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Day 15 – Have Crossed the Line
Hi Everyone, Welcome to day 15 of our voyage. Well at 0232 this morning with the majority of Young Endeavours Crew on the bridge we crossed the Equator and entered the Northern Hemisphere for the first time since 1992. We even did our own distance countdown a little like counting in the New Years which made it all that more exciting.  Today we have continued to make good speed north but are still having to rely on our main engines due to the ongoing light and variable conditions. It is hoped that the wind will strengthen later in the week so that when we hand the Ship over to the Crew for Command Day they will be able to challenge themselves with some good sailing.Tonight’s writing of the Captains Log has gone back to Red Watch so please enjoy tonight’s edition written by Vic and Ronald.  Until tomorrow, take care.Yours AyeCaptain Gav  World Voyage 02 March 2015  Another Day, Another Sunrise, Another Sunset and lots of adventure fun and laughs in between.  Today started for most of us at approx 0215 awaken by white watch so as to be on deck and watching the radar screen when we crossed King Neptune’s Equatorial line the Equator. We all wanted to see those magic numbers trip over to 00. 00. 000. A countdown was done by all on the bridge. I’m not sure what we were expecting… a speed bump I don’t know. Nothing happened but it was exciting watching the numbers tick over. It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it other than to say “you had to be thereâ€. Eva, Bridge, Jezza and Ronald said they wanted to be the first across the equator so they sat out on the bow sprit meditatively gazing into the northern hemisphere, the ocean lightly lit by the crescent moon. Tilda had the distinction of helming the ship across the Equator, all ran smoothly or so it seemed till she may or may not have spun a cheeky donut to see the numbers tick over just another time!  Prior to morning brief this morning most of the Reddies went aloft to the “T†gallant for an hour. This was a significant moment for the watch as it was the first time as a watch we were allowed to climb on our own as a watch without our two fantastic Watch Leaders Jodie & Lindsey who supervised and watched us from below. Special thanks to Sian for taking the helm to allow the rest of us to climb together. We’ll look after you and pay you back later Sian.  Into morning brief we were educated by Salty the saltiest sea dog about the origin of the name ‘Nelson’s balls’. A well eloquently described story left Crewies in laughter and comprehension of yet maybe not too factual story of Naval/Sea/Ship History. Sometimes our Salties Stories are worse than Dad Jokes.  Back into watches for the morning Reddies were rostered 0800-1200 thus excluding us from the “happy hour†duties. This time did not go to waste shall I tell you, Robert and I sought the skills from fearless watch leader Jodie and resulted in some funky fresh hair cuts leaving other voyages jealous of our slightly less shabby looks! This tied us into another delightful lunch prepared by dear A-aron, Bridge and Tilda and a well needed afternoon siesta. Crewies were found resting wherever a shady spot could be found, under the few sails set or in the galley out of the suns harsh midday rays. Robert was found meticulously studying to prepare a metrology brief in the coming days, what a trooper, no holidaying here.  Another exciting part of today was a very special member of Red Watch (well let’s just admit it ALL RED WATCH ARE SPECIAL) but the wonderful Helena celebrated her birthday today! What an amazing place to do it and not to just celebrate it here on the Atlantic on the opposite side of the World to our home Australia, but to also do it crossing the equator.  An afternoon swim in the pool as suggested by Captain Gav as a birthday treat was a hoot (he knows us too well); followed by deck games involving little personal space and m&m’s. All too soon that time comes around again and its dinner! Fantastic fresh pepper tuna as caught by double A-ron yesterday was served with the Roe delicacy and an assortment of greenery. All staffies and crew were gathered in the galley for birthday chocolate cake and cheer, happy birthday Helena!  Dion had pre-ordered a dramatic sunset for this evening due to descend at 1846, bright orange corpuscular rays spray the sea with colour, as I sit to write this, yet another day almost over for the young endeavour voyagers. But wait! FISH ON! Yet again as dusk approaches Aarons rod is spinning out long! The line ran out about one hundred metres until Aaron got a hold of it and passed it over to the birthday girl! It was a BIG FISH- Helena battled it for about 5 minutes before the fish broke the line and swam free. As the rest of the line was being reeled in, the lure appeared to be hanging on by a thread but was left in the water at the last pull. Gav stopped engines and all began to rush in a last ditch attempt to save the lure. After about 15 minutes of mayhem and many feet running back and forth with a bucket and rope in attempt to save our lost lure, we LOST THE BUCKET! But we never gave up and retrieved both right before the sun was gone for the day. It was just as exciting as catching ‘the would be fish’.  In summation what another fabulously special day on the Atlantic seas!Out. Victoria & Ron  P.S. Happy Birthday to my Mum Jennifer! Sorry I couldn’t be there to celebrate. We should arrive in Mindelo in about a week so I’ll give you a ring when I can. Cass xxx  pps. Hiya westburys! Everyday I think you lot should just be here! Looking forward to sharing some stories when I return. Dad, got that new boat yet?;)  Mum, sorry about my hair cut! Jess hope ur smashing out that mind map of life!
