth crew to make the best of the good sailing conditions we were experiencing, 15 from the SSW. Until tomorrow at 1300 when the adventure of Command Day draws to a close! Yours Aye Captain Mike ————————————————————————————————–Hi Everyone,At 1030 the staff crew marched on deck dressed in an array of ridiculous costumes including gorillas, kangaroos, and offensive Hawaiian shirts. Some even tried to look like REAL sailors. Captain Mike presented me with a ceremonial hat signifying the handing over of the Ship and then proceeded to jump over board with his very colourfully-dressed crew. Whilst the staff enjoyed celebrating the start of their 24-hour ‘summer holiday’, the youth team began their preparations to weigh anchor and start the final leg of our journey back to Darwin.Naturally, the first step was working out where we needed to go. However, this proved difficult as our navigation instructions were no where to be found. Instead, we were given a riddle to solve, “I stand tall by the day but I’m afraid of the night.” Our new Sailmaster, Jed, bravely climbed out over the bow of the boat in CYCLONIC 1 knot winds to collect our instructions from under the Australian flag.We eventually set sail at about 1230 when the winds had unexpectedly picked up. Some said it was the fastest they had seen the Ship travel all week, while others said they could still walk faster on water…Four hours into our journey and we were flying! The crew were called to their tacking stations to tack the Ship from our westward facing direction back toward Darwin. Everything was running smoothly (too smoothly in fact) and almost as quickly as it appeared, our 10 knots of wind vanished. We were stuck. Floating. I humbly got down on my knees begged Captain Mike to allow us to turn on the engines for motor sailing in order to reach Darwin in our set time.Tonight the crew enjoyed a delicious meal of honey-mustard chicken, roast lamb and vegetables prepared by our youth chefs. I can report that the food tasted amazing, however, I will provide an update tomorrow on whether it was safe for consumption. The youth crew will continue to rotate their watches overnight and those not on watch have been invited to an ‘Epic Arafura  Dance Party’ up on deck.We expect that Tuesday morning will be extremely busy as the crew will need to complete twenty two challenges before handing the ship back at 1030. I’ll report back to you tomorrow – that is, if I’m not made to walk the plank :SYours,Captain Kai