Day 3 – Wind, Rain, Rough Seas, Nelson Bay…and more Dolphins!

Ahoy shipmates…welcome to a wet, windy and wild day 3…awesome! Overnight the wind (up to 38 knots) and seas picked up considerably (3-4 metres and 2 swells…messy), as did the case of sea sickness. At one stage we had the old girl up 9 knots under sail, with all three square sails set…hooning! YE was built to withstand north sea conditions, so she takes days like today in her stride…not so much the youth crew. We had intended to make our way to South West Rocks but, being the benevolent soul I am, I took pity on our young charges, and some of the staffies, and altered course to the sheltered waters of Port Stephens/Nelson Bay. As I write are anchored off the picturesque Nelson Bay marina…it’s still windy and wet…but the deck has stopped moving, much to the relief of all. The entire crew have done an outstanding job today handling sails safely in gale force winds…they are a determined bunch. Everyone is settling in well to the routines of the ship…more adventures to follow. The gang have covered today’s events below so I’ll sign off here…until tomorrow, fair winds…Captain Kenny———– Ahoy followers of the Young Endeavour! Day Three brought many challenges for the Youthies. The Youthies’ first Watches of the voyage started with Red Watch from 20:00-00:00 hours on Day 2. General rounds included Watches from the port and starboard side for any potential hazards in the water, manning the helm and performing rounds of the Galley and Engineering. To Red Watch’s great excitement, they also had the honour of climbing the foremast to cast loose gaskets of the topgallant sail in the dark, which Staffie Pheebs got more than she bargained for! White Watch’s graveyard shift from 00:00-04:00 hours was more uneventful, while Blue Watch was greeted with travelling pods of dolphins for their shift from 04:00-08:00 hours. Seasickness was the flavour of the day. Most Youthies (and some Staffies) were knocked around for most of the day. Varying swells and wind gusts up to 30 knots made the trip uncomfortable for most of the day, except for the iron stomachs of Connor, Henry and most of the Staffies. Regardless of the challenges which the Youthies faced, there were still jobs and duties needing to be fulfilled to ensure a safe voyage to our destination for the night. Many wore brave faces for the day to furl, check and coil ropes, many to the point of hurling. Poor weather conditions for the coming night and days meant a last-minute change of destination to the beloved Port Stephens. This required some serious tacking to change direction in some heavy conditions. The heavy-duty wet weather gear was a blessing for many as sea-spray mixed with rain to drench all those working their hardest to clew up the square sails, furl the staysails and brail the mainsail. The Youthies had to put their training in the safety of Sydney Harbour to the test today, many weary from seasickness and under pressure from the rain. But after coming together to work as a team, we were finally approaching the safety of Port Stephens. Greeted with even MORE dolphins, guiding us to the safe harbour of Nelson Bay, many Youthies started to recover from the troubling deep ocean swells to the calmer waters of the coast. Pheebs and Reggie took the opportunity to teach the Youthies on deck ‘Wah’, an exciting game to test the timing of the Youthies. Adam once again cooked up a fantastic meal that replenished many hungry and empty-stomached Youthies to regain strength for an exciting upcoming few days. Liam, Em, Connor