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 115nm north of the Equator and still experiencing light 4-8kt NE winds with a 1m NE swell. Current temperature is 24 degrees.
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Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 9 of our voyage. Following a busy night of sail plan changes and early morning tacks the Youth Crew made their final waypoint at 0945 this morning which was a major achievement having safely sailed the ship all the way from Prosser Bay to the entry to Port Arthur. On achieving their final waypoint the Staff Crew took over and conducted a pilotage into Port Arthur coming safely to anchor at 1045. Once at anchor the Youth Crew set about completing the rest of their outstanding tasks prior to handing the ship back to the Staff Crew at 1300. With Command Day successfully completed the Youth Crew were ferried ashore early this afternoon where they completed the Command Day Debrief with all agreeing that it had been a challenging and rewarding experience. To finish the afternoon’s activities the Youth Crew were given a guided tour of the Historical Port Arthur Settlement before returning to the ship for another one of Chef Haydon’s fantastic dinners. That’s enough from me I will now handover to Jade, Lochie and Sophie who have done a wonderful job of writing tonight’s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain Gav The last 13 hours of Command Day proved to be very chaotic. We started the day at sea with unideal sailing weather – cold and dark with minimal winds. From 0001, we continued our course from Orford to our final way point of Port Arthur whilst keeping our usual overnight watches. On the guts, Red Watch successfully tacked the ship without needing to wake up anyone else – a mighty fine feat! The Whiteys (On ya Whitey’s!!) and the Blueys also had hectic watches setting and furling many, many sails. Then began the 0530 tacks… All youthies were up before the sun to the call of “Attention all Youthies - all hands to tacking stations. Standby to tack the ship!” over the pipes. Within 6 minutes, all youthies were harnessed and up on deck ready to execute our first tack to attempt passing the notoriously difficult to sail, Tasman Island. After a successful tack, and after a big few hours, brekky was an essential! Master Chefs Aria, Anna and Tiff cooked up a storm worth stowing (in our bellies!) of pancakes, waffles and a feast of fruits which fuelled us for the rest of Command Day and the rest of the Command Day tasks that lay ahead. At 0605, we caught the first light of day touching the tops of the Tasman Island cliffs off our starboard side – ahhh what a sight to see! After another two tacks to set us on our final bearing to Port Arthur, the Youthie Command Crew held an awesome, but a little sleep deprived, morning brief featuring some naughty nautical yarns, nefarious nav brief - “sunscreen or die, hydrate or die”, and the one and only woman who makes the sea seasick, Captain Paige, with the inspiring quote “If you believe in yourself, then you’ve already done half the work”. By 1015 we had successfully made it to our final way point at Port Arthur! We weighed anchor and ate a delicious Aussie-themed barbeque lunch cooked by our awesome master chefs before jumping into Chucky’s favourite hour of the day – Happy Hour! This was then followed by the Captain’s Hand-over Ceremony where the ship was returned to the staffies in a somewhat pristine condition. Keen to get ashore, the youthies jumping in the sea boats to speed ashore for a guided tour of Port Arthur where we learned lots about the historic values of the area and the tragedies that were experienced during the 1800s. Back on the boat, the Staffies held a Command Day debrief where we achieved almost 2 handed thumbs-up for all our completed tasks. A fantastic achievement for the Youthie Crew of V03/23!! With the fantastic Haydo back in the kitchen, we were in for an infamous meal of chicken Penang curry, baked salmon, steak and roasted vegetables followed by golden syrup dumplings with butterscotch syrup sauce and ice cream. Jeez he spoils us! Also a shoutout to my not-so-little, little brother, Hugh. You’re going to love V04/23 mate! Good luck squeezing into your bunk ;) xoxo Lochie. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store! This is Jade, Lochie, and Sophie signing off!!
Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 8 of our voyage and Command Day. Thankfully the weather improved overnight and a well rested Youth Crew awoke to a beautiful Tasmanian morning with clear skies. Following Morning Brief I conducted Captain Setting and Furling Drills which is our final activity leading up to the Youth Crew taking command of the ship and I am pleased to announce that all watches passed with flying colours. Once completed, the Youth Crew Command Team were given 30 minutes with the Staff Crew so that they could ask questions that may assist them in their elected positions throughout their Command period. Once finished we rigged the rope swing and gave everyone a chance to have a swim in the cool (some would say cold) clear water of Prosser Bay. At 1300 this afternoon we all gather at midships and I handed over the Command Day instructions and the ‘telescope of challenge’ to Youth Crew Captain Paige which officially commenced the exciting 24hr Command Day period. One of the many tasks for Command Day is the writing of the Captains Log so here is tonight’s edition written by Captain Paige. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain GavHello all, Today’s events were very exciting for all youth crew, as today is the day the staff hand over the ship and let the youthies take control. The day for us youthies started by the staff woke us all up to Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marring Aye and Timmi Terrell through the main broad cast. We then had a scrumptious breakfast of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, cereal, yogurt and toast. Which was provided to us by the amazing Haydo and the master chef’s Tiff, Jasper and Jack. Breakfast was followed by morning brief where we are informed of the weather conditions, the Captain always provides us with an inspirational daily quote, and what the daily plan is going to look like. Once morning brief was wrapped up red and white watch performed happy hour while blue watch performed the Captains setting and furling. This allows the staff crew to insure all the youthies are safe and capable to take command of the ship. Once all the watches rotated though performing the Captains setting and furling the elected youth crew sat down and conducted opposites which is where the staff command team discus with the youth crew the best way to go about performing the roles they are taking over for the 24 hour period. Since it was such a nice day the staff decided we do Swimex which is where staff and youth crew that are brave enough to conure the cold water temperatures of Tassie are allowed a short period of time to have some water fun this includes jumping off the rope swing, using the Lilly pad which is a large foam mat jumping off the side of the boat and the bow sprit. When the Swimex came of a close it was time for lunch which was pasta bake, Bolognese, lamb and Pork chops, cheese and garlic breads which were freshly made that morning by Haydo. Hand over to youth crew was conducted at 1300. During the 24hrs that the youth crew have control of the ship the staff go on holiday down stairs where they have access to a bowling alley, cinema, and Maddie opens the heated swimming pool along with other amazing facilities. Part of hand over the Captain, what given a sheet of 30 tasks that we need to perform as many as we can throughout the period of time we are given. The first task was to assemble a row boat team to row to shore to acquire the navigation instructions, other tasks includes creating a rope hammock that will support all the youth crew at once, Theresa’s knot tying challenge and many more exciting and challenging things. Once the navigator marked out waypoints we weighed anchor and set sail though Mercury Passage. We are now carrying out night watches and on our way to the next anchoring spot which is unknown as of the moment. Until the next log update Yours truly Captain Paige
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