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Day 09 – V07/26, Sydney to Newcastle
Ahoy there readers of the V07/26 Captain’s Log, welcome to day 9!
While the rest of the country woke up to the Easter Bunny’s delivery, we were experiencing a special Easter at sea. Not just any day at sea, but Command Day. It has been a challenging and super long 24 hour period that we call command day. The day is our opportunity to put everything we have learned together to sail the ship.
We weighed anchor at around 1645 and we set sail on our journey to Shoal Bay in Port Stephens. Overnight we conquered some pretty treacherous challenges; rain and big swells, a very rocky night indeed. Perhaps the worst one yet. But! That didn’t stop us, we came together as a team and set the sails, continued our overnight watches and still had a good laugh.
This morning we woke up bright and early at 0730 and were ready to arrive at our anchorage. But that didn’t stop our amazing master chefs from whipping up a beautiful brekkie of pancakes and found some eggs on our bunks. Once we were at anchor, we had 45 minutes left of Command Day and we made the most of it. We had our morning brief with our Watch leader Will, Captain James, Nav’s John and Aman and some wise words. We even had a special guest Peppery – the offsider to our resident and wise old sea guide, Salty.
At 1000 we handed the ship back over to the staff and went into a ship siesta to recover from Command Day. We were lucky, gaining an extra hour of sleep – thanks daylight savings.
At 1300 we had deck games, ropies and got into our debriefs, breaking down command day and taking away so many valuable life lessons. During ropies we had an Easter themed bonus round, seeing which watch could make the best Easter egg parachute and tested them out by launching the eggs from the mast.
It’s truly amazing, its difficult to put into words that do it justice, how we have all bonded into such a brilliant team over the short span of nine days! We just sailed a tall ship for 24 hours! All the way from Broken Bay to Port Stephens and into our anchorage in Shoal Bay tonight. Incredible! We are grateful to rest after such a tedious day. Getting ready for final few days left on board which is upsetting.
Happy Easter everyone!
Ben and Peyton.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wx - Sunny, Wind 15kn and seas 2m all out of the South. 25 degrees.
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Ahoy readers of this fine journal. Voyage 08/26 is underway, and we are kicking off from the great city of Newcastle, bound for Sydney over the next 11 days. The stunning New South Wales coastline is our playground, and we intend to make the most of every nautical mile.
The Navy crew for this voyage include Sailmaster - Sarah, Navigator - Jack, Officer of the Watch - Jessie, Engineer - Mark, White Watch Leader - Mitch, Blue Watch Leaders - Chuckles and Chris, Red Watch Leader - Simon, and Chef - Nathan (our culinary maestro). A fine and capable bunch, and one ready to show our Youth Crew what life under sail is all about.
We are started alongside in Newcastle, and this afternoon at 1500 we welcomed our Youth Crew and their families aboard for the opening ceremony — always one of the most energising moments of any voyage. Since then, the ship has been alive with activity; new friendships forming, harnesses being fitted, and wide eyes looking aloft at the rigging. The evening has been spent climbing, learning the ship, and learning about each other.
The vibe onboard is outstanding. There is real energy in this crew, and all signs point to Voyage 08/26 being one to remember.
Tune in tomorrow to see where we end up!
Captain Leups Out ⚓
- Your Captain, James and your Sail Master, Will.S
