Day 6 – Tasman Island and Port Arthur…and Ghosts!

Ahoy shipmates…hump day! I love an eloquent youth crew…makes my job a breeze. As such, over to Red Watch. Fair winds, Captain Kenny.———-
Day Six – Thursday 9th January 2020
Red watch began the day with the Middle Watch (Guts Watch, 0001-0400) and had the good fortune to see a pod of dolphins that glowed due to the bioluminescent plankton in the water that they were swimming through. It was magical as they left glowing trails through the sea. We all then had the pleasure of listening to White Watch’s morning wake up song, with a rendition of “Footlooseâ€. After breakfast, all the youthies came up on deck to watch us sail through Tasman Island gap, which was a small passage lined with seals and magnificent dolomite cliffs. The cliffs are the biggest in the Southern hemisphere and date back to the Jurassic period. Some youthies watched the tight squeeze from aloft to get the best vantage point. Daz the Navigator gave us some awesome facts about the gap and Salty entertained us with a few more stories and some more naval jargon. Captain Kenny gave us some pointers on Sail Theory which we then implemented in some practice tacking of the ship, and setting and furling sails. Kenny took three youthies from each watch during every tacking drill to further their knowledge of the tacking process and the importance of tacking on a sailing vessel. Not long after, Adam cooked up a storm with some beef vindaloo and lamb cutlets for lunch – what an absolute legend. We then pulled into the famed Port Arthur, and landed ashore. We sat under the shady trees with our watch leaders to have our mid-voyage talks to refocus on our individual and team goals, and ascertaining where we could go from here to improve. When that was done, we were given the remaining 1 ½ hr to explore Port Arthur in all of its tragic but beautiful glory. It was a very hot day and many of us took refuge in the old stone buildings and cafes around the grounds. We made it safely back to the ship and then had a deck BBQ that was fit for a king. Burgers were available with every possible filling known to man, and the picturesque Port Arthur was the backdrop to our meal. We took a couple of group photos to celebrate the occasion and to mark the mid-point of our long voyage. As of writing this, we are preparing to go back ashore to Port Arthur for a ghost tour tonight which many of us are keen for but many also wary of what we may see tonight as it is one of Australia’s most haunted sites. We are all quite tired as the watches alter our sleep schedules quite severely. However, we are in good spirits and most of us have found our sea legs. We miss all of our families but we are finding ourselves in good company. Love to everyone reading this, especially our mums and dads- from Claudia, Georgina and Hannah in the mighty red watch.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: NW at 8 knots Weather: Overcast Sea: Calm Location: At anchor Port Arthur
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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!!