Day 12 – Officially in the Doldrums

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 12 of our voyage. Thanks to Matt our lovable Navigator Fridayâ€™s onboard Young Endeavour are known as â€˜Floral Fridayâ€™ and all of us try to wear clothing that is floral design and loud! Some of the new Crew have already joined in by wearing whatever bright clothing that they brought with them but I anticipate seeing a lot more once we have visited the Cape Verde Islands.Â I think today we are really feeling the effects of the Doldrums as the wind has become light and variable and even setting the Fisherman Staysail our light weather sail could not entice the wind gods to provide us with anymore than a light puff of wind. Our only saving grace has been the passing rain squalls which cool everything down and normally give us about 15 minutes of wind before we are back to light and variable again. That as they say is the joy and the frustrations of sailing!Â Â Tonight it was Red Watches turn to write the Captains Log with Helena volunteering her talents to write tonightâ€™s entry. Enjoy!Â Â Special Note: We will be making a call to ABC Radio Maccaâ€™s â€˜Australia all Overâ€™ on Sunday Morning (Aus Time) so hopefully if you are awake you will listen in. Â Â Â Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavCaptains Log Friday 27 February 2015Ahoy to all the dedicated and the not so dedicated readers of the Captains Log from somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean!Â Â Floral Friday started off for Red Watch rather moist and an hour earlier than usual due to changing our clocks forward one hour in preparation for arrival at Cape Verde (still over a week away, but we like to be prepared). Whilst the rest of the crew enjoyed their sleep in on another Saturday Sea routine, we kept the ship safe and sailing in relatively the right direction â€“ especially when Goody was on the helm.Â Â After what we were told was rather a loud wakey wakey (apologies) the first activity of the day was lunch, followed by afternoon brief where the lucky crew in the front row learned first hand the origin of the word â€˜Headsâ€™, and then happy hour!Â Â Once the ship was spotless it was time for Rope Races. The competitive, non competitive races have previously seen Red Watch dominating (thanks to the dedication and support of our amazing watch leaders Jodie and Lindsay (they didnâ€™t tell me to write that at all)) – but recently we have been lulling the other watches into a false sense of security by letting them win the bonus rounds. Todayâ€™s bonus round was seeing how far along the ship each watch could throw and catch a raw egg without breaking it. Victory today was well deserved by Blue Watch who were prepared to sacrifice Jezza overboard in the name of catching the egg and winning the bonus round. Obviously, Red Watch purposely tried to throw our egg down a vent in the name of being good sports and sharing the winnings.Â Â After ropies Dion gave an explanation of one of the last sails we are yet to set â€“ the fisherman staysail. A sail used in light and variable winds and very rarely set on the Young Endeavour, so it was awesome to be some of the few to see the Fisherman Staysail in true full glory.Â Â Unfortunately the sail wasnâ€™t set for all that long, as by the time the Reddies were back on watch after dinner, we were approaching a storm and the sail had been already furled. It was then left up to four lucky reddies to climb the foremast and sea furl the sail before we sailed into the storm.Â Â And since I wrote that last sentence â€“ we have managed to avoid all ideas of a storm, are currently lulling about in 4kts of wind and it officially looks like weâ€™re well and truly stuck in the â€˜Doldrumsâ€™. A slow night aheadâ€¦Over and/or out,Â Â Helena.Â Â Ps. Hi Mum, Dad and Sonya! Iâ€™m still alive â€“ no rash will be the death of me! And if the guys at work are reading this, I may have lost a shirt to the Ocean, but I still have my sunnies!! Xo Helena.Â Â PPs. Welcome into this world Jack! Your new Uncle AaronÂ Â PPPs. HAPPY FLORAL FRIDAY EVERYONE. Love MattÂ Â PPPPS â€“ Wishing Zach and Laura a super happy Wedding Day back in Melbourne! Sending all my love for what I know would have been an incredible celebration with all your nearest and dearest. We enjoyed some classic wedding songs on deck in your honour this morning. Much Love, Sian xoÂ Â Ppppps. Happy 50th Lizzle!!! I hope you still managed to have a wonderful day without me. Give Hayley and Max a massive hug for me, having loads of fun on the voyage. Met some amazing like-minded friends! Canâ€™t wait to give a call at the other side. Lots of love, Luke.Â Â 6xP.s. – Hey again Canberra! Shout out to the Hopscotch crew. Father, I am being a good boy and will update you when on land. I will also give Nan a call. I love you Mum and Troy, I hope life is good! I love you Ally, thinking of you

Latitude/Longitude:

4Â° 40' South / 30Â° 18' West

Conditions:

Currently located 295nm from the Equator and experiencing light and variable conditions with a .5m ESE swell. Current temperature is 24 degrees.

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 12 – Officially in the Doldrums

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