Day 1 – Farewell Newcastle…Hello Nelson Bay (and the Green Goblin)!
Ahoy shipmates…welcome to Voyage 14/19…and what a start! The adventure began with 24 young Australians joining Young Endeavour at 1500 today, with the ship berthed along the Newcastle foreshore at Tug Wharf 4. A large group of friends and family were in attendance, including a former Captain, Bob Williams, who was the Commanding Officer from January 1995 until April 1997. Good to have you onboard Bob. Also joining us for the farewell proceedings was Richard Forshaw, who sailed in Young Endeavour as youth crew 25 years ago, and as luck would have it, Bob was his Captain. And to top it all off, Richard’s son Connor has joined us for this voyage…pretty cool stuff! After quick tours of the ship, introduction of the staff crew (see below) and a few words from yours truly, it was time to farewell our guests and depart. The plan was to make a quick dash up the coast to Nelson Bay, so after a quick safety brief from Karly, we cast of lines, recovered our slipping party and sea boat, and made for the open ocean. With up to 27 knots of breeze outside the harbour we threw up a couple of sails and made our way north, coming safely to anchor off the Nelson Bay Marina at 2000. It was a little bit bouncy on the way up, and it would seem that a number of the youth crew received a visit from the dreaded ‘green goblin’, with some fish feeding taking place enroute. Speaking of fish (or mammals), 30 minutes in we encountered a pod of dolphins, the first of many for the trip I’m sure. After some time to recover their stomachs, the youth crew gathered at midships for briefs from the sailmaster (do’s and dont’s), engineer (showers, toilets and broken stuff) and myself (motivation). As I write the youth crew have split into their watches and are completing their ‘full value contracts’ (voyage goals), finalising ship’s tours, and are being introduced to deck safety. It’s been a long day for all so the intent is to wrap up proceedings with hot chocolate on the upper decks at 2200, before everyone hit’s the hay, with staff keeping anchor watches overnight. A busy day ahead. Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny……….Staffies – Captain-Kenny, Sailmaster-Harry, Navigator-Jerome, Watch Officer-Tracey, White Watch Leader-Karly, White Watch Assistant-Ben, Red Watch Leader-Blake, Blue Watch Leader-Darren, Chef-Marcus, Engineer-Reggie.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: SE at 6 knots Weather: Overcast Sea: Calm Location: At anchor Nelson Bay, Port Stephens
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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