At sea under three sails

1. Situation at 21:00 2. Last night proved to be an exciting part of the YOUNG ENDEAVOURexperience for the Youth Crew of Voyage 04/05. The wind increasedspeed up to 40 knots and the seas built up to 4 metres in height.Rain squalls repeatedly lashed the ship as the watch-on-deckshortened in sail until we were sailing under only the stormjib.Throughout the evening the barometer continued to fall as thewind and wave continued to build. There was lots exciting work ondeck to keep all hands busy. Apart from a sore wrist and an extrabruise or two, all hands weathered the storm and performed very well.By sunrise the full force of the storm was spent, although we had tostill endure several hours of an uncomfortable quartering sea as wemake ground to the North.3. The weather made it impractical to carry on with the plannedschedule. Morning brief consisted of an imformative pipe and theYouth Crew were able to make themselves as comfortable as possible.By this part in the voyage, these intrepid mariners were well used tolife on a rolling tallship and, despite the weather, spirits remainedhigh. Just after lunch we sailed under the lee of Cape Willoughby andcommenced our transit of Backstairs passage. The seas abated veryquickly and the wind gradually reduced to 25 knots.4. In the dog watches and the first watch, the Youth Crew conductedtheir mid-voyage talks. This is an opportunity for them to describehow they feel the voyage is progressing and how successful they arebeing in achieving their personal goals. It also provides the StaffCrew with customer feedback about what the Youth Crew feel have beenthe highlights and lowlights of the voyage and thereby allow theyouth development program to be continually modified to ensure itremains pertinent to the aims of our cliental.5. Overnight we will work our way further into Investigator Straitand be in a position to anchor in either Emu Bay or American Rivershortly before lunch tomorrow and make preparartions for command day.6. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: Since 1988, over 6,000 youngAustralians have taken part in a voyage in YOUNG ENDEAVOUR.Duringthis time there have been many changes to the youth developmentprogram but its mainstay remains the 10-day voyage. Command day,where the Youth Crew has the opportunity to take charge of the shipfor a 24-hour period, still remains one of the peak experiences ofthe youth development program and is an amazing example of whatteamwork and cooperation can achieve.7. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Freeing Ports – Openings at the bottomof the bulwarks that allow water on deck to quickly flow overboard.Furling Line – A line rove around a furling drum that allows staysails to be quickly and efficiently furled and set.8. Thought of the day: Far better it is to dare mighty things, to winglorious trimuphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rankwith those poor spirits who neither enjoy much or suffer much,because they live in the grey twilight that knows no victory nordefeat. Theodore Roosevelt.Yours, AyeJohn CowanCMDR, RAN