Day 9 – Command Day Part 2 and Sydney Harbour

Ahoy shipmates…no longer on holidays, but have given Captain Lachie the opportunity to describe the youth crew’s exploits during Command Day…We made it! Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny

Day 9

Ahoy there shipmates and land lovers

Today was yet another wonderful day onboard the Young Endeavour and our final hours of command day. The time has gone so fast and with one more sail around Sydney Harbour our magnificent voyage would have sadly come to an end.

We began the day after a series of overnight watches where all crew were brought on deck to clew up the square sails and furl the jib. A team effort guaranteed success as all members dutifully contributed. Before the command team gave the crew their morning brief, we presented three contemporary variations of our national anthem to the staffies. We sung to the tunes of Amazing Grace, I kissed a Girl and Freaks. The brief consisted of a short spiel from our Nava-guru Benji, Sail master Marcus and Captain Lachie. We would like to thank the entire crew for the efforts and persistence during command day – waking up in the early hours of the morning to furl sails even when not on watch is hardly an easy task. The brief concluded with an insightful performance by Seedy (Jimmy) and tow rag (Ranga) as we learnt about the history of the term “tow rag”. Their interesting and amusing performance set the attitude and atmosphere necessary for the final hours of command day. An extensive happy hour then followed in which the crew worked together to polish the ship’s brass and clean below deck. With happy hour under our belt we continued on watch as we approached our final way point. Simultaneously we planned tomorrows photo slideshow, delegating youthies to present 3x 5min life lesson talks and organise a crew disco and skit – nothing we couldn’t handle. As lunch neared, youthies worked together to depict the highlights of our journey on a chalk mural across midships. A themed lunch was then served by our youthie chefs, where we enjoyed chorizo, chicken, steak, roast veggies and salad – we would like to thank the chefs and assistants for all their efforts in the galley. The end of lunch marked the completion of command day as the captain and the command crew handed ship over to the staffies. On behalf of the youth crew we would like to thank the staffies for providing us with support and guidance during command day. We are proud of the effort and comradery we displayed during the 24 hours and we could not have asked for a better group of people to sail with. We have learnt so much about ourselves and each other, the importance of followership in leadership, how to communicate effectively in a group environment and we think it is fair to say our fatigue threshold has been challenged and extended. After the debrief we boarded the tender and made our way to Balmoral beach where we enjoyed refreshments at the local boathouse. Our refreshments were then followed by a casual game of touch football. Upon arrival to our ship we debriefed on command day and engaged in a series of reflective activities which outlined our strengths, weaknesses and major take aways from command day. We are about to enjoy dinner cooked by our youthie master chefs before coming together in our watches to create a song/skit to be performed at the SOD (ships operatic dept) opera. After summarising our experiences during command day, we realise the power of persistence and maximum effort in leadership to inspire and influence others empowers those around them.

Lachie: Hey fam, I’m back again. Command day was as stressful as it was rewarding. Sailing into Port Jackson was beautiful and the array of lights across the hills are quite spectacular. Can’t wait to catch up soon.
Bella: Hi Mum, Dad and Millie. I am loving every minute onboard and have learnt so much from so many amazing people. Missing you all and see you in Sydney soon!