Day 40 – Atlantic Swell

Hi Everyone,Â Welcome to day 40 of our voyage. The northerly winds have moderated a little today and we now have a long rolling Atlantic Ocean swell which isnâ€™t too bad. We have continued to make good speed and if all goes to plan we may enter the Bay of Biscay as early as Thursday which will certainly help our World Voyagers as we plan to hand the Ship over to them for their Command Period sometime on Friday.Â Â Tonight we are back to Jaffa Watch and even though it has been a relatively quiet day at sea we have still managed to fit in a couple of activities so please enjoy tonightâ€™s log written by James and Reina. Enjoy!Â Â Until tomorrow, take careYours AyeCaptain GavCaptains Log: 02 June 15Â Â Today I wore giraffe ears and that is all that matters. â€“ ReinaÂ Â In other news, Jaffas have been going through tough times with seasickness and various other ailments whittling our numbers down to 5 from 8 on the evening watch last night. Highlights included James, Atlanta and Marcos climbing to the lower top platform to watch the sunset. As the sun dipped below the horizon Atlanta became horrendously seasick providing an unusual soundtrack to natureâ€™s majesty. The ship had to be turned away from the wind so that the rather full sick bag could be tossed overboard without endangering Miquela (our â€˜Navigangstaâ€™ in the words of Derry Doyle) or any of the other crew on the bridge.Â Â Â This morning Nikki, Reina and Jenko made glorious Eggs Benedict for breakfast to fuel everyone for the day ahead. Anonymous sources label it the best breakfast on board so far, with Reina having a knack for poached eggs. Celebrity Sailmaster Dezza went above and beyond with our morning brief entertaining the crew with poor geographical puns and witty banter off the bridge. After the happiest hour of the day, during which no breakfasts were lost, Jaffa Watch launched into preparation for todayâ€™s Ropies challenge: creating a sea shanty and performing it this afternoon. This mostly comprised of Cameron hiding away in the bridge for five minutes and then reappearing with a half written sea shanty detailing the tragic tale of a cabin boy hijacked and pressed into service on board a Navy ship. After several rehearsals, costume changes, and bitter struggles for creative control, we were ready for the big show.Â Â STS Young Endeavourâ€™s World Voyagers, with the blessing of Celebrity Sail Master Derry Doyle, brought their adopted Mediterranean practices north, indulging once again in a siesta after lunch. This was followed by the daily non-competitive competition of Ropies where the Kung Fu Fighting Jaffas (as usual) sea-blitzed the competition!Â Â Post Ropies, there was time for further sea-shanty preparation and for some a second siesta.Â Â 1600 soon came, and with it, the port-side bridge curtain was raised on the Bubblegum, Jaffa, and Minty Sea Shanties! Each Shanty was only equalled by the next. We laughed, we cried, Pip and Ali performed Interpretive dance on sea sickness and safety, and Minties confirmed to everyone that they never do anything. The judges declared the competition a dead heat and that at the end of the day the Sea Shanty was the real winner. Yar!Â Â But the Sea Shanties were only the beginning as next to step on the stage was our very own resident musician and Celebrity Sail Master Desmond Oâ€™Doyle! Accompanied by Dougie on flute and Cam on uke, his set list included another sea shanty of sorts, a few of his own creations, and some Woody Guthrie and Elvis to name a few.Â Â The concert ended happily just in time for tea, where the garlic ravioli and the boysenberry pavlova proved a massive high amongst the crewies and staff alike!Â Â As we continue to push north through the Atlantic, the wind is right on our bow so unfortunately no sails can be set. We wait with bated breath for our arrival in the Bay of Biscay and a chance for some more sailing!Â Â Jaffa Watch Over and Out (hereâ€™s to you Cam!)Â Â James and Reina (in the giraffe ears!).Â Â Captainâ€™s Log Update: Vicky managed to fit a record 26 grapes in her mouth at once during this evenings watch. The gauntlet has been laid.Â Â Shout outs!Â Â Heyyy everyone (Mutti, Daddy Bear, Carlita, Ox), love you all lots! Chantelle, I watched Rock of Ages today, missing you heaps. xoxoÂ Â First off, James, I am disappointed that youâ€™ve used â€˜overâ€™ and â€˜outâ€™ in the same sentence. Secondly, hi everyone! Hope you are doing well back in Tas. Feel free to share this with people who may not be following the YEYS page Dad. Say hi to Fi and Tris and Tommy! Also give my best to Andrew and Nat, and their fourth, who is currently loading 😉 Much love to you all, both friends and family, many stories will be told! CamÂ Â Massive hello to everyone back home and those Iâ€™ll hopefully be seeing abroad soon! Miss you heaps Hollie, Mum, Dad, Evie, and Lib. The seasickness has passed again and the pavlova is helping me get my appetite back. Talk to you all soon. James.Â Â Hi Max, Mum, Dad and my newest addition to the familyâ€¦my niece Soko! Today has been amazing on the seas, complete with Sea Shanties and Sing-alongs and Pavlova that was deliciousâ€¦but not quite rivalling Millie standard! Dr Nick has found some sea-sickness drugs that finally work for me, so apart from last nights entertainment, Iâ€™ve had a few good seasick-free days! A huge improvement! Maxâ€¦have a wonderful time in Darwin, I know you will make the best out of it. Canâ€™t wait until I am home with you! All my love. AtlantaÂ Â Big hello everyone back home, hope you are all doing well and not missing me too much. Havenâ€™t been too sea sick, just on and off a bit. Other than that, having a blast. Love Ailesh”Â

Latitude/Longitude:

40Â° 52' North / 9Â° 45' West

Conditions:

Currently located 170nm to the south of the Bay of Biscay motor sailing in moderate 15-20kt NNW winds with a 2m NNW Swell. Our current speed is 6kts and the temperature is a cool 14 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 40 – Atlantic Swell

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