AT ANCHOR IN COFFS HARBOUR

PAST 24 HOURSDURING OUR SECOND NIGHT AT SEA, WITH WIND NOW FROM THE SOUTH WEST AT 15-20 KNOTS OUR YOUTH CREW WERE DOING SOME QUALITY CLOSE HAULED SAILING IN SOME TRYING SEA CONDITIONS. THIS OF COURSE MEANT THAT OUR SQUARE SAILS WERE NO LONGER REQUIRED AND NEEDED TO BE SEA FURLED, CORRECTLY STOWED. THIS PRESENTED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR YOUNG ADVENTURERS TO DO THEIR FIRST SIGNIFICANT WORK ALOFT WHILST WE WERE UNDERWAY.THEY AS ALWAYS ROSE TO THE CHALLENGE AND DID A MAGNIFICENT JOB,HOWEVER SOME RETURNED TO THE DECK WITH SLIGHTLY LESS STOMACH CONTENTS THAN WHEN THEY EMBARKED ON THE TASK.IT WAS AN UNCOMFORTABLE COURSE OVERNIGHT AS WE CONTINUED OUR JOURNEY SOUTH. HOWEVER, AFTER A TOUGH NIGHTS SAIL THE SHIP WAS IN A GOOD POSITION TO HEAD INTO ANCHOR AT COFFS HARBOUR. ANCHORING JUST AFTER 1030 OUR TEAM WAS INTO ANOTHER ROUND OF ROPE RACES FOLLOWED SOON AFTER BY LUNCH.ALL YOUTH CREW REMAIN IN HIGH SPIRITS AND ARE EAGERLY ANTICIPATING SOME SHORE TIME AND SPORTS IN THE LOVELY COFFS HARBOUR. NAUTICAL TERM OF THE DAYKNOW THE ROPES: (SKILLED AND EXPERIENCED) THE RIGGING IN A SQUARE-RIGGED SHIP WAS A VAST, COMPLEX NETWORK OF CORDAGE. ROPES THATSUPPORTED THE YARDS, AND THE MAST AS WELL AS THOSE USED TO HOIST,LOWER AND TRIM THE SAILS. THIS COMPLICATED SYSTEM CONTAINED HUNDREDS OF SEPARATE PIECES EACH HAVING A NAME AND PARTICULAR FUNCTION. ONE WHO KNEW THE ROPES WAS SAID TO BE SKILLED, EXPERIENCED AND KNOWLEDGABLE.YOURS AYEDION CURTISLIEUTENANT, RANACTING CAPTAIN STS YOUNG ENDEAVOUR
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Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 5 of our voyage. Overnight and during the early hours of this morning we continued to enjoy a great sail around the southern Tasmanian coast with all of the watches kept busy with setting and furling sails and doing some practical navigation. By sunrise we were located just to the south of Bruny Island now just sailing under fore & aft sail and hoping that the day would get warmer, which sadly it didn’t. But the cold and a little rain hasn’t dampened our spirits and we have still managed to fit in a lot of great activities today and our young mariners continue to impress with their endless energy and motivation. That’s enough from me I will now handover to Riley and Jack who have done a great job of writing tonight’s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain GavV03/23 – DAY 5
This morning the youth crew of the STS Young Endeavour woke to the frightening sound of red watch singing a parody of Riptide by Vance Joy over the ships intercom. This was then followed by the message that blue watch, the watch that was on guts the night before, could have a well-deserved sleep in. While members from blue watch went back to sleep the rest of the crew made their way down to the galley to enjoy another one of Haydos fantastic meals. After everyone had had breakfast the morning brief was given at 0900 which involved informing the youthies of the day ahead and a very educational story by Matty on the origins of the nautical term “two six heave”. After the morning brief the crew went below decks for Chucky’s favourite part of the day: Happy Hour! (Also known as cleaning the ship hour). In the afternoon the three watches conducted rotational tacking stations. This involved the watches rotating through the positions that the other watches fill when we tack which helped the crew get a better idea on what happens when we tack. Captain Gav came up on deck to give us a crash course about sailing theory and the ships history. This was very interesting and gave the youth crew a helpful insight into why different sails are used depending on different wind conditions. Round 3 of the famous Rope races were then commenced at noon with a twist of the round being worth double points. This highly non-competitive competition ended with Blue and Red watch drawing making it a close race for the rest of the trip The biggest highlight of most people’s day was sailing through the straight between Tasman Island and Cape Pillar in the afternoon. We all gathered at the bow of the ship as we gazed upon the spectacular columnar basalt edged cliffs rose up on either side of the narrow passageway. We had to furl all the sails, which involved sending two youth crew members up the main mast in rough swells and high winds to gasket the sail. Engines where turned on for the first time that day so we could safely pass the straight. The effort was truly worth it as we passed the resident seal colony and schools of dolphins. One of the greatest things about the STS Young Endeavour is even though the ship may sway from side to side and youth crew struggle to walk straight without getting knocked into a wall; the ships Chef continues to work hard and impress us with meals made from a kitchen which is smaller than the size of most people’s laundry room. It continues to amaze me how he keeps this quality in these rocky conditions. Not enough praise can be given to the hard work this man puts in keeping everyone happy. Go Haydo!Hi mum and dad I’m still alive, somehow we are already halfway through. See you in six days. Jack. You probably won’t see this but love you to the moon and back mum and dad. Riley. Until next time… Youthies Jack & Riley

