Day 4 – Whitsunday Peak, Rotational Tacks…and Goodbye Wind!

Ahoy shipmates…welcome to Day 4. We arose this morning to a spectacular Whitsunday morning and have had a fantastic day…and that’s about all I need to say…Red Watch have got it covered (see below). We are currently just to the north east of Airlie Beach, motorsailing north…unfortunately the wind has finally left us! Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny. P.S. I’m learning that the Youth Crew are prone to exaggeration!
Captains Log: Day 4 – 27 May 2019
Mitchell and Raquel
We awoke this morning to a wonderful sunny day in the beautiful Whitsundays, anchored in Cid Harbour. We enjoyed a nice BBQ breakfast on deck before heading ashore on Whitsunday Island (finally)! We split into groups and made a treacherous (not really) journey to Whitsunday peak. The 2.5 Km walk was full of steep paths, muddy tracks and spiky vines, but through all of the pain (again, not really), the view of the surrounding islands was absolutely spectacular. Many photos were taken, and lots of red faces sat to catch a breather, before making the (somehow) muddier trek back down to the shore. We came back to the ship to find ourselves spoiled to another quality meal provided once again by our wonderful chef Marcus. This energy was crucial to the eventful ‘happy’ hour cleanup (Not very happy), and to commence round two of our ‘ropies’ races. It was a close call between red and white for most of the challenge, but white snuck past into the lead in the bonus round. Devastated by our loss, we begun our actual strenuous task of tacking the ship. We all rotated positions and learnt what the other watches did. After a very quick break, some were called to climb aloft on the foremast to set the topgallant and topsail, while the others left on deck were summoned to hand in all extra sails. Once the aloft youthies were back on deck, one final call was made to set the topgallant and topsail. However, just as we began to relax from our days work, we were alerted to a sudden gathering in the galley (Cafe). We thought we were in trouble, the lights all turned off, none of us could sit down, and then, out of nowhere, we commenced a very heartfelt rendition of ‘Happy birthday’ to celebrate staff member Tug’s birthday. Blue were called on to the bridge to commence their first watch of the night, and red and white stayed to have dinner. On offer were beef ravioli and salmon portions with asparagus and hollandaise sauce. We are currently still sailing and will keep going for the next day or so.
Shout out to red watch, we are the best watch, and from Mitch, shout out to Mum and Dad, and family, I miss you heaps.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: SE at 4 knots Weather: Fine Sea: Calm Course: 315 Speed: 4 knots Location: NE of Airlie Beach
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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!!