Command Day, Jervis Bay to Sydney

Elections were held on Sunday to determine the command crew forMonday and Tuesday, otherwise known as Command day. The group as awhole decided to keep the tried and tested chain of command structurewith a CO, XO, Nav, WO, 3 cooks and 3 watch leaders. the positionswent according to an impromptu voting system.The results were:CO JeremyXO SherynNav DanielWO TomCooks Fraser Adele AlWL Kate Jadee StanThe left over crew members formed the same three watches, Red, Blueand White.At 1300 on the 10 Apr 06, the ‘keys’ of the ship were handed over andwe were left to our own devices to attempt to sail the ship out ofJervis Bay, The bad news being, we’d used all of our lucky cards onthe trip through the bass straight, meaning that we had a head windbefore we even got outof the bay. After a slow start the command teambegan to realise the importance of the jib. After our first tack/3point turn, we set the jib to give enough speed to exit the bay.Heading with the wind at 55 degrees on the port side of the bow, thebest angle up the coast we could manage was almost 90, so after anassesment of the situation, another tack was in order. However,things rarely go to plan, and during the tack, the ship drifted 1/2 amile further south. As we tried to move up the coast we realised thatto complete the task of reaching Sydney in time to meet the GovenorGeneral, then wind would not be enough. So at 2030 The Captain(Chris) was asked for permission to use both engines, to which heagreed. With both engines running a slow journey North began, alwayskeeping the wind as close to the bow as possible (without sailsluffing). After another tack as we neared the coast, the course wasonce again set fo 070 degrees, which averaged an O/G direcction of090. after keeping this course for an uneventfful two hours, the crewwas once again roused to tack the ship at 2242, and beccause of thecold and the wind, they were only to happy to tack in 5 minutesbefore heading back to bed.A number of hours after the tack, captainChris advised that to reach Sydney in time a course directly into thewind would have to be set, the Officer Of the Watch (OOW) was only tohappy to oblige, and set a course that would carry us on the mostdirect route to Sydney.After a rivale of 0630 on the 11 Apr 06, I came to the bridge todiscover that the command team were an incredibly capable bunch, thedistance to Sydney had been greatly decreased as the night wore on,and We would only be 2 hours late. After morning briefing, the crewwent to Happy hour, with an emphasis on nooks and crannies, andcopious amounts of Brasso. The guys and girls really got into thespirit of Brasso, and had shone anything coppery coloured that theycould find. After turning directly into the wind the decision was tofurl all sails until we reached Sydney Harbour. The mainsail wasseafurled thanks to the work of Jack, Phil, Nat and . Afterrecieving a new set of three waypoints, the ship was turned slightlyEast to meet all waypoints, these being named, ‘Garden Of Eden’, ‘Ilove Cheese’ and ‘Boys look good in girls clothing’. For reasonsknown only to the crew. After passing over the last checkpoint justsouth of Sydney Harbour the engines were throttled back to allow timeto set as many sails as possible on approach to Sydney harbour. JeremyYouth Crew Captain
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind at 55 degrees on the port side of the bow
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Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!

ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”
