Day 2 – Setting, Furling and Tacking

Ahoy Shipmates,
After a restful night at anchor at Fitzroy and another busy day for our intrepid mariners, we are now motorsailing in a southerly direction. The Youth Crew have eagerly embraced each challenge set for them and are coming together nicely. And good news…the green goblin (sea sickness) has already departed! (for now). I’ll hand you over to the girls for their take on todays activities.
Fair winds
Captain Kenny
V15/18 Youth Crew checking in, on a balmy evening sailing from Fitzroy Island to Hinchinbrook Island. We got the rare gift of a half-hour sleep in for our first morning on the ship today, after staying up well into the wee hours of the morning climbing aloft for the first time. Despite some initial apprehension, everybody made it to the topsail – we sang pirate songs and hung off the topsail like koalas, as we gazed at a glorious full moon! Then, this morning, after refuelling with some wholesome brekkie, we were called for Colours where we raised the flag and learnt that our staff crew is musically talented! Then we took up our happy hour stations, cleaning our respective sections immaculately. After hiding amongst the crew, Captain Safety emerged and talked about safety with the crew, while putting one of our shipmates in an orange sauna (thermal protective suit). We watched as the staff hauled up the anchor and I got to walk out to the very tip of the bow sprint to take the Australian National Flag down. As the ship started off again, we had rope safety demonstrations before a wrapped up lunch. We set and furled sails in our watches for the first time, putting the nautical jargon and rope skills we had learnt into practice. Then the crew got into their tacking activities and exercises which brought the entire ship together as one big team. Everyone got over their sea sickness, with the staff crew impressed by the energy we brought to all activities so far. Watches retreated back down to the Galley, mentally preparing themselves for their first night at sea, and taking on watch duties. And that’s all for day two – please excuse us, as we go to enjoy the views of island paradises and calm waters.
Hannah and Zahra
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: ESE at 12 knots Weather: Fine - 20 degrees Swell: SE at 0.5 metres Course: 165 true Speed: 6 knots
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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”
