Clearing the Heads

Situation at 20:00-The watches last night all achieved the challenge of climbing to the T’Gallant yardarm, as well as learning several knots, bends and hitches. All hands were called on deck at 06:30 for some early morning activity which consisted of a light jog around the upper deck and some exercises designed to promote teamwork.At 08:00 all hands were mustered aft for colours and morning brief. XO Bullet started the brief off with a rundown of the day’sactivities and was followed by Navigator Spanky showing us our position in Sydney Harbour. Chef Stony and Engineer Stewy eachbriefed the Youth Crew on their parts-of-ship including the dos and don’ts of the Galley and the Engineroom. Watch Officer Loz finished up with a Salty Sea Dog explanation of the nautical origins of the pharses ‘Not enough room to swing a cat’ and ‘Letting the cat out of the bag’.Once happy hour and morning tea were finished Captain Safety and Miss EPIRB briefed the Youth Crew on each piece of safety equipment onboard. This was followed by hands on training in line handling and deck safety. At 13:30 the Ship weighed anchor and the Youth Crew commenced setting and furling drills as well as tacking drills. By 16:00 we had cleared Sydney heads and were Southbound. The watch-on-deck closed up as we made nine knots with the wind on the port quarter. There are several very green faces both on deck and below and Chef Stony was a bit disappointed that not everyone took advantage of his fine supper.The weather is due to back around to the South tomorrow as a front moves through our area. This will mean an increase in the windand sea and will likely bring an uncomfortable ride and more mal-de-mare. All of this means that the Youth Crew will be faced with challenging conditions as they continue to develop their sea-legs andsailing skills.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR FACT FILE: All safety equipment onboard is maintained to the standard required by the Royal Australian Navy.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR carries eight 10-man liferafts each equipped with an Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). The ship also carries 120 life jackets.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR GLOSSARY: Log- An instrument used to measure the speed of the ship and the distance she has travelled. It is alsothe official book that the Officer-of-the-Watch uses to record the ship’s position, course, speed, weather and and any incidents or evolutions that have occurred. Dog Watches-The First Dog watch (16:00-18:00) and the Last Dog watch (18:00-20:00) are used to allow each watch-on-deck to rotate equally through the seven watches that the 24hour day is divided into at sea.Thought of the day- Character is power, it makes friends, draws patronage and support and opens the way for wealth, honour andhappiness. John Howe.Yours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RAN