Day 10…Community Day Sail and a Final Farewell.

Ahoy shipmates…Day 10…a cool and breezy day on the magnificent Sydney Harbour. After a 0730 departure from our anchorage Hunters Bay, we made our way to Garden Island Navy Base to embark our guests for the Community Day Sail, our chance to host guests unable to partake in the full 11 day voyage program…always a highlight (see below for details). We are currently at anchor in Double Bay with spectacular views of the city, Opera House and Harbour Bridge…an awesome sight. Before I hand over to the girls…on behalf of myself the staff of crew of YE may I say it has been a genuine pleasure having this group of remarkable young Australians onboard. We have had as much fun as they have! They are all now part of the Young Endeavour family…and we look forward to having them back onboard. Tomorrow will be a little different than usual…we will be heading out of the harbour to rendezvous the Chilean Tall Ship Esmeralda and HMAS Melbourne for a formation entry into Sydney Harbour around 0830. As we make our way down the harbour a number of local tall ships will join us before we berth at 1000…should make for quite the spectacle! That’s it from me…for the final time this voyage, fair winds, Captain Kenny…out!———-

Day 10 Hey everyone, Ange and Zoe here doing the final Captains log for V12/19, day 10! The second last day of sailing started with a song over the pipes that woke us all up nice and early to prepare for half-day sail and a jam packed day of activities as we cruised around Sydney Harbour. On the half day sail, we were joined by Down Syndrome NSW, Girl Guides and guests to show off our fantastic ship. Many guests pitched in to set and furl the Forestaysail, Mainstaysail and Top Sail. One guest, Tim, from Down Syndrome NSW steered the ship through Sydney Harbour, and even did a better job than some of the youthies. Sailing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge we fired our two cannons that were incredibly loud and the sound echoed throughout the city, scaring most of the people on their mid-day runs. Some youthies climbed aloft to demonstrate our climbing skills and safety. Unfortunately Rachael lost her hat, although most of us found it quite funny as it was swept away in the water. Once back at alongside, we said goodbye to our guests and climbed aloft to harbour furl the square sails. This is necessary because we need the ship to be nice and tiddly as we sail in tomorrow, and to protect them when the ship isn’t at sea. To decide which watch furled which sail and who would ultimately be on each yard as we sail into harbour, Horto put us through our rope races finale. Red watch was able to come back with a string of victories to win the topgallant yard placement for tomorrows entry. We then went onshore for the final time before tomorrows last stop to discuss the entire voyage with our watch leaders. This was a great way to consolidate what we can take away from the voyage alongside the wonderful memories! For a bit of fun during pizza night, some youthies (Ange and Timmsy) decided to play a prank on Jimmy by placing some of his pants all the way up the main mast. Dion was informed and the prank went ahead with Dion hauling the pants up the flag halyard! To end our day, a slide show of photos and videos was presented to ignite memories of the voyage that we might have forgotten… whoops. All in all, youthies have had a spectacular day sailing around Sydney Harbour and enjoying our final days. When we came onboard this ship, we were ready for a voyage from Brisbane to Sydney, but now after eleven days testing ourselves, forming life-long friendships and learning new skills…we are ready to say ‘Bon voyage’ and set sail on the rest of our lives. As Captain Cupcake would do, we will leave you with a quote that sums up our Young Endeavour adventure:
“its not about the destination, its about the journey” (or something like that)

Zoe – Hey Dad, Kim, Mum and Damo, love you all and keen to come back home to talk about the trip. See you soon!
ps, please let me sleep in the car ride home, I’m tired. (still don’t love you Tom)

Latitude/Longitude:

33 51s / 151 14e

Conditions:

Wind: SSW at 8 knots Weather: Overcast, scattered showers Sea: Calm Location: At anchor Double Bay

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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Day 10…Community Day Sail and a Final Farewell.

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