Day 14 – The Corinth Canal

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 14 of our voyage. Since departing Volos we have continued to experience light winds so it has meant that we have had to utilise main engines. The positive to this is that we have made good speed which enabled us to transit through the spectacular Corinth Canal in daylight rather than darkness as previously expected.Â Besides passing through the canal we have been busy with our training program and have managed to fit in a Navigation brief, Rule of the Road presentation and the first of my Sail Theory lectures. On top of all this we have still had time to sit around on deck watch dolphins surf in our bow wave and enjoy sailing (motoring) through the picturesque Greek Islands.Tonight it is back to Red Watch writing the Log so please enjoy tonightâ€™s entry written by Ann and Mon. Enjoy!Â Â Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavÂ Â Captains Log: 07MAY15Â Â Ahoy there land lubbersÂ Â Last night Red Watch (GotheREDs) and a few celebrity climbers were treated to a spectacular sunset from the platforms on the foremast as we headed towards Athens. The moon rising a few hours later was equally as impressive. Red Watch continued the fine tradition of keeping watch from the bowsprit to enjoy the sights. Blue Watch reported that this morningâ€™s sunrise was also superb.Â Â After this beautiful start to the day we continued our adventure through the Aegean Sea, beautiful blue skies and no wind. No wind means no sailing ïŒ None the less, we had a FABULOUS day! We navigated our way around many ships in the busy shipping channel on our way past Athens. A few eagled eyed Crewies tried to spot the Pantheon from the Young Endeavour weâ€™ll let them tell you if they saw it. Everyone is madly learning different knots, practicing setting and furling sails in preparation for when the winds turn in our favour and we can sail through the Mediterranean.Â Â Salty the Sea Dog imparted more nautical knowledge on the Crewies. We learnt why the heads (toilets) are called the heads. A beautiful theatrical production was performed by cheeky Jack (Dougie) and our beautiful female figure head. It was an enlightening experience for all onboard and also for the Greek ferry passing our portside.Â Â Miquela then taught us what happens when you cross an alligator with a GPSâ€¦ you get a Navigator! LOL! Our navigation knowledge improved from this NAVSTRAVAGANZA session. Weâ€™re now theoretically competent on how to take fixes with the use of GPS, radar or sight. The watermelon globe reappeared to explain latitude and longitude, it was very tasty and interesting.Â Â Our goal of the day was to arrive at the Corinth canal in daylight hours, and we did!! While Lindsay paid the toll, all the Crewies with GoPros scrambled all over the ship and masts to set them up for the passage though the canal.Â Â Going through the canal we saw incredibly blue waters, steep cliff faces with many hidden caves which made it an extraordinary experience. Words canâ€™t really describe what we saw but hopefully the photos do it more justice. We had the current of the canal with us and because we have the best Staffies we made our way through with no problems. Jen was on one of the traffic bridges above working hard getting some aerial photographic shots. HI JEN!!!Â Â Goodbye Aegean Sea, Hello Ionion Sea!Â Â Matt turned midships into an active classroom to teach us about Rules of the Road (Sea). Thankfully we know portside (red) and starboard (green) as this makes it easier to understand these rules. With the use of fenders, we successfully navigated our way around the midships sea with the Red Watch leading the way home in record time. WOOOOOO!Â Â Our resident dolphin linguist (Ann) communicated with her fellow mammals of the sea and persuaded them to come and ride the bowsprit. We were treated to a pod of dolphins frolicking for what seemed a long time. What a way to finish an already incredible day!Â Â Shoutout to the chefos who continue to cook us some amazing food! Thanks dudes!From the Ever Ready Reddies,Ann and MonÂ Â Hey Wigs! Missin you heaps! I Love you! Love CoolcatHi Mum, Dad, Tom and Lou!! Hope you guys are staying groovy! I still pinch myself regularly not believing that Iâ€™m actually here! Miss you guys but having an incredible time! Love MonÂ Â Hola family, having a whale of a time! Hope all is well in the Roy. Hello Southern Downs, QLD, hope you guys and gals arenâ€™t working too hard. Lots of love AnnÂ Â Hello again to Max and all the loved ones. Only moments ago I descended from the main mast after climbing it for the first time, and spending half an hour up there watching our passage through the Greek Islands. Earlier today I almost missed dinner due to dolphin distractionsâ€¦what a life! I really feel that I am settling in to this amazing experience and am so excited to see what every day will bring! All my love, AtlantaÂ Â Hey Mum and Lauren, leaving Greece for Malta. We went through the Corinth canal (google it) and it was great. Miss and love you â€“ ZachÂ Â Hey hey, Tom here, big hello to friends and family back home, having an absolute ball in the Greek Islands, sunsets, sunrises, moonsets and moonrises are unreal â€“ last night was spectacular. To Mum and Will, hope youâ€™re enjoying (sunny) Queensland and school, missing you both lots! To Dad, hope things have been running smoothly since we last spoke, word Mum up on viber and Iâ€™ll make sure I get to call everyone when I get a signal. Tom x”Â

Latitude/Longitude:

38Â° 17' North / 22Â° 10' East

Conditions:

Currently located in the Ionion Sea and experiencing strong WNW winds with a .5m NW swell. Current speed is 5.5kts and temperature is 20 degrees.Â

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 14 – The Corinth Canal

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