COMMAND DAY PART 2

Ahoy Shipmates,Please find below Captains Log entry for Part 2 of the Youth Crew Command Day.Yours AyeCaptain GavCommand Day Part 2What a success Command Day has been! We have arrived at Hawley Beach and completed a substantial number of our allocated tasks. I was lucky enough to get elected by fellow members of the youth crew as one of the navigators for Command Day. I am happy to say that we dropped the anchor at our allocated anchorage on time. Nalani, my co-navigator and I worked together with the watch officers to successfully plot our course and we are proud to announce that we made both ‘Way Points of Glory’ at the allocated times, 0100 and 0600. We had to use engines to help us get closer to the Waypoints. However, we sailed into both Way Points and our anchorage without mechanical help. For me, Command Day has been a huge success and I am extremely happy with how the day went. I have had the time of my life on this voyage, sailing across the Bass Strait and seeing Tasmania from an angle that I am not used to. The youth crew on Voyage 16/08 have been amazing and I am honoured to be able to spend this remarkable time on board STS Young Endeavour with them.Madeline DaveyHi to all my family, friends and on-lookers! I hope you’re actually reading this since I’ve finally decided to make the effort to write something! I hope everything has been well at home. I can’t really explain what the last nine days have contained in this limited paragraph, suffice to say that ‘a learning experience’ would be an understatement. In the aftermath of Command Day (partly run by yours truly as Sail Master) the fatigue is setting in and I’m a little overwhelmed by the last 24 hours. I’ve reached the missing stage (although I have survived without my phone in case you were wondering Dad) and I’m looking forward to seeing and talking to people on Tuesday.Ben, you have to give Baby a kiss for me, I miss his purrs, although I’ve decided we should change his name to Rapscallion and he can be a ship’s cat with one eye.Love to all, Nicki Anne.Nicole LojszczykToday saw the BAT (Beach Assault Team) travel ashore to Hawley Beach, Tasmania on a mission to claim a small part of the land for the youth of Australia. After battling the treacherous swell to paddle into shore, the team of 8 youth crew scattered the streets in search of local residents to witness the proud patriotism the youth have for our country. Total count of local residents reached into the 40’s, with everyone in unison singing the national anthem which was broadcast by radio back to the remaining crew on the ship. The experience had in completing this challenging task was eventful and rewarding for all involved.We hope everyone is well and not missing us too much! Love to all.Ashlea Schiesser & Sharon PearceThe first night I had a crying moment because I didn’t know how I would be able to manage my own tolerance to be surrounded in such confined spaces with people of varied personalities and backgrounds. I have come a long way since then. I had another crying moment today for a completely different reason. These crew and staff have become my family for the last 9 days (feels like a year). The fun and support we have shared have been one I will never forget. The bonds we have formed were so unexpected. The thought of leaving everyone in 2 days time saddens me while also excites me knowing I have come on as an individual and now I can walk away with 25 friends who will continue to remain in my thoughts always.I was overwhelmed with the fact that I was elected captain for the command day. I must have had some impressional impact for people to see leadership qualities in me that I had not necessarily seen myself. They say it takes four years to gain respect and four minutes to lose it. I was nervous of potentially losing all ties I had formed with people soley by being placed captain. As it turned out everyone was very supportive saying that I had nothing to worry about when everyone will be behind me. I seriously did have nothing to worry about because everyone was so cooperative and mindful of the tasks that were set for our challenge.I feel I have learnt skills I can walk away with that I would not have necessarily been able to gain else where. I have an even greater appreciation for the natural beauty of the world and it’s the smallest things in life that count the most. I have learnt to tolerate people by understanding that they all have a story to tell and have so many contributions to bring to someone’s day. It’s just a matter of getting to know the person.If there was any way I could describe a heavenly state it would be what we saw last night. A clear sky of stars, the moons shine reflecting on the water, very calm winds and complete calm. That was my happy place.I don’t look forward to going home but at the same time I am also excited to face a new challenge and keep growing and meeting fabulous people.On another, not so personal noteï¿½ We had complete success for the 24 hour command day. We reached our 3 waypoints which involved sailing to a certain point by an exact time. It was very slow sailing in 8 knot winds when we only got a speed up of about 2 knots. So the engines were used to help increase our speed at times. It was stressful at times. The navigators certainly did a great job of informing the rest of the crew on distances and speed and time etc. We pulled into anchor at Hawley Beach. I think we had the staff very nervous, thinking we would run into ground. But I had complete confidence in the crew and actually laughed at the fact that it was all coming together. We had many more optional tasks to gain extra points. These were making a hammock to hold all 24 youth crew, polish the cannons, draw a mural of our voyage, have all sails packed away and the ship clean and tidy to hand back to the staff. We were very happy with our experience and success and everything that came with the challenge. We were rewarded with the afternoon to just spend amongst ourselves. Everyone opted to sleep. A lot of the girls jumped in their sleeping bags and slept on deck. But woke up for dinner having found out the guys had tied all the sleeping bags together and tied to secure points of the ship. So was quite a mess getting up. We had a beautiful Sunday night roast for dinner.Our command day didn’t go without any real talk of the significance of its challenges. We had a whole group debrief talking about the good and not so good things that came from the command day and what we got out of it. But it was also emphasised that it wasn’t just about achieving the tasks, it was about the processes we went through to reach our goal.I cant be more proud of my fellow crewï¿½ well done everyone. Bom chicka wowoaSarah DaltonI was fortunate enough to celebrate my 21st birthday on the YE today. It was by far the most exciting and interesting birthday I have ever hadï¿½I started my day at 12am for the ‘guts’ watch, which would last until 4am, acting as Officer of the Watch! It was definitely an exciting day filled with much stress and hard work! Hey mum!Caitlin StarinkÂ

