Sunday Sea

Hello Shipmates,Welcome to Day 2 of the voyage. Following a well deserved and much needed night’s rest the Youth Crew were woken to a beautiful sunrise at 0630 by Sail Master Bagers, who treated us to an ‘ice-breaker’ deck game to wake us up. After breakfast the Youthies were given the Climbing Brief and then undertook First Climbs to the Top Gallant Yard by watches. Whilst not everyone made it up to the top on their first climb everyone certainly gave it ‘a good go!’ There will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to conquer that yard.After lunch Jimmy gave the Youthies a more detailed Safety Equipment brief. Whilst this was underway I gave the order to ‘Weigh Anchor’ and we departed our anchorage and commenced our passage southwards. At 1330 the crew experienced their first daily brief, led by Sail Master Bagers, at which they met ‘Salty the sea-dog’ (Evan), who is the resident expert in nautical terminology. He will be a regular attendee at the morning briefs and it is his job to explain the origin of nautical expressions we use onboard. On completion of the brief it was straight into cleaning stations (this activity is known as our ‘Happy Hour’ and even has its own little song).For the remainder of the afternoon the Watch Leaders progressed deck safety training to ensure our new crew members would have the necessary skills to be able to carry out the basics of setting and furling Young Endeavour’s sails safely.After a couple of hours of setting and furling the Staysails Sail Master Bagers gave a briefing on the procedures for setting the Mainsail. The Jib was then set, followed by the Mainsail. The Ship was then sent to Tacking Stations to enable the Youth Crew to experience Tacking the Ship and what their individual duties entail. This is also conducted to satisfy me that the crew are capable of altering the course of the Ship during the night, if necessary. In the 15-20 knot SE conditions with all the fore-and-aft sails set sailing close-hauled we achieved 6 knots of boat speed.We completed this practical training at 1700 and, after another of Marcus and Cinnamon’s delicious meals, the crew prepared for their first night at sea. This will involve keeping 4 hour Sea Watches through the night, during which they will keep the Ship safe performing duties as helmsman, lookouts, and conducting below deck engineering rounds. No doubt the crew will sleep well after a busy day! It was necessary to take the Ship to Tacking Stations at 2000 to enable us to follow the necessary navigation plan, given the prevailing wind conditions. It is also expected to be necessary to furl the Jib and brail the Mainsail and start the engines, just after midnight, to ensure we can continue to follow the passage plan.Until tomorrow,Yours AyeCaptain Mike