BACK IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 47 of our voyage and what a special day it has been. At 0245 this morning we crossed the equator and re-entered the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since the 2nd March this year which really does mean that we are getting closer to home.It would not be a proper crossing of the equator without a Crossing of the Line Ceremony and a visit from King Neptune and his misfit entourage which always keeps us on our toes. Even Tall Ship Captains are not spared from being held responsible for their actions and along with our World Voyage Pollywogs I was also suitably punished by Neptune. Talking of our Pollywogs, having all now crossed the equator and having been brought in front of King Neptune to answer for their crimes our World Voyagers are all now classified as Salty Shellbacks and can now properly lay claim to having crossed the equator under sail!Talking of sail the wind gods continue to smile upon us and we continue to enjoy moderate â€“ strong 15-20kt SE winds which are providing us with perfect sailing conditions and looking at the current forecast these conditions should stay with us for at least the next 72hrs.Volunteering to write tonightâ€™s Captains Log is Liv and Rudy so please enjoy reading about their day.Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavCaptains Log 07 October 2015Hello to our worldly followers!Today started early for most of us with the equator crossing! Some already awake for watch; others stumbled out of bed at 0230 for the very special occasion. Sleepy eyes, pitch black skies, but no Equatorial Buoy in sight, the YE Voyage 06/15 crossed 0 degrees latitude at 0245 Wednesday 7th October 2015!! As a group we all helmed across the line then posed for a bit of blinding flash photography. Photos and cheers aside we all went back to bed until wakey wakey, leaving many of us sleep deprived throughout the day. However, today was not the best day to be appearing on deck with half closed eyes as we were about to get a visit from King Neptune and Davy Jonesâ€™ Crew.The usual wake up and breakfast routine was in force in preparation for the royal visit. Our sail master of the day, Talbot, kicked off happy hour which was extra special as we prepared the ship for the prestigious ocean god. Whilst some of the crew were cleaning the heads they noticed something was slightly different, the toilets were flushing the opposite way due to the Coreolis effect (This may not be 100% accurate due to our vacuum suctioned toilets, but hey!).After lunch we were told not to wear our Sunday best clothes for the arrival of King Neptune and all for a very good reason! Tradition on the high seas for many years before us has involved chucking some stewed leftovers and condemning crew members to face before King Neptune himself. With Davy Jones by his side he decided guilty or not guilty (all guilty) and the festivities began. An unintentional food fuelled slip â€˜nâ€™ slide on deck, followed by a shower saw most, if not all the crew picking carrot, spaghetti, porridge and who knows what else, from behind their ears, between their toes, and other nooks and cranny’s of the body.Our game of ships assassin is also still going on with only 5 crew left to be slaughtered. Many people have been dashing between the heads and berths to avoid being caught (may or may not also be due to Mindelo belly). This has been made particularly difficult by our current sea state as we are on a permanent starboard tilt, having to basically climb from one side of the ship to the other. Keeping food on your plate and staying upright in the showers has become a bit of an ordeal.As we sail we have been myth busting many theories about what happens when crossing the equator, one of these being a complete flip of the northern sky into the southern. All northern stars have disappeared tonight and we can now see everything we can see from back home. Itâ€™s amazing! Along with this sudden flip, many of us lost our northern hemisphere currency from our pockets which we later found on the roof. The equator is a strange place.After our first day sailing in the southern hemisphere, many of us feel a little bit closer to home, definitely for some staff crew who havenâ€™t been in this hemisphere since March. We are still 371nm from the nearest Brazilian coastline making good 6kts of boat speed under sail at 1.5 degrees latitude and 1 day closer to Rio De Janeiro!! Bring on Brazil!Signing out from Liv and Rudy (Brittney) from the Southern Hemisphere.Shoutouts:Liv: Almost home guys! Not long now at all. It seems like this trip has gone ridiculously fast though. Hope you are all still well and I canâ€™t wait to chat soon. I am loving it out here! Miss you all xoxoBrittney (Rudy): Happy 21st Birthday to Me!!!! Wishing you the best of luck for your fishing comp Mumma! Sending good vibes from King Neptune and the fish gods from the Atlantic Ocean- 121cm coming for ya! â€“ P.s Me and Talbot caught a baby GT! Love you long time! xx Talk very soooooon!!!Annie: Only 12 days left until we arrive in Brazil! I canâ€™t believe how fast the days are going now! Missing you all heaps. Lots of love, Annie xox. â€“ Happy 21st gorgeous Rudy!!! Can not wait to celebrate with you tomorrowKate: Happy 21st birthday Kaity D! Sorry I couldnâ€™t be there to celebrate with you but I know you will do enough celebrating for the both of us. Canâ€™t wait to catch up when I get homeïŠ ps hey mum, dad and Nanna, hope everything is going well in the UK! Love from the latest shellback to join the HD clan.Nina: Hey KB. Not long now!!! Hope your trip is going amazingly. Canâ€™t wait to see you. Iâ€™m heaps strong now so weâ€™ll have to flip our Hope Floats responsibilities around. See you in a few days. XZac: hey mum and reg, all is well. Iâ€™m keen to have a few days in port before heading back up to Airlie so if you can hold off on booking a flight back north that would be sick. Thanks love you both xGood luck in your fishing comp Rudyâ€™s mum! ;)Axel: Hey Mum, Dad, Eric, Nicola, Charlee, Ryan, Gazz, Mill, Quandt, and any others that might be reading. Sorry I havenâ€™t sent a shout out until now. Looking forward to catchups and stories when I get back, having an absolute blast and I hope everything is great back home. Probably getting in on the 25th so will see you all sometime around then, Cya!

Latitude/Longitude:

1 degrees 40 minutes South / 30 degrees 51 minutes West

Conditions:

Currently located 1600nm from Rio sailing closed haulded under fore and aft sail and experiencing moderate to strong SE winds with a 1m NW swell. Our current speed is 6kts and the temperature is 21 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 11 – Last Day of the Voyage

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

V04/24

19 February 2024

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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