Bon Voyage Two Fold Bay

I would not be surprised if you are experiencing a sense of deja vu about the situation at 20:00. No sooner had we sailed from Eden last night, and emailed off the Captain’s log, then a problem developed with the radar. Navy regulations, as well as the practise of good seamanship, dictate that the Ship must have a serviceable radar when at sea. We returned to our anchorage at Eden but remained in sea watches carrying out the scheduled activities. It proved a bit of a surprise to the Girls living forward in the 12-berth to be woken up to the sound of the anchor cable running out through the naval pipe. Overnight the watches conducted a teamwork exercise that required all hands to contribute to completing a complex task involving the rigging. There were some valuable lessons learned that will become important on command day.Morning brief saw yet another Salty Sea Dog explanation of the nautical origins of a commonly used saying, this time it was ‘A son of a gun’. This proved to be a hilarious episode involving broadsides of cannon fire and a ‘blessed event’. Engineer Stewy was disappointed with the quantity, but not the quality of today’s scran bag harvest. Well done Paige and Retro for the great duet. Happy hour today evolved into a Staff mess disco. It is amazing how many people you can fit into a small space and still have room to dance. After morning tea Engineer Stewy led the latest round of rope races. TheWhities have taken the lead by a narrow margin, but it is still anyone’s race.After lunch all hands were ferried ashore for an afternoon of sport on the beach. After a fiercely conteated competition of beach volleyball and touch footy, I am proud to report that the Staff Crew are still undefeated. Well done Shane for organising the afternoon. Once the games and a swim were finished, the Youth Crew sat done by watches and carried out their mid-voyage talks. This provides an opportunity for the Youth Crew to discuss how they feel the voyage is unfolding. While the activities ashore were happening, the radar technician arrived and discovered the source of the problem. Beforelong the radar was merrily rotating away and providing all the correct information. When the Youth Crew arrived back onboard, they were met by Chef Stony who had been busy preparing a magnificent teak deck BBQ. All hands enjoyed supper on the upperdeck while a pod of dolphins lazily cruised around the Bay.Once the Barbeque was secured below and the upperdeck was cleaned up, we weighed anchor and sailed from Twofold Bay, bound for Bass Strait and Tasmania. Overnight the watches will conduct setting and furling drills of the fore-and-aft sails. This practise will be invaluable for the Youth Crew as they start preparing for command day.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: The Ship is fitted with a suite of modern electronic navigation and sailing instruments. This includes a state of the art radar used for navigation and contact avoidance, a global positioning system which provides real time position information accurate to within 100 meters, an echo sounder providing both digital and paper trace depth information as well as a fully integrated instrumentation system providing data on wind,speed and other sailing considerations.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Naval Pipe- The pipes through whichthe anchor cables pass between the cable lockers and the capstans onthe upperdeck. Hawse Pipe- The openings in the hull through which theanchor cables pass outboard of the capstans, and in which the anchorsare secured when underway.Thought of the day: Besides the noble art of getting thingsdone, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom oflife consists in the elimination of non-essentials. Lin Yutang.Yours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RANAhoy from the high seas. It’s Em ‘smile for the camera’ Eadie here asI’ve been nicknamed by staff and crew. At the moment I’m averagingclose to a film a day. Life on The Young Endeavour is action packed.Day 3 I found myself 30 mts aloft on the yard, wind howling, shipswaying. Adrenalin and fear are an interesting combination. The viewof the sunset however was enough to keep us up there.The last few days have been at Eden. Flipper and friends have beenregular visitors to the ship day and night. Today was spent playingbeach volleyball and touch footy, followed by a bbq back on the ship.Whilst on board I’ve learnt a very important lesson.Don’t pester the Salty Sea Dog. During morning brief I washorizontally strapped with coconut gun powder and cherry tomatocannon balls in my mouth demonstrating the olden days at sea. So forall those future youth crews, be nice to Lukey.To Mum, Dad, Adam, pets and friends, see you in my home port inTassie.Thought for the voyage. Blue watch, work and dolphins dont mix well.