COMMAND DAY PART 2

Ahoy Shipmates,Please find attached Captains Log Part 2 from the Command Day Youth Crew Captains Pete & Mitch. You will also find some other entries from some of the other YC members of Voyage 15-08.Yours AyeCaptain GavCAPTAINS LOG PART 2Gday Everyone,We are still alive! And the boat is still floating! Yeeessss! After a difficult start involving a wayward fishing boat, Captain Mitch set Young Endeavour on a 6 hour journey North East of Pembula. Perfectly guided by our navigator Kathryn, we arrived at the way point right on time. During the voyage, Sailmaster Jonno was as always on top of his game maintaining balance, speed and direction. At around 10:30 during 25 knot winds Wind Watch bravely sea-furled the sails upon the Topgallant, Topsail and Course yards. A truly inspirational effort which set the standard for the youth crew for the remainder of the voyage.At 2am just after passing the waypoint, the fearless Captain Pete and crew emerged from below to take the bridge and continue the voyage. With difficult winds seemingly blocking the path to Eden, sailmaster Henry and navigator Hannah joined heads to weave a path into the anchorage target. After only two hours of guidance, the decision was made to tack the ship and start heading back to the Australian coast. Tacking the ship involves all hands and all sail sections working in time and complete unison in order to be successful. A task made all the more difficult by icy temperatures, darkness and heavy seas! The maiden attempt to tack without guidance of staff was somewhat unsuccessful but proved to be valuable education for the future tacks. Six hours, two watch changes, four passing vessels and three whales later the youth crew neared her target. Young Endeavour wrestled with massive winds the whole way pushing us slightly north of our entrance to Eden’s Twofold Bay. This meant Captain Pete and his crew had to Beat the Wind in order to safely sail to anchorage. Five tacks later and the Ship was struggling to make it home on time. Plan B was set into action and with the help of Capt in Gav and his two massive engines plus the youth crew quickly on to the sails, Young Endeavour anchored safely by 2pm. Just one hour short.Overall Command Day was a huge success. Despite falling short of our target by a mere 2.2 nautical miles, all involved from chefs to watch leaders down to Indians (as uncle Gav) likes to call them really pulled through and we are all extremely proud and overwhelmed with our sense of achievement.From Pete and Mitch we are extremely proud of the youth crews involvement and cooperation we could not have achieved it with out you all. Its been an incredible privilege to be given the opportunity to be captain of such an amazing ship and crewï¿½ï¿½.Off turns!!Mitch and Pete.Hey everyone that’s following our journey its around 9pm on day 9 and I’m pretty dam tired and missing my bed, four pillows, beer and doggies so much right now. As far as sleep goes I have been getting very little sleep having difficulty trying not to fall out and fit in my rack which is made for short people lol. I have been a little crook withï¿½.. yes dad you have guessed it sore glands and an ear-ache but we are anchored at Eden right now so will hopefully get some sleep before my watch that starts at 2am. As you can see from previous posts command day was a blast and I am having fun but at the same time I am looking forward to coming home. I miss you guys heaps and cant wait to get home just to have 5 minutes to myself.. definitely a challenge living closely with so many other people that aren’t used to looking after themselves lolï¿½ but I have definitely learnt a hell of allot about myself and have lots of stories to tellï¿½.Cant wait to see you guys would kill for a little down time to chillax..Love you all and give the boys a kiss and cuddle for me hope all is well with the house and I shall see you at the airportï¿½ is Beni coming too?? Anywho I will call around 11am on Thursday morning to sort out the details of being picked up and to hear some familiar voices so look out peps I shall be on a calling rampage.Love bunches Carolyn xoxoxoxoI have been examining the coast of NSW in great detail. It truly is an interesting, mesmerising sight.Lobo LocoHello every one!!As you would have read up there^^^^ the youth crew commandeered the ship from the staffies for 24 hours and managed to sail it very successfully to Eden. Yes it is true, we had basically no help from the staffies and we ran it all on our own. The team work and leadership shown from everyone was absolutely fantastic, and the feeling when we anchored in Eden this morning is way too hard to describe!!We are all still having a fantastic time aboard here, all pulling our weight, but having a few good laughs as well. We have been getting a bit of free time too, but we always sleep during that because we have been working sooo hard!! Been battered and bruised a hell of a lot as well, but still smiling.One of the challenges that we faced was early yesterday, Captain Gav went ashore and hid the co-ordinates and information that we needed to sail away from anchor. A very brave crew, Richard, Leigh, Nina, Jasmine, Kate and myself paddled 500 meters to shore to collect the info. This was not helped by Paige and Jazz thinking that it would be a great idea to use the motor on their little boat to splash us, and then throw flour on us ha ha ha not!! We got our little boat ashore no problem, managed to run the length of the beach (you should be proud of that dad) get the info and then row back to the ship against the current without capsizing! lots of praise when we got back off the other crew members, and don’t worry we got Paige and Jazz back with the fire hose and other things which was very amusing if I don’t say so myself!Last few days left, which is a bit confronting because I just want it to last forever, ahh well you cant have everything in life.Well until Thursday at 1000 hours I guess this is it, im very proud at what we have all managed to achieve, the physical and mental challenges have been great and I have pretty much enjoyed every bit of this voyage, even the watches during the nights and early mornings when is below zero and the wind is bitter!Looking forward to seeing you all soon, missing you a lot and also looking forward to a good night sleep!Love you all lots and lotsMiley (Hannah W)Â

Latitude/Longitude:

37Â°5's / 149Â°52'e

Conditions:

Currently at anchor in Twofold Bay and experiencing very cold 10-15kt SW winds

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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COMMAND DAY PART 2

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