Chomping at the Bit

Situation at 20:00- .Overnight there was only one occassion to call all hands to tacking stations, albeit at 03:45. We made good speed towardsPortland, partly as a result of the wind backing to the South. Most of the night watches were taken up with setting and furling quizzes and other sailing related training.At morning brief Salty Sea Dog Chooka described the nautical origins of the phrase ‘Hijack’, in a particularly animated fashion. Chef Polly stood in for Engineer Rags and did the honours with the scran bag. The pickings were slim, something that made XO Lolli very happy. Happy Hour was followed morning tea. The major activity of theforenoon was the demonstrational and rotational tacks. This is where the watches rotate through each other’s tacking stations. At the same time Captain John explains to each of the Youth Crew the command perspective of tacking and wearing Ship. This consolidates the sailing theory lecture delivered earlier in the voyage. The forenoon was finished off with individual watches conducting setting and furling drills.The Ship anchored in Portland Bay at 13:30 and before long the Youth Crew were ferried ashore to stretch their legs and raid thelocal shops. While ashore they held their command day elections. All hands are back onboard and have until 22:00 to pick the brains of the Staff Crew about the technical elements of command day. Tomorrow theYouth Crew will take command of YOUNG ENDEAVOUR for 24 hours and achieve as many of the 12 tasks set out for them as possible. Captain Michael and his team are chomping at the bit and ready to start.Sadly, this past Friday marked the completion of service of two of the people who are instrumental in providing support to the Ship. Nicole Handley has been the YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Youth Scheme Office Manager for quite some time and as such has been a key player in ensuring that the million and one details that are involved in getting the Youth Crew to the Ship are taken care of. Thanks for all your help Nic. The entire Staff Crew hope you have fair winds andfollowing seas in your future ‘Endeavours’. CPO Jack Onaca has completed a short tour as the Staff Crew Shore Administrator. He filled a temporary gap that was the result of a short notice posting of another member of the Staff Crew, and did a terrific job sorting out everything from postal votes to pay. Have fun in the tropics and keep in touch, we may call upon you again. On a happier note, a former member of the Staff Crew who has recently been posted back tothe grey-hulled fleet is to be promoted, largely due to the outstanding job he did in YOUNG ENDEAVOUR. LSWTR Wiggy Bennett hasbeen selected for promotion to Petty Officer as a result of hard work and dedication. From all of us here Wiggy, a big YOUNG ENDEAVOUR wave and a hearty congratulations for a well deserved promotion.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: The Staff Crew consists of thirteen members of the Royal Australian Navy, of which nine are onboard for any given voyage. They are specially selected for a posting to YOUNG ENDEAVOUR as a result of their professional competence as mariners and their personal skills as facilitators of the youth development program. The YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Youth Schemeconsists of defence civilians who oversee the content and delivery of the youth development program, and coordinate the processing of the Youth Crew applications, their selection for the different voyages,travel and other logistical requirements. The two halves of the YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Family work together to achieve the aim of providing young Australians with a unique, challenging and inspirational experience,which increases their self-awareness, develops their teamwork and leadership skills, and creats a strong sense of community responsibility.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Tack- (As in to tack the Ship)Changing the direction the Ship is heading by passing the bow throughthe wind. Wear-(As in to wear Ship) Changing the direction the Ship is heading by passing the stern through the wind.Thought of the Day: Never act a certain way to fit in, for when all your acting is done, you will have forgotten who you reallyare. Christopher Swift.Yours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RANHi Burnie, the weather is much better tonight, we are at anchor in Portland Harbour after an eventful night across Bass Strait. Strong winds, and a huge lean which actually put the portholes under water.Made basic living very much a challange. Moving into our ‘Command Day’ tomorrow followed by a half day sail with some guests Wednesday morning. Can recommend it to anyone, an enpowering experience. All mylove Lee, Tasmania.I have experienced so much more on this voyage than I ever would have thought. I have faced really bad sea sickness, a definite lack of sleep and aching muscles. At times I doubted my decision to come onboard Young Endeavour, but now that we are here, the night before our command day I can definitely say that it is an experience that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. In the past week I have learnt more about myself and others than I ever could have at home and being around such a wonderful staff and youth crew has made it so much more special. A big hello to my family and Aaron, I am missing you all heaps, and I’ll see you all soon.Ellen, 21 SydneyHello to all at home,I have had a great time it was a great experience I would never have missed the chance to come on board the Young Endeavour. Climbing aloft was an exhilirating experience and now comes easily to mostyouth crew as opposed to the start of the voyage. There are alot of things that the youth crew have gained and experienced from the trip so far. The tasks to come will be very rewarding to everyone as well.Miss everyone heaps and see you all on Thursday.Love Cass, 16 TasmaniaHi Everyone,This has been such a challenging experience. I’ve faced seasickness,tired muscles and lack of sleep but despite these things I have had a FANTASTIC time. A big thanks must go to the staff who are somotivating and enthusiatic making the voyage so much more enjoyable. I have learnt so much about myself and are ready to use thisexperience in my life after Young Endeavour. I thoroughly recommend this to everyone and anyone who want to challenge themselves and have fun. Hello to my family and friends, I love you lots and will see youall soon. Thanks for the memories Young Endeavour.Love Carrie, 22 Tasmania

Latitude/Longitude:

43Â° 21' South / 141Â° 37' East

Conditions:

At anchor off Portland. Wind: South at 15 kts, Sea State:1, Temp:12c, Cloud: 8/8

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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