Captain's Log

Sep-16

25 June 2016

Day 10 – Final Night of Voyage

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day ten of our voyage. Following an early wake up call, breakfast and morning brief the anchor was weighed at 0800 this morning. Once clear of the anchorage we transited the 5nm under engines to the Gladstone Marina berthing starboard side to the Marina Service Jetty at 0900 where we off loaded 10 days of garbage and made preparations to welcome our guests.

At 0950 we welcomed 21 Half Day Sail guests onboard, including 16 members of the Gladstone Endeavour Foundation and 5 Staff Crew Guests. At 1010 we cast off lines and conducted the short pilotage back out of the Marina where engines were shut down and the ship brought under sail. During the three hours that followed the Youth Crew did a great job of keeping our guests entertained and everyone enjoyed a wonderful sail in light conditions.

By 1300 we were again back alongside our berth at the Gladstone Marina and once we had farewelled our guests we embarked dry and frozen and provisions for the next voyage. Once fully stored the Youth Crew competed in their final set of rope races then proceeded aloft to put on a good set of harbour furls (very neat furl of the squares).With this task complete they then went ashore with their respective Watch Leaders for end of voyage talks.

At 1700 we again departed our berth and proceeded back out to anchor at Quion No1 anchorage. This evening following another one of Chef Jenkoâ€™s amazing dinners we held a slide show on deck which gave everyone the opportunity to reflect on the past 10 days of the voyage.

The rest of the evening has been spent with the Youth Crew completing end of voyage questionnaires and â€œletters to themselvesâ€, which are returned to each Youth Crew member six months after the completion of the voyage. Whilst the Youth Crew were completing these final administration tasks us Staff Crew took the opportunity to conduct our end of voyage debriefs.

Tomorrow morning the Youth Crew will be awoken early for their final early morning activity. Following breakfast and morning brief they will pack their personal effects then complete their final â€˜happy hourâ€™. Whilst this is occurring the Staff Crew will weigh anchor and commence the short passage to the Gladstone Marina.

On nearing the entry to the Marina the Youth Crew will climb aloft and â€˜man the yardsâ€™ and with the ship looking as majestic as ever we will berth at the Gladstone Marina for the final time for this voyage at 1000. Once alongside we will invite family and friends onboard for a tour of the ship and to witness my final address and the presentation of Certificates of Achievement to the Youth Crew of Voyage 09/16. Following this presentation the Staff Crew will say their farewells to the Youth Crew as they depart the ship for the final time for this voyage.

On a personal note, I would like to thank all of the Youth Crew of Voyage 09/16 for the effort that you have put in throughout this voyage and wish you all the very best for the future.

Young Endeavour will now have a short break in Gladstone before embarking our next Youth Crew on Wednesday 29th June and sailing for Airlie Beach which will be our fourth voyage of our 2016 Circumnavigation of Australia.

Until Next Voyage, take care.

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Latitude/Longitude:

23 50 S / 151 19 E

Conditions:

Currently anchored in Gladstone Harbour and enjoying light SSE winds with nil swell and the current temperature is 15 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

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Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

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Day 10 – Final Night of Voyage

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