Day 27 – Saturday Sea

Ahoy one and all,Â Another great day on the Atlantic Ocean as we pound (literally) our way towards Tenerife.Â It was very much groundhog day with regards to the conditions.Â The crew have adjusted to the somewhat erratic motion of the Ship extremely well…as should be expected of the World Voyagers that they are.Â Today we ran a Saturday Sea routine allowing everyone not on watch to sleep in until lunch time.Â Like yesterdays Sunday Sea, the extra few hours of sleep were welcomed by all and sundry.Â After a hearty lunch we conducted an afternoon brief and heard from Dion (Sailmaster), Matt (Navigator), Julie (Spanish instructor) and finally from myself (my first as Captain).Â From here we rolled in to everyone\’s favourite, Happy Hour, and with the cryÂ of “rub-a-dub-dub, let\’s scrub this tub” all proceeded below to give the old girl a good clean.Â Â Â Once completed Dion then started compiling lists for the Uckers, 500 and chess competions commencing very soon, and Robbie (World Voyager) dispensed targets and method of execution for the upcoming game of “Ships Assassin”.Â If the previous edition held during the first leg of our World Voyage is anything to go by, there will be much hilarity…mixed with a fairÂ doseÂ of nervous apprehension…everyone will be looking over their shoulder!Â As I write this we are settling in to watches for the evening motor sailing with our fore staysail, main staysailÂ and main sail set, cracking along at 6kts with the prospect of another bouncy night at sea.Â Â I\’ll sign off now and hand you over to some of our crew.Â Â Stay safeÂ Â Captain Kenny (P.S. hi to Peter, Margaret, Annemaree, Dave and Jack…love to all)Â Â Â Â Â Hello all from Midships Watch.Â Â Weâ€™ve just popped inside the chart house to write the log after watching a pod of dolphins, no biggie. We are now at day 27 of our Atlantic adventure with weary heads but high spirits. The swell has picked up to about 4 metres (an all time high of our voyage so far) making for some tough stability conditions. Our dear Young Endeavour feels more like a rubber ducky being thrown around than a 243 tonne ship. Weâ€™re all bruised and battered, especially Bridge and I after an epic double stack with the vacuum cleaner and a sink, but Iâ€™m still yet to spill a cup of tea so thatâ€™s definitely a win. Those of us on the port side of our cabins have been fortunate with a continuing starboard tack keeping us firm in our racks, the starboard side are not quite so lucky. With these conditions Iâ€™m sure itâ€™s not long before someone falls out!Â Â Midships watch have been keeping ourselves entertained on our watches with some continuing shenanigans. Some chickenâ€™s feet have made an appearance, stealth shoelace tying to various objects, with a few exercises in-between chocolate eating. At this rate Iâ€™m sure our newly acquired chocolate stashes from Mindelo arenâ€™t going to last long.Â Â Our time onboard is going faster and faster every day, with day to day living on a ship becoming second nature. Iâ€™m certainly going to miss this old girl when I leave!Â Â A quick hello to everyone back home in Hobart!-CassÂ Â This leg of our voyage is shaping up to be a fun one, for while the weather isnâ€™t playing the game, we are! One of the tasks for our command day on the last leg was to draw up a tournament draft for Chess, Uckers (a complex military version of Ludo) and 500, which was started today. Also our very own Robbie drew up some rules for a (hopefully) friendly game of Shipâ€™s Assassin, which will involve everyone on the ship given a name and a â€œmurderâ€ weapon which starts at midnight tonight, I think everyone on the ship is about to become a whole lot more wary of each other!Â Â Hello to everyone back in Adelaide and Melbourneâ€“MaxPs. Special hiya to Steph and the other grads back home, hope youâ€™re having as much fun at work as I am here! Still working on collecting that sample of Atlantic ocean water for you too 😉 Helena”Â

Latitude/Longitude:

22Â° 11' North / 24Â° 40' West

Conditions:

Wind: NE 15-20kts Weather: Overcast Sea State: 4 Swell: NE 4.0m Visibility: Good Barometer: 1017hpa rising Temperature: 21 degrees

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 11 – Last Day of the Voyage

Good morning Shipmates, Sailmaster Sara's final Wakey Wakey song was pumped through the Ship’s speakers to jar the crew of YE from their deep slumber after a particularly tiring day of the Community Day Sail. Activities included end-of-voyage chats for the watches, harbour furling the square sails, eating as much home made pizza, cooked by master chef Ash, as we possibly could and knocking over final command day tasks including the Slide Show. It was up on deck for a quick head count to make sure everyone was out of their ‘racks’ and ready for their final day onboard. Breakfast was followed by the morning brief on the plan for the day and then the Staff Crew weighed anchor and got us underway while the Youth Crew laid aloft for a quick harbour cruise. Navigator Seb piloted the Ship from our Athol Bay anchorage, past Fort Dennison under the Harbour Bridge, where we fired the Ship’s saluting cannon, and then into Balls Head Bay to our berth. We berthed at HMAS Waterhen at 1000 to the warm welcome of friends and family of the Youthies, waiting on the wharf for us. Once we had secured the ship alongside we invited our guests onboard, allowed them a walk around the ship to see where the Youthies had lived and worked for the last eleven days, and then we gathered everyone at midships. Sail Master Sara spoke about our adventures during the voyage and then I presented the Voyage Completion certificates to the youth crew and the Young Endeavour Award to Liv for her outstanding hard work on in undertaking the voyage and her dedication to helping her fellow youth crew members to achieve their voyage goals. We then farewelled the Youth Crew of V04/24 after a fantastic challenging and enjoyable voyage. Thank you for following our adventures and hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Yours, aye, Captain Mike

V04/24

19 February 2024

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

V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

Ahoy from Sydney! For today’s Captain’s Log: the Youthies took over and completed several tasks including singing the national anthem in three different tunes as well as giving salty sea facts to start the day in a nautical way. We finally made it! After a long and weary effort of the command team and watches, we were able to fully sail into Sydney Harbour. At approximately 11:50 we anchored in Hunters Bay. To celebrate we had a groovtastic disco in the 12 berth due to excessive rainfall but the youthies made it work, having a blast dancing to Billie Jean. Afterwards, the youthies as well as the staff reflected on our efforts during command day, following the handover of the ship to the Staffies, where we highlighted what we did well, what we could improve on and what lessons we can take back to our normal lives, of which there are many. Continuing on from the previous log, with command day still ongoing. We encountered multiple problems. One of which being that mother nature didn’t bless us and gave us little to no wind to work with. However with the efforts of the Youthies we were able to successfully gather up to 8 knots of speed after a 4am tack in which the youthies persevered despite a lack of sleep enabling us to make our way into Sydney. Before our reflection the Youthies finished their day strong with a ‘Happy Hour’ cleaning session and one final dance. The afternoon was spent relaxing and recharging from ‘Command Day’, going aloft and furling the square sails. For dinner, Ash prepared a barbecue with steak, sausages, chicken kebabs with buns and an assortment of salads with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. The Youthies are looking forward to the Community Day Sail tomorrow which will be a great opportunity to give back to Australia and put our sailing knowledge to the test. We have learned many lessons during ‘Command Day’, we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone and together a crew of 24 youth were able to sail a tall ship into the harbour of Sydney. Today’s score: 9 camels and a donkey (Amazing) Until next time Rock on! Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt. P.S. Happy Birthday for tomorrow little bro, love Lil xx P.S.S. Kai, sorry I didn’t do the thing for Meg. I just remembered and will do it when back.

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 27 – Saturday Sea

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