Day 9 – Some More Bad Weather

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 9 of our voyage. Sadly gone is our sunshine and smooth seas and we are back to cold days, strong headwinds, and now lightning and rain. I know that these things are sent to challenge us but itâ€™s about time we were given a break. Looking at the current forecast thatâ€™s about 36hrs away but hopefully it mayÂ come just a littleÂ sooner. All of that said, we are still smiling and remaining positive about the adventuresÂ ahead.Â Given the bad weather overnight I decided to give everyone a sleep in this morning so that they could enjoy some well earned rest. You have to remember that everyday the Crew spend a minimum of 8hrs on that open bridge in all weather conditions (plus all the other activities that we give them to do throughout the day) so I really do believe that they deserve a sleep in every now and then and especially on a Sunday.Â Â Tonight is White Watches turn to write the Log so please enjoy tonightâ€™s edition written by Amanda and Jess.Â Â Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavÂ Â PS. Having a few problems getting Photoâ€™s on the Log but will hopefully rectify this issue over the next couple of days.Â Â Â Captains Log 12 Apr 15Day 9Ahoy there!Aghh the Mediterranean, warm, sunny, beautiful daysâ€¦or so we thought. White Watch did the guts shift (1200-0400) and we encountered the complete opposite. It was a dark and stormy night, lightning lit up the sea around us as we battled through the rain and the hail to steer to course. Furling the fore staysail and centring the main staysail as waves crashed over us was a challenge that we rose to as a team.Â Â In the morning, sea sickness took over again and people were back to sprawling across the deck. Due to the rough weather, Captain Gav graciously gave us the pleasure of a sleep in (yahoo!) which we gladly took. All activities were put on hold for the morning and after lunch we finally were able to get up on deck and listen to the afternoon brief.Â Â Hearing the footy updates from back home put us all back in good spirits (thanks Lindsey!). Letâ€™s not bring up the Super 15â€™s score. Still waiting for the news that the Bunnies beat the Cowboys tomorrow (Jess), or hereâ€™s to wishful thinking.Â Â Taffy once again entertained us with yet another pirate story about the origins of the call â€œ2, 6, Heaveâ€. We are still not quite sure what they are but we heard a great story about how the American Civil War related back to KFC. It was, at least, highly amusing (thanks Taffy!).Â Â Following this we launched into our happy hour cleaning routine, which at this stage is very important as there is a nasty cold going around ship at the moment. Shaun then kindly gave us a not-so-brief low down on the inâ€™s and outâ€™s of the engineering of the ship, despite people falling asleep and trying not to vomit. Thanks for trying Shaun!Â Â Our second watch of the day was a great learning experience as we were taught how to put fixes on the chart to plot our headings. Our confidence has grown with taking the helm and steering to the course set by the navigator. Matt, our watch leader, has taught us how to be sexy at the helm and shown us some of his great moves (which we hope we donâ€™t see again).Â Â Dinner was nachos, pork stir-fry and roast chicken. Sadly we lost half the nachos but the half we had were delicious! Thanks AA!Â Â Our third and final watch of the day has begun with us seeing dolphins surfing the waves with the sunset as a backdrop. What a day!Ciao!Amanda and JessP.S A big Happy Birthday to Murray! Love you 65. Love JessÂ

Latitude/Longitude:

36Â° 42' North / 0Â° 15' West

Conditions:

Currently located 280nm to the east of Gibraltar and experiencing very strong 25-30kt NE winds with a 2m ENE swell. Current temperature is 12 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

You might also be interested in

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

THE VOYAGE

Latest Captain’s Log

BEFORE YOU APPLY

Apply for Financial Assistance

FOR GUARDIANS

Youth Safety & Mental Health

FOR ORGANISATIONS

Scholarships for Local Youth

ABOUT US

The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme

OUR COMMUNITY

Make a Donation

Day 9 – Some More Bad Weather

Latitude/Longitude:

Conditions:

You might also be interested in

Ready to set sail?

More Information

Donations

Contact Us

1800 020 444

Keep in Touch

1800 020 444