Day 3 – Some Challenging Conditions

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to Day 2 of our voyage. As forecast the weather turned against us overnight and on entering the Southern Ocean we were greeted by a strong southeasterly headwind and a 2m confused swell which made the conditions both uncomfortable and challenging for our young mariners with most suffering from the â€˜Sailors Curseâ€™ (Seasickness) but all battled on. After a sleepless night we gave everyone a bit of a rest this morning then picked up the program with some sail work, rope races and a number of tacks to keep everyone busy. This hard work has paid off with us just reaching the sheltered waters of Robe where we will anchor overnight and give the Youth Crew a leg stretch on â€˜Terra Firmaâ€™ tomorrow morning before continuing our passage east. Thatâ€™s enough from me I will now handover to Manon and Chase fromWhite Watch who have done a wonderful job of writing tonightâ€™s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain Gav

Captains Log day 3
As Red Watch retired to their bunks, White Watch took up the helm from 1200 till 0400. It was already such a unique experience to explore the life of a sailor by day, but at night it was a whole new endeavour. As the Young Endeavour is not the biggest of its kind, the buffering waves gave us quite a ride, both in our bunks and out on deck. It was quite a process just too simply get out of bed, grab our harnesses and move from one side of the ship to the other without bashing from one object to another. On top deck, it was another challenge to try and navigate from one side of the ship to another whilst clinging on to something to prevent us from slipping overboard. The main task for the White Watch was to take turns learning about the Helm and navigating the sea. The others, recovering from bouts of sea sickness where in charge of looking out for floating debris and other objects that could possibly interfere with the engine; most of the time where simply questioning the life of a navy officer as they continue to share their wisdom with us. Before we could call it quits for our Watch, we had to gather what remained of our will power and strength to furl in the forestay sail which was placed at the bow of the ship; which is the more treacherous and rocky section of the ship. As one of the most challenging parts of our day, our team displayed great team work as we came together to help each other complete our assigned task.
Not before long the Blue Watch ascended from the hold of the endeavor to take the helm and sail to the brake of dawn. During our watch we spotted a great container ship out towards our starboard side which loomed out from the distance of the fog that encompassed us. We were regaled by the sea tales of Dazza who was our Staff Watch officer which he had gathered from his extensive time out on the great seas. During this time we found that our team grew closer as we supported each other on this great Endeavour.
As day brake descended the weather continued to harass the Endeavour as all watches worked together to hall-out the sails for the first time on our voyage. This presented a new challenge as we had to navigate the wind by tacking (changing direction of the sails) to catch the ever changing wind. Due to the harsh conditions of the sea and our lack of sea legs, today was a more of a relaxed day to reflect and support each other who were struggling to cope from the rocky sea. It was a time where we as a group, strengthened our endurance in which we can harness for the upcoming challenges.
Manon and Chase
PS. Ahoy, their mum! Thanks for the extra precautions on the sea sick pills. – Manon

Latitude/Longitude:

37 09.4 S / 139 45.5 E

Conditions:

Have just come to anchor at Robe and are currently experiencing moderate 10-15kt SE winds with nil swell. The temperature is a cool 16 degrees with a few passing showers.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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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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Day 3 – Some Challenging Conditions

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