At Sea under all plain sail
Ahoy Shipmates,This is Captain Bob rejoining Australia’s national sail training ship after a lengthy break while pursuing some adventures of my own. It is a privilege to be here once more working with our talented young Australians.Yesterday the youth crew all joined on time and after the mandatory initial safety brief we departed Devonport and proceeded to anchor off Egg Island a short distance from Devonport Harbour. At anchor ship familiarizations began and the intense process of turning 24 strangers into an effective team capable of sailing a complex tall ship began. Last night everyone made it to the topgallant yard despite a gentle roll which made negotiating the upper top that little bit more challenging, especially for a few who started to feel the effects of seasickness.This morning after a more detailed safety brief we weighed anchor, we have some 600 odd nautical miles to sail to Adelaide so we need to get some miles under the keel if we are to achieve all our voyage objectives. The youth crew tackled their first happy hour (cleaning stations) with zeal and we were soon stuck into the fun stuff of setting and furling sails and learning the rudiments of tall ship sailing. By late this afternoon we had completed our first set of tacks, a complex piece of teamwork in a square rigged ship and now we have settled into watches for the night. Yours Aye,Bob Williams,Lieutenant Commander RANR,Voyage Captain
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather partly cloudy, light north east wind, slight sea, low swell.
You might also be interested in
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