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Captain's Log
V01/26, Hobart to Hobart
7 January 2026
Day 5 – V01/26, Hobart to Hobart
Ahoy there, Landlubbers!
This is James, Neve, Eamon and Mikaela here for a debrief on day 5! Last night, we set anchor in the haunted (allegedly) Port Arthur, a penal colony that is one of the more beautiful and history infused places we have sailed to. The navigator gave us a challenge to complete during the watches which included what we had learnt earlier that day. Although 3am and maths don’t mix well we managed to finish with flying colours. We then continued our anchor watches, making sure that we weren’t headed for Antarctica any time soon.
We awoke to the beautiful sound of Benny and the Jets belted through the pipe. We ate breakfast and were then informed that we would be able to try out the rope swing for the first time. Everyone had a blast, and a few belly flops later we were headed to land to find out more about the history of our anchor point. Turns out that the Port Arthur convicts and the Young Endeavour youthies have a couple similarities, including the fact that we arrived on tallships and the numbers of people that came across (30).
Within our time at Port Arthur, we had a tour guide who talked us through the history of the site as well as all the culture surrounding this world heritage site. A few highlights included the penitentiary, the commandants house, and separate prison which housed prisoners who were unable to rejoin society. We are really looking forward to the rest of the voyage and what it holds!
Sayounara from James, Neve, Eamon, Mikaela.
Latitude/Longitude:
43 09.016S / 147 51.476E
Conditions:
Weather: Sunny Wind: 0-5KN SE Temp: 27C
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V01/26
06 January 2026
Day 4 – V01/26, Hobart to Hobart
Ahoy!
This is Marty, Matthew, and Zoe reporting from STS Young Endeavour Day 4! Last night we were anchored in the beautiful and unique Adventure Bay on Bruny Island. We spent all night taking turns on Anchor watch looking out for drag and wind. Each watch was 1 and a half hours long. Some of us had to wake up at ridiculous hours, making many of us grumpy for the morning.
This morning, we had the usual for breakfast; bacon, eggs, sausages, and an assortment of salads which was quite yummy. After breakfast we were called onto the port side of the bridge for colours, which was conducted by the White Watch Crew where we sung the national anthem while the flags were being hoisted. Dylan had a great attempt at blowing the Bosuns Call.
For many, being a MasterChef is more of an obligation than anything else, but I feel like washing up and helping our Chef whilst playing Us and Them in the galley was a massive highlight of the day for me, and I hope others liked it also. After the cleanup of breakfast however it was right to work for us Youthies. We started our day with another briefing from Sarah, followed by a call for the wise Salty about why the toilets and showers were called the heads. and then a rundown of the weather and wind by our navigator and lastly words of wisdom by none other than our Captain Leups.
Afterwards we had a briefing about how we would put up the sails and we got to learn some sail theory! Everyone was super engaged when we were practicing putting the sails up which was amazing to see. We have all mentioned that we have grown super close these last few days. We have grown a sweet family and have already made so many memories that I know we will all remember for the lives.
Anyway, back to our day… While we were moving towards Port Arthur, we tacked the boat for practice 7 times! It was super hard work but it is crucial for out upcoming Command day. For those who don’t know, Command Day aboard the Young Endeavour is when the staff members onboard just sit back and let the Youths take over the entire vessel for 24 hours. We’re interested to see how it goes… We’ll keep you posted!
We then were taught how to navigate the seven seas by Benny, who taught us how to use degrees, minutes and seconds to cut up the world into small pieces, how awesome! It’s going to be very useful for our upcoming takeover of the ship.
And Then… Also love you family! -Marty, Zoe and Matt
V01/26
05 January 2026
Day 3 – V01/26, Hobart to Hobart
Last night the youthies got stuck into overnight watches, as we continued our passage towards Adventure Bay on Bruny Island. Reddies were on from 1800 – 2000, followed by the Whities who had the helm from 2000-0001, and then the Blueys had the infamous “guts” watch from 0001-0400. Reddies then wrapped up the voyage from 0400-0800, when we anchored in the beautiful surrounds of Adventure Bay.
Despite some sleepiness, enthusiastic tales of the night’s adventures were swapped during the day, with some groups having the good fortune of watching the sun set and rise from the course yard, swaying back and forth in the swell. A few youthies started feeling a bit green around the gills, but everyone held up impressively!
