Day 6 – Great Keppel Island to Sea

Ahoy shipmates. Day 6…another very busy day in YE. After a restful night at anchor, we have departed Great Keppel Island and are making our way north to the Percy Island Group in preparation for Command Day, when the youth crew will take charge of the ship for 24 hours. The southerly breeze has persisted making for another day of fantastic sailing….all is well! Dion and Kaitlyn have described the days activities below so I will bid you farewell. Until tomorrow, fair winds, Captain Kenny.———-
Captains Log – Day 6
Last night’s anchor watches were only an hour long and only three of us were needed on deck, giving us an opportunity not only for extra sleep, but also to get closer and talk to people we didn’t usually have a chance to. At 0600 Kaitlyn, Lachie and Huw had got grooving in the galley with Marcus, helping to prepare an awesome, full breakfast and lunch for a busy day ahead. Before raising anchor this morning we climbed aloft the foremast to cast gaskets off the top gallant and top sail, preparing the ship to continue the voyage north. After our awesome staffies Tracy and Ivanka explained the procedure for raising anchor and safely navigating out of a cove with many obstacles. We said goodbye and thanked the embrace of Great Keppel for keeping us safe and stable for the night. The youthies then practised the same manoeuvres we used to sail out of anchor after we had made our way into safer waters. We all learned a lot from these manoeuvres and made note of the areas where we still had to improve. After our delicious lunch we did round 3 of rope races blessed again by Reggies majestic beard. This time we focused on the mainmast and foremast sails, it was a really tight game but blue watch managed to just sneak to the top of the leader board by one point. Later that afternoon Captian Kenny taught us some basic sail theory specific to the Young Endeavour and with this knowledge we dove straight into demonstrational tacks. This showed all the youthies the greater picture of a tack and shifted our perspective from our isolated tasks to better understand the ships’ operation as a whole. Last but not definitely least we passed Cape Clinton and the Manifold hills. With not another ship to be seen, a glowing orange sunset and the dynamic and untamed coastline we could enjoy an unforgettable sunset that just was the perfect cherry on top to a full and interesting day. Dion and Kaitlyn (Blue watch)
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: SE at 17 knots Weather: Passing showers Sea: E at 1.0m Course: 005 SPeed: 4.5 knots
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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!!