DAY 8 – COMMAND DAY PART 1

Ahoy there Shipmates,After a quiet night at anchor recharging our batteries Dougie woke the Crew at 0630.At 0730 we held ‘Opposites’ where the youthies coming into the leadership positions for Command Day get to talk to their Staffy ‘opposite number’ to find out what they do and get any ‘gems’ of advice from them.At 0800 we gathered the crew together at in the Cafe and I handed the ship over to its brand new Captain Zac and his able-bodied crew.Capt Zac will tell you all about Command Day and you will hear from me next after he hands it back to me at 1000 tomorrow.Yours, ayeCapt Mike —————————————————————–Ahoy there Shipmates,Command day started with an eager and some what nervous crew partaking in some morning dances and songs in the miserable weather, before heading down below decks to have ‘happy hour’. Our brand new sail master ‘b-rice’ deemed the cleaning up to standard and preparations for today’s tasks and navigational targets were underway.Despite the crews’ eagerness to get underway, they were put on standby due to minor technical difficulties. Eventually the Youthies set sail at 1100 and headed out into the maze of islands that makes up the Whitsundays. Our navigator Alex set our course marking out 6 waypoints the crew had to pass through before reaching the final way point by 1700 that afternoon.The ship began to gain momentum as the day progressed and the watches were scrambling above and below decks to complete the many tasks given to us that morning. Some of these included polishing cannons, tying knots, organising a slide show, songs and a mural just to name a few.Our crew was always on the go and soon some very hungry Youthies were dieing to get out of their dripping wet weather gear and hook into some warm lunch. It was delicious and I’d like to thank the Cheffos for their efforts in the kitchen. Starting their day at 0400 organising, preparing, cooking and cleaning up 3 great meals. All three cheffos stepped up and volunteered for the positions in the kitchen. Real team players, thanks guys. The crew managed to sail the ship through way points 1, 2, 3, 4 before making a hard tack towards waypoint number 5. The crew raced to tacking stations and set our sails and braced the yards but unfortunately the weather gods were not on our side and the wind began to push the vessel off course due to how strong they were.The crew and Staffies made the call to tack again, haul in the sails and turn the engines on and motor to our anchorage of Bauer bay on south mole island. After a battle against wind and tide the young endeavour reached its destination at 1600, passing another waypoint making the total 6/7 for the day.The tired youth crew kept on going through out the afternoon despite the shocking weather and ticked off more and more tasks on our check list before getting dressed up and having a pirate party in the 12 berth. The pirate theme was good fun with all the Youthies getting into the spirit and enjoying the night partying.After a solid dance the crew was buggered and many went off to bed in order to get some sleep before getting shaken up throughout the late night and early evening for their anchor watches.Thanks heaps to the sail master Bryce for your help and all the Youthies for sticking it out and getting our job done. We did great yesterday and should be stoked with what we achieved despite the weather.Yours, ayeCapt Zac