Latitude/Longitude:

41Â°8's / 146Â°34'e

Conditions:

Currently at anchor at Port Sorrell and enjoying light NE winds with a .5m swell.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 11 – Last Day of the Voyage

Good morning Shipmates, Sailmaster Sara's final Wakey Wakey song was pumped through the Ship’s speakers to jar the crew of YE from their deep slumber after a particularly tiring day of the Community Day Sail. Activities included end-of-voyage chats for the watches, harbour furling the square sails, eating as much home made pizza, cooked by master chef Ash, as we possibly could and knocking over final command day tasks including the Slide Show. It was up on deck for a quick head count to make sure everyone was out of their ‘racks’ and ready for their final day onboard. Breakfast was followed by the morning brief on the plan for the day and then the Staff Crew weighed anchor and got us underway while the Youth Crew laid aloft for a quick harbour cruise. Navigator Seb piloted the Ship from our Athol Bay anchorage, past Fort Dennison under the Harbour Bridge, where we fired the Ship’s saluting cannon, and then into Balls Head Bay to our berth. We berthed at HMAS Waterhen at 1000 to the warm welcome of friends and family of the Youthies, waiting on the wharf for us. Once we had secured the ship alongside we invited our guests onboard, allowed them a walk around the ship to see where the Youthies had lived and worked for the last eleven days, and then we gathered everyone at midships. Sail Master Sara spoke about our adventures during the voyage and then I presented the Voyage Completion certificates to the youth crew and the Young Endeavour Award to Liv for her outstanding hard work on in undertaking the voyage and her dedication to helping her fellow youth crew members to achieve their voyage goals. We then farewelled the Youth Crew of V04/24 after a fantastic challenging and enjoyable voyage. Thank you for following our adventures and hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Yours, aye, Captain Mike

V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 10 – Community Day Sail Sydney Harbour

