Captain's Log

V12/26, Sydney to Brisbane

10 August 2026

Day 1 – V12/26, Sydney to Brisbane

Hi Everyone,

It’s Captain Gav back for another exciting Young Endeavour voyage. This voyage will see us sail from Sydney to Brisbane giving us the opportunity to explore some of Northern NSW and SE QLD’s spectacular coastline while being challenged by some unpredictable weather conditions, which is all part of the adventure. We have put together another great Staff Crew for this voyage who I know will take great care of our new Youth Crew ensuring that they all have a fantastic experience.

The Young Endeavour Staff Crew for this voyage are as follows:

Captain – Gav

Sail Master – Scott

Navigator – Bryn

Watch Officers – Tommo

Red Watch Leader – Benny assisted by Sean

White Watch Leader – Chris assisted by Sam

Blue Watch Leader – Sumo

Chef – Vinnie

Engineer – Matty

The voyage commenced at 1500 today when the new Youth Crew joined Young Endeavour berthed alongside at Fleet Base East’s No 1A Berth (Just behind the famous Harry’s Café de Wheels in Woolloomooloo). Once we had everyone on board and gear stowed, we mustered our new Youth Crew with family and friends up on deck where I gave my welcome address followed by Staff Crew introductions. On completion we farewelled family and friends then got straight into a safety brief. At 1600, we departed our berth and made our way around to Middle Harbour’s Hunters Bay via the Eastern Channel staying well clear of huge cruise liner who was coming down the Western Channel. During this passage, the Watch Leaders conducted some ‘Ice Breaker’ activities and Ships tours prior to coming to anchor in Hunters Bay at 1705.

Dinner followed, with tonight’s menu consisting of Chef Vinnies Chicken Katso Curry with Rice or Roast Lamb with an assortment of vegetables followed by a wonderful selection of deserts. Once we had cleaned up from dinner, I completed my Captain’s Brief, followed by Scott’s, Sail Master Chat. With these chats out of the way we have spent the rest of the evening doing full value contacts, harness briefs and some deck safety and following a busy start to the voyage are just about to turn-in for a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow morning we plan to conduct our first climbs of the foremast before departing our anchorage and commencing our passage north.

Until tomorrow, take care.
Yours aye,
Captain Gav.

Latitude/Longitude:

33 49. 3 S / 151 15.5 E

Conditions:

Currently at anchor in Sydney Harbour’s Hunters Bay and experiencing moderate to strong 15-18 NW winds with nil swell and the temperature is 13 degrees.

AUTHOR: Peta Binns

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V12/26

11 August 2026

Day 2 – V12/26, Sydney to Brisbane

Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 2 of our Voyage. Our new Crew awoke to a fine Sydney morning but a little cooler than expected. We kicked of the morning with an Early Morning Activity (EMA) at 0630 which consisted of a few laps of Young Endeavours deck followed by a getting to know you exercise run by Scotty our amazing Sail Master. Breakfast then Morning Brief followed then Scotty got everyone back on deck in their harnesses and then with a little trepidation everyone completed first climbs of the foremast. This activity took the rest of the morning which to be honest was expected as it can be quite challenging for those that are not comfortable with heights. Following another one of Vinnies delicious lunches our young mariners were back on deck learning deck safety and how to set and furl sails. At 1430 we weighed anchor and proceeded out of Sydney Harbour where we were greeted by a long rolling SE swell and 14kts of wind which really was quite pleasant, so we continued with more sail setting until dinner. At 1815, we again mustered back on deck where the Youth Crew learnt how to set the mainsail and jib and once complete, we conducted our first set of tacks as a Crew. It really has been a busy day, but we have achieved everything that we wanted to which is extremely pleasing as it has set us up well for a good sail overnight. Overnight the Youth Crew will settle into their watch routine as we make best under sail along the NSW Coast. Until tomorrow, take care. Yours Aye Captain Gav.

