Command Day ~ Dunk Island on way to Cairns

(Too busy to take photos today).

Had a 3AM Anchor Watch but the anticipation of the challenge ahead meant a light sleep anyway.

That morning there was a BBQ breakfast on the deck which would later be followed by a BBQ lunch. Four Barbies in a row is possibly a bit much.

Command Day is when the metaphorical keys to the ship are handed over to the Youth Crew and as per the driving analogy we “take dads car out for a spin”. We are presented with a list of assigned tasks first and foremost to make it in one piece to Cairns within the next 24 hours. Bonus points are awarded for getting there through as many predefined waypoints as we can. In addition to this there are plenty of strange and fun tasks to keep us challenged over the next day. We had to plan our time wisely as some tasks were land based activities.

The first thing we did was send a BAT (Beach Assault Team) to the nearest island. The BATties paddled across the strong current bravely. Upon arrival they flew the flag and sang the anthem (which was radioed to those remaining on board) and claimed the island for the youth of Australia. Then disaster happened. It was an ambush! A gang of Staffies were waiting in the bushes armed to the teeth with eggs and flour. Many were hit and a quick retreat made to BAT boat. However the fight or flight instinct of Kurt was contrary to the rest of the group, deflecting eggs with his oar like a top class cricketer and then taking down a few of the staff before making his way back to the boat in his own time, pride intact.
Those back on board were not exactly sunbaking; we had to create a hammock which could support the weight of all 30 people on board at once. Adam with his mastery of knots and Schwarzenegger-like grip led the team to create more of a work of art than a human holding machine.

With these tasks completed to a resounding success we raised anchor to make our way north. Problem was we were anchored facing the wrong direction and in-between 2 islands with not much space on either side. We set sails in an order designed to assist us with rotating in a safe direction but with a youth crew all adjusting to new roles meant confusion was rife the ship ended up rotating in the opposite direction. At one point it looked like we were going to run aground luckily we caught the wind in the direction we needed and made a great sigh of relief as we headed out to sea.

I took the bridge at 20:00 that night with Mick and Watch Leader Jesse. The doldrum-like wind was heartbreaking after 12 hours we could still see the lights of our starting point. What was worse was that we were now heading off course. With no wind and hence speed the rudder was really a useless appendage. It took the next hour to get us back on course, full credit to the watch on duty thoroughly exhausted by the end. I conveniently hid in the chart room to mark our positions instead of heaving on the lines with the others.

We handed over to the next watch with unfortunately less progress then we hoped. The lights of Dunk Island mocking us as we may our way down to our cabins.


Captain Hibbard and Captain Mick's corroborating log entry