One of the biggest highlights of the evening was the variety of wildlife sightings; albatrosses, seals, jellyfish, a lone whale (!), and lots and lots of dolphins. The Whities were fortunate enough to see a pod playing in the bioluminescence at the bow, leaving starlight trails in the darkened sea behind them.
Following the much-awaited anchoring down in the crystal-clear waters of Adventure Bay, the youthies set out for shore taking the slow yet steady RHIBs. Then the youthies began their trek along the coastline trail, spotting a friendly and impressively unbothered echidna, with a belly full of delicious ants.
We then reached the astonishing Penguin Island, filled with beautiful penguins according to Captain Leups… but they looked a lot like seagulls to everyone else…
Upon returning to the beach, the staffies sat back and relaxed (or joined in on the chaos) as the youthies were set free to enjoy some time on the sand or in the sea. An impassioned game of Piggy in the Middle heightened everyone’s spirits, as did some games of soccer, tunnel ball, and various other group activities. Once everyone was fully worn out, the staffies on the ship kindly came back out to get us.
After a delicious, deck-side barbecue courtesy of the wonderful Chefo Nathan and his masterchef minions, the youthies await nervously a game of Three-Way-Chats (in which they must present information about their newly found friends to the shipmates). Hopefully everyone’s memories are still sharp after a long day of sunshine and activity!
P.S. Shoutout to Kate - Dylan
P.P.S. Shoutout to Diarmaid and Emma - Caitlin
P.P.P.S HI GUYS LOVE YOU (you know who you are) – Abby
V01/26
04 January 2026
Day 2 – V01/26, Hobart to Hobart
It’s a wonderful, calm second day on the water. The sun has come out after a cloudy morning and we are all very excited for the journey ahead. After anchoring the ship at Sandy Bay overnight, we’re making our way down the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, around the bottom of Bruny Island to land in Adventure Bay tomorrow morning.
It’s my second day on board and while my brain is full to the brim with trying to learn all the sailing terms, I must say I’m enjoying myself. This trip was daunting, initially. Catching the plane all the way from Canberra to sunny Hobart. Walking across the gangway and waving goodbye. Slowly, though, I feel like I’m getting used to life on the ship.
We started our day with a musical awakening -- namely Wake Me Up Before You Go Go – and headed out onto the deck for our Early Morning Activity. As we rubbed our tired eyes, the beautiful Derwent River mirrored an equally sleepy city. There was not a crack in the water for as far as we could see. What a way to start, I thought. After that, we headed down for showers and breaky (shoutout Chef Nate) and started to get excited. Questions began floating around the Youthie mess. Where are we going? Will we get to climb again? I wonder if there’s dolphins! Then…
We were introduced to Salty.
Salty is the number one legend of the seas. Knows the answers to every one of our landlubber queries. Captain Leups compared her knowledge to one of a deity. During our first Morning Briefing, Salty made her appearance. As did the rest of the crew. We were run through our day by all of them, and Salty told us that any questions we had, whether it was navigational, sailing terms, ship design etc., she could answer it. This made for quite comforting knowledge as none of us had any idea what things were yet.
Now, it is nearing 5pm and I find it amazing how much one can learn in just a day. We started off with our Captain’s Brief, running through everything we need to know about the voyage. He told us about the stages of the voyage. There’s the Crisis stage in the first couple of days, where we can find it hard to adjust to life at sea (seasickness, homesickness etc.). Then there’s Transition, where, as we get to know the ship and each other better, we gain our independence and feel more at home. Finally, there’s Arrival, where we are fully confident in running a ship as an all Youthie team with limited to no help from the Staffies.
Today, we also learned to set and furl sails. After an initial practice without actually setting the sails, then watching the Staffie demo, we managed to set and furl the sails with a bit of guidance. We learned phrases like “Off stopper!” and “Come up!” to command our teams. By the end, we were all confident in using these terms. I’m starting to see how, once we get a bit of practice, it is quite simple to learn the knots and set the sails. Maybe I’m caught in a second-day-naivety, but, if I learned as much as I did today every day of this journey, I think I’ll be pretty right.
Now, I better go. I’m on MasterChef duty tonight in the galley and I don’t want to be the one the rest of the Youthies blame when there’s no forks for dinner!
Lastly, hi Mum and Dad!! It’s Cara here. I’m having a wonderful time on the ship. Give Remi big hugs from me. Also, hello to Grandma, Nanna and Poppy, and Georgia and Bill. Love you all xx
See ya!
- Cara
