Day 39 – Have Departed Ushuaia

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 39 of our voyage. Following a short but very enjoyable stay in Ushuaia we are back at sea again. We departed our berth just after 1400 today and have just spent the past seven hours conducting our pilotage through the very scenic Beagle Canal. As you can imagine it has been a long day for me and all of our bridge team so please excuse my short comments in tonightâ€™s log. That said, the Crew have always got a tale to tell about their adventures so here is tonightâ€™s Captains Log written by Greg and Henry and other Red Watch members.Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavAhoy friends, family, upcoming World Voyagees, grandparents and anyone else who is along for this third leg of our adventure aboard Young Endeavour!Weâ€™re back! Our 40 hr blitz shore leave in Ushuaia was well earnt and a great time for both staff and rabble/Horners/whatever we are. Here follows Red watches account.With all of tide, wind and bureaucracy against us, we proceeded ashore for leave at 2100 on January 26th after refuelling and changing out the jib sail for larger one more suited for the upcoming passage. This crew of newly-crowned Cape Horners were quick to claim our right to dine with one foot/elbow on the table, and so a course was quickly set for the local Irish bar.However this course was quickly amended when it was found to be not of adequate size, and a substitute bar was quickly found. Their offer to play a full live ACDC show on their TV was greatly appreciated by the horde of thirsty sailors, and the lure of free wifi sealed the deal, allowing us to re-connect with the world we had spent the last 30 days disconnected from. A well-earnt night was enjoyed by all as we celebrated the last 4 weeks at sea, contacted loved ones back home, and (for this crew member) frantically found a hostel room in Rio de Janeiro (thankfully this was a success).Â The following morning of the 27th saw a number of the Horners taking advantage of some fantastic tours organised by the Staffies to take in the scenic delights in and around Ushuaia. Other horners found internet cafes and Wi-Fi hotspots and sorted out various pressing issues or skyped/spoke with loved ones (I am happy guilty of this latter crime â€“ Hi Liz and Swalwell clan!!). Still more went shopping, sight seeing and mountain climbingâ€¦However I think its safe to say that everyone on board enjoyed the sights and sounds of this charming and diverse city, and all but the most elite of us improved on our â€œcrossing-language-barriers-by-making-crazy-hand-gesturesâ€ game. Everyone then enjoyed dinner together at a local restaurant, capping off a great day spent ashore.The morning of the 28th started at 0700 for the intrepid five who chose to head out and visit some of the surrounding ski areas around Ushuaia. Some amazing snow-capped mountains were sighted as we wound our way through the mountain roads. A sneaky visit to a glacier was also on the cards, however father time had other plans, and only some more crazy hand gestures saw that we returned from this expedition before our required time back at the ship of 1200.Â Â WithÂ everyone back on board at 1200 we made ready to sail at 1400, when we cast off lines and sailed back the way we came to the open ocean. The sun made an appearance and for the remainder of the afternoon we enjoyed the scenery of this unique part of the world, where the sun warms our rejuvenated bodies, snow-capped mountains grace the horizon, and penguins play hide and seek with our resident bird expert Henry.And now! We are back at sea! Well sort of – we are ~7 hours out of Ushuaia retracing our course down the Beagle Channel to the sea. Once we are back amongst the blue yonder we shall turn our back on any dreams of swinging by Antarctica, change course to the North, and press on towards Buenos Aires where we should hopefully arrive by the 4th February.Oh and to cap us off tonight, hereâ€™s Paige with her daily dose of optimism..â€œPaige says there is no charge for awesomeness or attractivenessâ€¦â€¦. She should know because she is awesome!â€Until next time!Yours ayeGreg (Red Watch again! Yay!)~~~~~And now heres HenryOk a quick wildlife update by the resident ornithologist:Hello hello! Henry here, I just a quick shout out to my mate Matt, and to my fellow twitchers back home about the sights Iâ€™ve been seeing, so far over 25 birds on the Argentinean mainland (Havenâ€™t had time to add them all up yet), and numerous pelagic species.A few of the highlights for me was a quick glimpse of the majestic Andean Condor, the cute Patagonian Sierra-Finch and Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Striated Caracara, Upland and Kelp Goose, Flightless Steamer Duck, Magellanic Oystercatcher, Black-crowned Night Heron, Austral Parakeet, and several more.Some of the pelagic species have been the huge Royal and Wandering Albatross, Cape and White-headed Petrel which flew really close to the ship and made for great viewing, White-faced Storm-Petrel, and close to Cape Horn a Wilsonâ€™s Storm-Petrel.Thatâ€™s me for today,Chow!HenryÂ

Latitude/Longitude:

55Â° 5' South / 66Â° 22' West

Conditions:

Current time is 2230 and we are located 68nm to the east of Ushuaia motor sailing inÂ light and variable conditions with nil swell. Current temperature is 9 degrees with a wind chill of 5 degrees.Â

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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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

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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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Day 39 – Have Departed Ushuaia

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