Captain's Log

V07/15

26 October 2015

FAVOURABLE WEATHER

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day five of our voyage. Since farewelling Esmeralda we have continued to make good speed to the south east but due to moderating conditions have had to revert to motor sailing and the use of the starboard engine.

Looking at our World Voyagers at morning brief it would appear that the majority have now overcome their seasickness and all are adjusting well to life at sea.

Todayâ€™s has been our first full day at sea were we can really focus on our training program so given the good weather we held our first set of rope races, a navigation brief given by the Evan (Ships Navigator) and for White Watch a sail theory presentation given by yours truly, so as you can see it has been a productive day.

Currently we are located 280nm from Rio still heading SE and will continue on this course for the next few days until we start to pickup some more favourable winds. Already the temperature has started to get cooler of an evening which has made it a lot more pleasant for sleeping.

Tonight it is Blue Watches turn to write the Captains Log so please enjoy reading about todayâ€™s activities onboard STS Young Endeavour.

Until tomorrow, take care

Yours Aye
Captain Gav

Day five of Young Endeavour World Voyage Passage 7 started on higher spirits with most crew members finally finding their sea legs. This was perhaps assisted by some interesting seasickness remedies read out by Dougie during the morning brief from â€˜the bibleâ€ (an 1800â€™s sailer instruction manual) – including using a hose pipe as a stomach pump.

We were lucky enough to have a visit from the beautiful Nana from Ipanema who taught us a lesson or two in the art of ship cleanliness, as well as showing us a few dance moves. Who is Nana from Ipanema you say? Well, sheâ€™s essentially just Horto, the Chief Engineer, dressed up â€“ weâ€™re all still slightly puzzled why he has a XL ladies skirt, blouse, jewellery and lipstick readily available â€“ will â€˜Nanaâ€™ make a regular appearance? After joining in on a few rounds of song and dance in â€˜Iâ€™m a little rocketship,â€™ Nana inspired us to jump straight into â€˜Happy hourâ€™ where we attempted to make the ship the cleanest itâ€™s ever been.

The day progressed with whatâ€™s starting to feel like the regular routine on board â€“ rotating watches, morning brief, happy hour, setting sails when required and afternoon games and lectures. Today we were tested on the shipâ€™s layout with our first match of rope races. Without officially being declared victors, the blue watch took gold on the podium. A special mention to Jess, who scored us the most points in the bonus round by feeding our watch leader Marcos a banana in the fastest time. After such fun and games, we settled in to an afternoon lecture on the basics of navigation lead by key Navigator Evan. Shout out to Evanâ€™s mum, who weâ€™ve been told is very proud of him.

Meals have continued to be highlight. Three of our own masterchefs joined Jenko in the galley today cooking up a feast. We feel like weâ€™ve continuously been spoilt in the culinary department, with roast beef for lunch and roast lamb for dinner, followed by Jenkoâ€™s Nanaâ€™s famous rice pudding for dessert.

Lookouts have been steady, with no evidence of human life observed since the Esmeralda yesterday. Not expecting any sign for a few days. Nonetheless, animals have taken the forefront on lookout, with a few birds and even a whale having been spotted. Weâ€™ve attached a fishing line to the back of the ship, with only one Marlin (that thankfully got away) being the only fish hooked so far.

Still keeping up with all important in world affairs â€“ GO THE WALLABIES!!

Weather has been kind, some more wind would be appreciated though. Looking forward to another day tackling the big blue sea tomorrow!

Blue Watch Out.

SHOUT OUTS:

To the Roper family â€“ hope mum is still entertaining you all with the joke of the day! Stay crazy and fabulous! Love you all! And Happy Birthday Hendo for next week! Wish I could be there!

To all the families and supporters back home, I made it, not sick (horaay) and loving it. Love to you all, hope your not missing me too much! Zoe

Hey mum, dad and annifa! Hope all is well at home. Iâ€™ve made a bit of chunky rain the last few days but Iâ€™ve pulled up alright in the end :p things are going great. I missed out on seeing the whale!!! I was asleep in the hammock and by the time I rolled out he was gone ïŒ nana from Ipanema took jorhay todayâ€¦ but I got him back! Promise to take better care of him from now on. Much love, Kate.

Hey Mum, Dad, Family and Friends! Just letting you know I am having the best time ever here on the ship, it is absolutely fantastic. I honestly am just loving it here, especially when I get to sit up on the Main Mast and just look down on the Atlantic! I miss you all, and hope you are all well. Love, Nathan

Hey to all back home, having a great time. Jess

To those at home, having a blast and almost found my sea legs, which is a definite bonus. Hope all is well. Mark.

Latitude/Longitude:

25 degrees 14 minutes South / 38 degrees 55 minutes West

Conditions:

Currently located 290nm SE of Rio motor sailing in light to moderate ENE winds with a 2m SE swell. Our current speed is 6kts and the temperature is 18 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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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