Day 1 – Welcome Aboard and First Night Climbs!

Ahoy shipmates, and welcome to Voyage 8/19…Cairns here we come! Cooler than expected weather greeted the Youth Crew as they embarked Young Endeavour alongside Mackay Marina at 1500 this afternoon. A late minute cancellation saw 23 young adventurers join us for the trip north…one of our favourite voyages noting we will get to visit places like the Whitsundays, Orpheus Island and Hinchinbrook Island to name but a few. As the Youth Crew stowed their bags below, the small group of friends and family took the opportunity to cast an eye over the ship and then, with all the Youth Crew embarked, we gathered at midships for the formal welcome and introduction of the Staff Crew. For this voyage they are…Captain Kenny, Sailmaster Karly, Assistant Sailmaster Tug, Navigator Jerome, Boats Officer Ivanka, White Watch Leader Harry, Red Watch Leader Morgan, Blue Watch Leader Zac, Chef Marcus and Engineer Horto. Amongst our visitors we had Chris Galloway, a former Captain of Young Endeavour. I have him to thank for encouraging me to pursue a position in the ship back in 2006…very sound advice, thanks Chris. With the formalities complete our guests departed and the Youth Crew settled in with their Watch Leaders for ice breakers and detailed ship’s tours. Prior to dinner, Karly gave the Sailmaster’s brief outlining some guidelines for the voyage, which was followed by the usual delicious fare for dinner. I then gave the Captain’s brief, encouraging all to embrace the opportunities that would come their way over the next 11 days, ensuring they leave with no regrets. As I write Karly is giving the safety aloft and harness brief in preparation for first night climbs. The Youth Crew will lay aloft to the top of the foremast, some 33 metres in height, always a challenge. On completion they will settle in for their first night onboard, catching up on some vital sleep in preparation for the busy days ahead. We will remain alongside Mackay Marina tonight, departing at 0700 tomorrow morning…on to the Whitsundays! That’s it for now…time for me to go and assist on deck. Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: SE at 13 knots Weather: Cloudy Location: Alongside Mackay Marina
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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”
