Captain's Log

Jul-16

30 May 2016

Day 10 – Final Night of Voyage

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 10 of our voyage, It was another clear but bitterly cold morning that greeted our Youth Crew at anchor this morning. Given this cold weather Matt the Sail Master decided to cancel our Early Morning Activity and let everyone enjoy a warm shower instead.

Following breakfast and a quick morning brief the anchor was weighed and we transited the short distance into Newcastle Harbour berthing at Queens Pier at 0830. Once alongside we off loaded 10 days of garbage then cleaned ship in preparation for our Half Day Sail Guests.

At 0930 we welcomed 17 students from the Dunedoo Central School undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh program and a large number of other invited guests from the Newcastle area onboard. Following my official welcome to our guestâ€™s and Taffyâ€™s safety brief, lines were cast off and we headed out into Newcastle Harbour where we set squares and sailed downwind out of the harbour and into Stockton Bight where we enjoyed a very pleasant sail.

During this period the Youth Crew acted as perfect hosts giving ship tours and telling our guests all about their experiences throughout the voyage. At 1215 we tacked ship then proceed back to our berth at Queens Wharf where we farewelled our guests.

This afternoon whilst still alongside the Youth Crew proceeded ashore with their respective Watch Leaders for end of voyage talks then on their return participated in their final round of rope races prior to proceeding aloft to complete harbour furls (very neat furls). Once completed, we departed our berth and returned to our anchorage just outside of the Newcastle Breakwater.

This evening we enjoyed a fantastic dinner cooked by Marcos our celebrity chef for this evening. Once clean up from dinner we all got rugged up then mustered up on deck to watch a slide show that the Youth Crew had put together which captured various moments and experiences during the voyage. This slide show has become a popular part of the Young Endeavour Program and gives the Youth Crew an opportunity to reflect on the past 10 days and their amazing experiences throughout the voyage.

The rest of this evening has been spent with the Youth Crew completing end of voyage questionnaires and â€œletters to themselvesâ€, which are returned to each Youth Crew member six months after voyage completion. Whilst the Youth Crew were completing these final administration tasks the Staff Crew took the opportunity to conduct our normal end of voyage debrief.

Tomorrow morning we hope to start our final day with an early morning climb so that we can witness what I am sure will be a spectacular sunrise from the mast of Young Endeavour. Following breakfast and morning brief the anchor will be weighed and once the Youth Crew have manned the yards we will proceed alongside berthing for the final time for this voyage at Newcastleâ€™s Queens Wharf at 1000.

Once alongside family and friends will be invited onboard for a tour of the ship and to witness my final address and the presentation of Certificates of Achievement to all of the Youth Crew. Following this presentation we will say our final emotional farewell to the Youth Crew of Voyage 07/16 as they depart the ship.

On a personal note, I would like to thank all of the Youth Crew of Voyage 07/16 for the effort that you have put in throughout this voyage and wish you all the very best for the future.

Young Endeavour will now have a short break in Newcastle before embarking our next Youth Crew on Friday 03rd June and sailing for Brisbane, which will be the second voyage of our 2016 Circumnavigation of Australia.

Until Next Voyage, take care.

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Latitude/Longitude:

32 54 s / 151 47 E

Conditions:

Currently at anchor just to the north of the Newcastle Breakwater and experiencing light WSW winds with a .5m SE swell. The current temperature is a cool 11 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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Day 10 – Final Night of Voyage

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