V11/26

23 July 2026

Day 10 – V11/26, Sydney to Sydney

Welcome to the Captain’s Log (CLOG) for Day 10 of Voyage 11/26, Sydney to Sydney, brought to you by Captain Mike. The Ship weighed anchor at 8.00 am and undertook the passage from Hunters Bay to berth at the Fleet Base. During the transit the YC conducted Happy Hour to have the Ship looking her best for when we embarked our guests. We berthed at the Fleet Base at 9.00 am and disembarked some of our accumulated rubbish, which was almost over-flowing from our bins. Our Community Day Sail guests from the Autism Community Network and YE Youth Scheme partners (sponsors) from Schwinghammer and the Rural Fire Service Association embarked at 9.30 am and we departed the berth at 1000 am. During the 3 hours on the harbour we set 2 Staysails, with help from our guests, and undertook a leisurely sail up the eastern channel into North Harbour and returned south of Shark and Clark Islands. The YC assisted with hosting our guests by taking them on Ship tours, involving them in setting and furling sails and serving them lunch. We berthed back at the Fleet Base at 1.00pm and once our guests were farewelled, the YC went ashore in their watches to conduct the end of voyage debriefs. On their return we had our traditional final night homemade pizza dinner on deck and then completed the outstanding Command Day tasks. These included a YC song and the voyage slide show, which gave everyone the opportunity to reminisce the adventures of the last 10 days. Once the end of voyage administration was complete, the crew retired to bed for their final sleep onboard. One of the tasks was for the YC to write a letter to the next YC offering them advice for the start of their voyage. It was written by Youth Crew Captain Lucy, and is attached below: As you’ll soon discover, command day is tough. Yes, guts watch is a pain and getting up in the middle of the night to tack may suck - but the true tough challenges are more than what the sea can throw at you. Making decisions isn’t easy and you’ll all soon come to realise that attempting to make everyone happy is akin to that of a miracle. When the helm is in your hands, you’ll see a dynamic shift. Just like the wind, the change in 'pressure' as the staffies take a step back, it can go one of two ways. It could become a cyclonic weather system - arguments and angst and feeling like everyone's against you or it could be like a tail wind with the squares sails set. You see, the challenge lies within each of you. You have to step up and show up, work as a team. And that’s much easier said than done. You've made it this far - have faith. Every single one of you is able to do this. You can call the sails. You can plot the fix. You can heeeeeave in the sheets. And if you can’t, you’re part of a crew where people can. Have faith in your command day leaders but importantly have faith in yourself as the crew. The whole crew. A ship can only be as good as those who sail it. It will take a village and strength and perhaps little sleep. Good luck. We wish for your sails to be full and your journey successful. Thank you, Youth Crew of V11/26 for your tenacity and your passion. The Staffies have enjoyed sharing Young Endeavour with you. Yours aye, Captain Mike

V11/26

22 July 2026

Day 09 – V11/26, Sydney to Sydney

Ahoy there sea dwellers and land lubbers, Welcome to the Captain’s Log (CLOG) for Day 9 of Voyage 11/26, Sydney to Sydney, brought to you by Amberley, Paige, Mitch. Today we rounded out Command Day with a navigation way point task, however….. the wind had other plans. We spent a large amount of the early hours of the morning travelling ~3 knots (nautical miles per hour), which after our rough start in the late hours of the night, was starting to feel like a relief, but… after 0630 our speed dropped to 1 knot. As we crawled and fought our way into Sydney Harbour there was a sense of accomplishment, camaraderie and maybe a little bit of relief as we handed the ship back over to the staffies. We anchored in Hunters Bay and enjoyed a siesta before lunch. After lunch we competed in the final round of ROPIES!!! A final chance for the watches to battle it out for some points, at the end the watches were tied so we went into a brutal bonus round, Zooper Dooper speed eating with white watch taking out the win. An honourable mention to blue watch member Connor for a record breaking 5 seconds to finish a Zooper Dooper!!! We then went into a Command Day debrief where all crew reflected on the last 24hrs. During this brief there were discussions on what went well, what went not so well and the takeaways from command day. A common theme across all groups was a strong sense of camaraderie and teamwork which was well thought of. The very much anticipated rope swing was rigged, and we enjoyed utilising the swing as well as jumping off the bowsprit and we got to have an exhilarating but chilly swim in the Bay. After a long but fulfilling day, we had dinner, and then Harbour Furled the square sails which consisted of the youthies climbing the foremast and folding the sails into themselves to allow the UV cover to protect the sail and square them away. We are anchor watchkeeping overnight and weighing anchor tomorrow morning to proceed to the Fleet Base to pick up our Community Day Sail guests. More on that tomorrow evening. Thank you for writing the CLOG for today, Amberley, Paige and Mitch it was a great read. Yours aye, Captain Mike

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Day 1 – V12/26, Sydney to Brisbane

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