DAY 9 – COMMAND DAY PART 2

Hi everyone,Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Welcome to Part 2 of Command Day. Overnight the Youth Crew continued to sail the Ship well but at different times were challanged by the ever-changing weather conditions. These wind shifts resulted in the ship being called to tacking stations on numerous occassions throughout the night and as you can well imagine tested our young mariners.Finally at 0600 this morning they reached their final waypoint which was located just to the east of north head. At this time all sail was handed in and we entered Sydney Harbour and proceeded to anchor in Rose Bay. During the next five hours the Youth Crew completed all of their remaining tasks then handed the ship (in one piece) back to the Staff Crew at 1300.Following some well deserved ‘down time’ we conducted a facilitated debrief of the Command Day activity which gave everyone the opportunity to discuss the good, not so good and most importantly the ‘take aways’ from this experience that can be used in everyday life.Tonight following another one of Chef Squizes amazing dinners we conducted an ‘egg drop’ exercise prior to standing everyone down for the evening so that they can get a good nights sleep in preparation for tomorrow’s half day sail.Please find attached a number of log entries from some of the Youth Crew from Voyage 17.Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavÂ Â Youth Crew Captains Log Part 2Â Â Â Â I would like to say Hi to all my workmates- Iâ€™m still here!! Mum and Janine, see you guys on Wednesday and canâ€™t wait till then! Love you guys! Weâ€™re currently in Sydney so you guys may see the ship around! Missing everyone at home heaps and cant wait to see everyone when I get back! Iâ€™m having an awesome time though! Xoxo- Jess GHello Mum and Josh. Just thought Iâ€™d write a few (or more) words to say hi and fill you in on whatâ€™s going on right now. Weâ€™re currently anchored in Rose Bay right behind the Harbour Bridge and weâ€™ve had a chance to have a massive sleep today after getting up multiple times during the night to tack and wear the ship. I also went for a â€˜cheeky climbâ€™ up to the upper top early this morning with Dougie and it was awesome to stand on the yard and just take in all of Sydney. Tomorrow weâ€™re going to be having a half day sail with Macquarie Disability group so Iâ€™m very excited for that. Miss you all heaps and canâ€™t wait to see you in just over 24 hours time! By the way, Mum I donâ€™t know if Joshie told you but we are going to come back with you in your car to your house on Wednesday (I hope you accounted for us hehe). Love you all and Iâ€™ll see you soon! â€“Em XX P.s- huggies for my Joshie!Hello Everybody! Command day ended today and being as unbiased as possible â€“ I think I showed the strongest leadership of the whole youth crew who I must say did a great job! Looking forward to tomorrow, sailing around Sydney and not at all looking forward to leaving. See you soon, Haydn ïŠHey Mark and Loo (Prince Le Marcos and Perfect Lips) Itâ€™s Ally here. Completed Command day today which was so challenging but so awesome! Iâ€™m looking forward to going home but will miss everyone so much! Tomorrow we are all going to be spending half a day with a disability group and you know Iâ€™m feeling so excited for that, I want to do a group hug with you all! On Wednesday I will have so much to fill you in with in regards to life talk prince, ha ha I hope you have a lot to tell me, to, I also hope youâ€™re feeling a whole lot better. I miss you both so much and cannot wait to see you!! (I have our handshake ready for you Mark and a strike 1 ready you Loo!) Sleep well and I shall see you both soon, From your princess/ treasure xoxoxoHello Mum, Dad, Kirri and Riley, seasickness SUCKS!!! We finished Command Day today was very challenging but was such a great experience! Also.. Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you had a wonderful day! Looking forward to getting back onto flat land and excited to see you all! Love From Alyce!Hello Mum and Dad! I really hope your reading this tonight! We handed the ship back over to the staffies today in one piece as we completed command day. We are all looking forward to a well deserved, full night sleep tonight without having to attend to watches throughout the night. Iâ€™m finally well and truly over the seasickness and can enjoy Squizâ€™s delicious meals. I canâ€™t wait to see you on Wednesday and fill on in on the awesome times weâ€™ve all had! Everyone will be so missed though! See you soon! Lots of love, Moni xoxoHello Mum, Dad, Ramsay, Rowan and of course Allie! Command day was good but it was a big pain in the butt; my watch had to stay an hour overtime after the last dog watch had finished to tack the ship and furl/set sails. After I thought I could finally get a half decent sleep for my morning watch at 4am, everyone was rudely awakened by a sudden tack of the ship we had to do, leaving me quite tired for my morning watch. But it is all part of the experience I guess :PThe ship is currently anchored at Rose Bay, with spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge and the high rise buildings. The highlights of tonight were my watch making a contraption which successfully saved an egg from breaking after a large fall and my head being struck by a falling bucket (I am feeling alright, do not worry :P)Tomorrow, I will be making pancakes for breakfast for everyone and doing a half day sail with disabled people. Looking forward to it :DI better get myself well rested for tomorrow. I miss you all and I will see you all on Wednesday :DRileyÂ

Latitude/Longitude:

33Â°51's / 151Â°15'e

Conditions:

Currently at anchor in Rose Bay and experiencing moderate southerly winds with nil swell and some passing showers. Current temperature is 14 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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DAY 9 – COMMAND DAY PART 2

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