Day 2 – Farewell Mackay…Whitsundays here we come!

Ahoy shipmates, and welcome to Day 2. When I left you last night the Youth Crew were about to commence their first night climbs. I am pleased to report that all but three made it to the top. A successful night, with those that didn’t keen for further attempts. We were rapped up by 1030 and after some hot chocolate and biscuits, all hit the hay for some well earned rest. At 0630 this morning Sailmaster Karly awoke the crew with some soothing tunes, and after a quick early morning activity, we departed Mackay Marina shortly after 0700. After breakfast and showers we conducted the first morning brief of the voyage, hearing from the Sailmaster, Navigator, Engineer, Boats Officer (aka Salty…teller of tall tales and true about the origins of naval terminology), and myself. On completion we conducted Captain’s Safety, where the Youth Crew are given a detailed introduction to all the safety equipment onboard. It was then time for the happiest hour of the day…happy hour (better known as cleaning station). A clean ship is a happy ship! Despite the relatively mild conditions (15-18 knots of wind and a one metre swell), a number of our young adventurers met the dreaded green goblin (aka sea sickness)….no fun at all, but it too shall pass. After some down time and lunch, the Watch Leaders then spent the afternoon taking the Youth Crew through sail handling drills, setting and furling a number of our fore and aft sails as we sailed past a number of islands, most notably Brampton Island…we are in a beautiful part of the world! At 1530 Sailmaster Karly gave the mainsail brief and ordered a full press of sails, and once complete, called the ship to tacking stations. After a series of three tacks and a wear (gybe), very well handled by the Youth Crew I might add, we resumed our passsage north…destination Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet…stunning! We will settle into watches overnight, with the Youth Crew learning the ropes (pardon the pun), consolidating their sail handling and climbing skills, as well as learning the responsibilities of watch on deck…helm, lookout and rounds. Currently we remain under sail in a very pleasant 16 knots of wind on a beam reach. We should reach the Whitsundays around sunrise and will transit through Solway Passage en route Whitehaven Beach…much fun to be had! That’s about it for now, until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny!
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: SE at 15 knots Weather: Cloudy but fine Sea: SE at 1.0m Course: 030 Speed: 5 knots Location: NE of Brampton Island
You might also be interested in

Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!

ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”
