Day 2 – Bass Strait

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to Day 2 of our voyage. Itâ€™s been an action packed day with plenty of activities and the weather gods have smiled upon us with some favorable winds and some good sailing. Thatâ€™s enough from me I will now handover to Scott and Carolyn who have done a wonderful job of writing tonightâ€™s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain Gav

Day 2 â€“ the sound of music awoke an enthusiastic youth crew at 0630 for a few laps around the deck and a fabulous view of the beginnings of a sunrise over Geelong Harbour. Then it was time for a lovely breakfast and morning brief, with a visit from Salty who taught us all about some nautical terms such as S.H.I.T. This was followed by our first â€œhappy hourâ€ â€“ where the youthies all tried their best to make the ship squeaky clean. We then set sail under motor and made our way across the very calm Port Phillip Bay throughout the day. We then had a safety talk from â€œcaptain safetyâ€ including demos on liferafts, life jackets and thermal suits. Then it was time for a delicious lunch including chicken, duck curry, and pasta salad. After lunch we got into finally starting to practice setting and furling some sails. Then we played some deck games and were lucky to see a large pod of dolphins which was very exciting. Then it was time to go through â€œthe Ripâ€ and into Bass Strait – everyone was excited and keen, and everyone thought that they were not going to get seasick â€“ but about half an hour after putting up the sails, we began to realize that we may have severely underestimated the sea. With many youthies giving the dolphins a full blown meal over the side of the ship, it was certainly a great challenge for all. Dinner was then served, with some lovely roast lamb and fried rice with a dessert of cookies and cream cheesecake and fruit salad â€“ for the few youthies who could dare to eat at this point. Then it was all hands to tacking stations as we all got to practice tacking and wearing the ship. This was a big challenge but eventually a success for those that were simultaneously chucking up, or feeling a little under the weather. Thankfully some youthies have now recovered, although others are still recovering up on deck. We will all be keeping our first overnight watches tonight, which will undoubtedly be a test for those that are already very tired after a long and busy day! Carolyn – shoutout to my mum, dad and friends, Iâ€™m having a fabulous time and am feeling good after throwing up four times! Scott â€“ Shoutout to mum and nan, Iâ€™m fine having the time of my life and yes I have been sick but have not thrown up yet!!
We have many days ahead of ourselves and we canâ€™t wait until they come around!
Until Next Time,
Scott, Carolyn (C-Dog)

Latitude/Longitude:

38 29.7 S / 144 17.2 E

Conditions:

Currently located 18nm to the SSW of Port Phillip Bay sailing under fore and aft sail and experiencing moderate-strong 15-18kt ESE winds with a 1.5m SE swell. The temperature is 16 degrees and our current boat speed is 5kts.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

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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 2 – Bass Strait

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