Day 2 – Into the Tasman Sea

Ahoy dear readers, Day 2 of our voyage began at anchor in Hunters Bay, Sydney today. Sailmaster Evan woke us all up for a 0600 Early Morning Activity on deck and Jarod knocked up some delicious breakie and then we all met again at 0800 to sing the National Anthem as part of our (the Royal Australian Navy’s) traditional Colours ceremony, where we hoisted our colours (Australian National Flag and the Australian White Ensign).
The plan for the day was then hatched before youth crew were introduced to their safety harnesses. Matty our survival and safety equipment expert, taught them all about: donning said harness, conducting buddy checks and the process for laying aloft. Then it was time, ladies and gents, for our young sea puppies to lay aloft for the very first time.
And up the foremast they went, aiming for the topgallant yard and out transversely. Not everyone made it to the top however, but I was a very proud Captain regardless. They all pushed themselves hard to go a little further and then another little push, before laying below. Well done shipmates, it’s a very difficult challenge and you gave it a good old crack.
Back below deck lunch was demolished and then Matty gave them a more thorough safety equipment briefing before weighing anchor at 1450. Sail handling was drilled within Hunters Bay, with setting and furling of the forestaysail and the mainstaysail. Then, when deemed competent, the jib and mainsail were set and we departed Sydney Harbour and out we went into a lumpy Tasman Sea with a 2m southerly swell. Of course there were some green faces folks, but that’s how it goes… and the fish were happy 🙂
Impressively, they cracked on setting the topsail and topgallant as we turned to port, shaping a course to the north east. After dinner, Youth Crew turned-to sea watches involving a 4 hour shift of watch-on-deck duties: helming, lookout and rounds responsibilities, while the other watches slept.
Anyway, it was a fantastic day… well done Youth Crew.
Until tomorrow night, goodnight and sleep tight everybody.
Captain Adam Charlie Farley+
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind 190 @ 20. Swell southerly @ 2m
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Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 5 of our voyage. Overnight and during the early hours of this morning we continued to enjoy a great sail around the southern Tasmanian coast with all of the watches kept busy with setting and furling sails and doing some practical navigation. By sunrise we were located just to the south of Bruny Island now just sailing under fore & aft sail and hoping that the day would get warmer, which sadly it didn’t. But the cold and a little rain hasn’t dampened our spirits and we have still managed to fit in a lot of great activities today and our young mariners continue to impress with their endless energy and motivation. That’s enough from me I will now handover to Riley and Jack who have done a great job of writing tonight’s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain GavV03/23 – DAY 5
This morning the youth crew of the STS Young Endeavour woke to the frightening sound of red watch singing a parody of Riptide by Vance Joy over the ships intercom. This was then followed by the message that blue watch, the watch that was on guts the night before, could have a well-deserved sleep in. While members from blue watch went back to sleep the rest of the crew made their way down to the galley to enjoy another one of Haydos fantastic meals. After everyone had had breakfast the morning brief was given at 0900 which involved informing the youthies of the day ahead and a very educational story by Matty on the origins of the nautical term “two six heave”. After the morning brief the crew went below decks for Chucky’s favourite part of the day: Happy Hour! (Also known as cleaning the ship hour). In the afternoon the three watches conducted rotational tacking stations. This involved the watches rotating through the positions that the other watches fill when we tack which helped the crew get a better idea on what happens when we tack. Captain Gav came up on deck to give us a crash course about sailing theory and the ships history. This was very interesting and gave the youth crew a helpful insight into why different sails are used depending on different wind conditions. Round 3 of the famous Rope races were then commenced at noon with a twist of the round being worth double points. This highly non-competitive competition ended with Blue and Red watch drawing making it a close race for the rest of the trip The biggest highlight of most people’s day was sailing through the straight between Tasman Island and Cape Pillar in the afternoon. We all gathered at the bow of the ship as we gazed upon the spectacular columnar basalt edged cliffs rose up on either side of the narrow passageway. We had to furl all the sails, which involved sending two youth crew members up the main mast in rough swells and high winds to gasket the sail. Engines where turned on for the first time that day so we could safely pass the straight. The effort was truly worth it as we passed the resident seal colony and schools of dolphins. One of the greatest things about the STS Young Endeavour is even though the ship may sway from side to side and youth crew struggle to walk straight without getting knocked into a wall; the ships Chef continues to work hard and impress us with meals made from a kitchen which is smaller than the size of most people’s laundry room. It continues to amaze me how he keeps this quality in these rocky conditions. Not enough praise can be given to the hard work this man puts in keeping everyone happy. Go Haydo!Hi mum and dad I’m still alive, somehow we are already halfway through. See you in six days. Jack. You probably won’t see this but love you to the moon and back mum and dad. Riley. Until next time… Youthies Jack & Riley

