YE’S MELBOURNE CUP

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 13 of our voyage. Well our great run with the wind came to an end this morning when it backed to the east and dropped off to less than 8kts. What made it worse was that we were left with a very large and confused swell (2-3m) which made doing anything on the ship extremely difficult because of the heavy rolling.

But even a big swell and heavy rolling cannot disrupt a race that Stops a Nation or a Tall Ship because we ran our own Cup!! And much fun was had by all as you will read in tonight’s Log.

This light weather is not expected to last for very long and we are expecting it to freshen again tomorrow as another front forms to the south east of us. At present we are still hoping to anchor at the remote Island group of Tristan da Cunha on either the 6 or 7th November but are still waiting to see what the weather is going to do because it is impossible to anchor of the Island if you have any strong winds from the north, so fingers crossed the weather gods will smile upon us.

Writing tonight’s Captains Log and doing a great job of enlightening you on today’s activities are Yuri and Emily so please enjoy.

Until tomorrow, take care

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

THE RACE THAT STOPS THE NATION…Not the Melbourne Cup (the results of which we retrieved 12 hohere urs late, thanks to both the time difference and finding the only place in the world that both Telstra and Optus don’t reach), but the STS Young Endeavour Tin Can Cup, the less hyped but infinitely more exciting horse race that took place aboard Young Endeavour this fine day.

Your protagonists woke to a rousing birthday tune for our shipmate Liam Buckley (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!), who turned 26 today (we think he doesn’t look a day older than 22).

After yet another happy happy hour (the crew think they have a sense of humour about cleaning time) we got stuck into our watches, and more importantly finding nifty knick knacks and wonderful widgets with which to make our fabulous fascinators.

Once white watch took in all sails and got the motors going (there was a complete lack of any winds today), everyday mundane tasks suddenly became feats of incredible human ingenuity and comradeship, as the ship began to roll violently from side to side. Jenko, Kate, Leighroy and Liam went from being chefs in the kitchen to circus performers with death-defying juggling acts, eating lunch and dinner became a scene from the Hunger Games or a Monty Python sketch, with people madly rushing around after food, battling to remain upright. There may have even been a fish slap scene in there somewhere.

At 1400, we were called to midships, where an intricate racecourse had been created on the deck. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best, replete with several very interesting fascinators. Each watch (and the staff) were given their own tin can horse, named Black Betty (Staff), Sea Biscuit (Blue Watch), Mr Handsome McSpeedy (Red Watch), and the best horse, Moist Glove (White Watch). The race consisted of rolling a dice to move the horse, with obstacles on the track with various punishments (act out the obstacle, miss a turn or get the winning team a hot beverage). Black Betty was the immediate stand out performer, maintaining the lead for most of the first two laps. A close second was White Watch’s Moist Glove, with Red and Blue’s horses heavily trailing. When it came to the final lap’s jockeys, Yuri from White watch was entrusted to maintain the strong lead above the rest of the teams. He didn’t. He eventually won the award for world’s worst jockey after bringing white watch from first to a far third finish. The staff ended up victorious, taking out line honours with Black Betty, who was immediately put out to pasture. The staff then enjoyed their winnings (lollies and Fanta) and we settled in for the nights watches. There is also a special shout-out to Kim and Mike, who won the best fascinators for women and men respectively.

The last sighting for the day may have been in Rachel’s words “A seal or a mermaid”, we remain optimistic of the latter!

Until next time, from the seven seas, it’s Yuri and Emily (Canberra represent!)

Shout outs:

Hey fambambambambambily, hey, howdie, hi, hola, yo. Hi Zoё, hope prac didn’t hurt too much! Miss you kiddo, pretty sure the entire crew knows you’re my favourite. Love you loads! – Lollie xx

Heya Mum, Dad, Bre, Het and Nick! Love you all, still having the best time.. you should see the sunrise and sunset out here you’d love it! Also, any other family or friends reading this, I love you! Lots of love, Em x

Hello Gerald, Wendy, Elly, Nana, Bro, Sis, Fetterplaces, Grandmother Grandfather, and all my other fans. All is good y’all. Hope y’all are well.

Hey Ma and Da, Crooked Mob, Shaye, Bon and Mr Crooman. Love you all very much. Ali xxx

Hey family, missing you all dearly, love Yuri xoxo.