Good evening shipmates, After a well-earned quality night’s sleep at anchor in Hunters Bay, Sail Master Sara woke us with another of her soothing tunes to get us on deck for a quick early morning activity. After breakfast the staff crew weighed anchor and conducted the transit to HMAS Waterhen, at Waverton. We berthed there at 0900 and prepared to embark our guests for the Community Day Sail. At 1015 we cast off our berthing lines and departed with our 34 guests and commenced our 3 hour tour of the harbour. Our Community Day Sailors were a group 30 members and staff from the Windgap Foundation. We also embarked some defence personnel as well. We again passed under the Harbour Bridge and then proceeded into Rose Bay where we set some sails and commenced sailing back towards Waterhen. Whilst on the harbour our fantastic youth crew helped us host our Windgap special guests. They encouraged our guests to participate in setting the staysails and a square sail by helping to pull on the sheets and clewlines. The youth crew also helped Chef Ash to prepare and deliver the food to our guests on deck. At 1300, after 3 fun-packed hours on the harbour, we berthed back at the southern wharf at HMAS Waterhen. Once we had farewelled our guests it was time to commence our end-of-voyage activities and preparations. The staff crew managed to organise a visit to the RAN Ship MATV Sycamore, which is crewed by a mixture of civilians and Navy staff, is a multi-role aviation training vessel. The youth crew embarked with their watch leaders and were given a 45 minute tour of the ship by some of the Navy crew. On completion they returned onboard and Young Endeavour sailed and proceeded to our anchorage in Athol Bay, which affords a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. During the transit to the anchorage the Youthies undertook their end-of-voyage chats, facilitated by their watch leaders, to examine if they had achieved everything in their full-value contracts they had completed at the start of the voyage. After the traditional last voyage dinner of home made pizzas, Sara gave the Youthies the Harbour Furl brief, who then donned their climbing harnesses and laid aloft to undertake the ‘Harbour Furl’ of the square sails to make them look immaculate for our ceremonial arrival at the end of the voyage tomorrow. Once that was completed, the youth crew then finished off their final outstanding Command Day tasks, which were planned for the last night onboard. These included the Voyage Slide Show compiled of photos taken by everyone. This was excellent and provided a touching reminder of what we had experienced and the beautiful coastlines and islands that we had visited during the voyage. The final activity of the day was the end-of-voyage administration, which for the youth crew included a feedback questionnaire asking for feedback on their experience of the voyage, as well as a letter for each crew member to write to themselves on their experiences during the voyage, which the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme will post to the youth crew in 6 months time. The aim of this is to help reinforce what the youth crew have learned about leadership, teamwork and about themselves from the experience of the voyage. Once these were completed the crew were encouraged to go to bed. The Ship will remain in Athol Bay overnight and weigh anchor and sail in the morning at 0900 and undertake the transit to HMAS Waterhen, where family and friends will meet the Ship on arrival at 1000. Until you hear from me tomorrow for the final instalment of Voyage 04/24. Yours aye, Captain Mike

V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

Ahoy from Sydney! For today’s Captain’s Log: the Youthies took over and completed several tasks including singing the national anthem in three different tunes as well as giving salty sea facts to start the day in a nautical way. We finally made it! After a long and weary effort of the command team and watches, we were able to fully sail into Sydney Harbour. At approximately 11:50 we anchored in Hunters Bay. To celebrate we had a groovtastic disco in the 12 berth due to excessive rainfall but the youthies made it work, having a blast dancing to Billie Jean. Afterwards, the youthies as well as the staff reflected on our efforts during command day, following the handover of the ship to the Staffies, where we highlighted what we did well, what we could improve on and what lessons we can take back to our normal lives, of which there are many. Continuing on from the previous log, with command day still ongoing. We encountered multiple problems. One of which being that mother nature didn’t bless us and gave us little to no wind to work with. However with the efforts of the Youthies we were able to successfully gather up to 8 knots of speed after a 4am tack in which the youthies persevered despite a lack of sleep enabling us to make our way into Sydney. Before our reflection the Youthies finished their day strong with a ‘Happy Hour’ cleaning session and one final dance. The afternoon was spent relaxing and recharging from ‘Command Day’, going aloft and furling the square sails. For dinner, Ash prepared a barbecue with steak, sausages, chicken kebabs with buns and an assortment of salads with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. The Youthies are looking forward to the Community Day Sail tomorrow which will be a great opportunity to give back to Australia and put our sailing knowledge to the test. We have learned many lessons during ‘Command Day’, we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone and together a crew of 24 youth were able to sail a tall ship into the harbour of Sydney. Today’s score: 9 camels and a donkey (Amazing) Until next time Rock on! Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt. P.S. Happy Birthday for tomorrow little bro, love Lil xx P.S.S. Kai, sorry I didn’t do the thing for Meg. I just remembered and will do it when back.

Thank you Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt for your narrative of today's events. Intentions are to remain at anchor in Hunters Bay, just off HMAS Penguin, home of the RAN Diving School, a place close to my heart, having spent many a day there under training as a young Officer! The plan is to weigh anchor and proceed to HMAS Waterhen, in Waverton, to pick up our Community Day Sailors from the Windgap Foundation and take them for a sail around the harbour for 3 hours. The Youth Crew will help us host our visitors and give them an experience of Young Endeavour. We will drop them back to Waverton and then proceed to anchor in the harbour where we will have a good view of the Bridge and the Opera House for the Youth Crew's last night onboard. Until tomorrow. Yours Aye, Captain Mike

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COMMAND DAY PART 2

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