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Cairns to Airlie Beach
Ahoy there shipmates, landlubbers and armchair sailors, it was a great pleasure to meet the lovely youth crew of Voyage 9 today in sunny Cairns, comprising 17 Aussie youth, from all over Queensland. They embarked at 1500 with friends and family in tow, who came to inspect the ship and the staff crew, and to farewell their loved ones for the next 10 days. I told them to rest assured, we would take very good care of their young sailors, as we have a skilled and experienced staff crew for this voyage… Namely: Sail Master – Reggie. Navigators – Jemma and Tori. BOATSO – Jordo. Red Watch Leader – TJ. White Watch Leader – Phoebe. Assistant White Watch Leader – Emma. Blue Watch Leader – Dan. Chef – Adam. Engineer – Sumo. On completion of the welcome and crew introductions, we farewelled family and friends and departed Cairns. Some 3 hours later we were safely at anchor in the vicinity of Fitzroy Island. Enroute, Watch Leaders kicked off the program with ice breakers and ships’ tours. A ripper dinner was served, then the Youth Crew were mustered at midships, where Sumo spoke of engines and plumbing and toilet paper (that’s all he ever talks about!). Reggie then spoke to them about youth crew responsibilities and a few ‘guidelines’ to ensure communal harmony and unconditional positive regard for all. I spoke to them about what to expect over the next 10 days and ways to ensure maximum involvement in the program. Simply, to ‘get amongst it’, was the key. Youth crew then split into their watches and commenced their seamanship training, consisting of line handling, safety and general principles. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow, and so our wonderful young crew turned in for a well deserved first nights sleep. Intention is to remain at anchor overnight, conducting first climbs in the forenoon and departing after lunch. The adventure has begun… I wonder where we’ll be this time tomorrow night? Good night and stay safe. Captain Adam Charlie Farley
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: ESE @ 5. Temp: 24. Barom: 1003.
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Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!
ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”
