Day 2 – First Climbs, Setting and Furling, Goodbye Sydney!

Ahoy shipmates… welcome to Day Two. After a restful night at anchor, we have kept the youth crew busy all day. It started with a 0630 wakey wakey via music over the broadcast system… nothing like a bit of Bob Marley in the morning.After a quick early morning activity on the upper decks, it was time for breakfast and showers. At 0800 we all gather around the bridge for the traditional ‘colours’ ceremony (flag raising), including an enthusiastic rendition of the national anthem, before morning brief enlightened all gathered on the plan for the day. “Happy hour†(cleaning stations) followed, and once the ship was sparkling the safety aloft and harness briefs were delivered. At 0930 blue watch lay aloft on the foremast, followed by white then red. Everyone made it off the deck, if not quite all the way – the first challenge conquered (partially)!It was then time for a delicious lunch from chef Keely and her trusty youth crew sidekicks, before we rolled into setting and furling drills for the afternoon. By 1600 the youth crew’s heads were about to explode from the information overload, so we took a break before dinner, enjoying the Wednesday afternoon sailing races on the harbour. At 1815, after once again being spoilt by dinner, we weighed anchor and departed Sydney. Once clear of the heads we set sail and shut down engines, making the most of the 15 knot easterly breeze and relatively mild seas. Overnight we will make our way to the south under sail, with the youth crew being introduced to ‘watch on deck’ duties (lookout, helm, navigation) as we make our way towards Jervis Bay. That about sums the day. Tomorrow night I will enlist the aid of the youth crew to write Captain’s Log – I’m sure you’d much rather hear from them than me. Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: E at 15 knots Weather: Overcast Sea: Mild Course: 162 Speed: 5 knots Location: East of Botany Bay
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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”


After a rather nonchalant guts watch with the Bluies, Reddies came in guns a blazing, setting our beautiful square sails preparing us for a speedy and eventful day at sea. Scaling (laying aloft) the Foremast, whilst the ship swayed kept the Reddies on their toes, holding on for dear life as they let out the gaskets for the Topgallant and Topsail Yards. A challenging activity to start off our day rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over Starboard.
During the day we participated in a Meteorology Brief led by our resident Nav guru TOMO, learning everything there is about fluffy, rainy and stormy clouds. This was followed by Lunch and a needed Siesta.
Whilst some slumbered, Bluies kept watch. They had brave volunteers to climb both main mast and to the topgallant yard to sea furl the sails.
In the afternoon, our Watches came together to have Mid Voyage Chats, where we had the opportunity to reflect on our voyage goals, experiences and discuss our hopes for Command Day. There were some very heartfelt talks, from overcoming fears, to gaining confidence in working as a team, and we set our eyes upon what we want to achieve in the rest of the voyage.
The first dog (Reddies) (from 1545 to 1745) was full of excitement, with over 50kn winds and up to 50 degrees on the OOOH AAAH meter (heel). Watching the waves break higher than the rails was an exhilarating experience and kept us holding on tight. Sites of sharks and a Cargo ship kept our lookouts entertained, while Callum lead an engaging activity on Charts. At the end of the first dog watch, Nick and Phil braved these treacherous conditions to lay aloft on the mainmast to wrangle the mainsail!
Rockin and rolling, Youthies (the newest salty sea dogs) Hugh, Bridget, and Nick!!