Day 7 – Captain’s Setting Furling – and a final Challenge!

Ahoy Shipmates. Day 7 – the penultimate day prior to Command Day. And after mild conditions sailing down the coast from Brisbane, a cold front has hit – it’s a bit chilly on the uppers! After a night at sea weaving through merchant ships waiting to go into Newcastle Harbour, sunrise found us just to the south of Port Stephens. Overnight the Youth Crew had been brushing up on their sail handling skills, and after a hearty breakfast I put them to the test…kicking off Captain’s Setting and Furling. This involves one watch at a time up on deck at a time setting and furling sails as designated by me, without the assistance of their watch leaders. I am pleased to say that all were successful. After a snappy happy hour and lunch, it was then for their final challenge prior to taking over the ship…the Captain’s Challenge. I like to mix things up a bit and the task set the Youth Crew of Voyage 18/18 was to set the topgallant and topsail square sails. This required them to lay aloft and cast loose the gaskets (lines) holding the sails in place, then working together set them to my satisfaction. Pleasingly they worked quite effectively as a team, and the job was finished with time to spare. We then sailed back in to Port Stephens with sails set, proceeding to anchor in Salamander Bay for the night. Once at anchor all the Youth Crew then proceeded aloft to sea furl the both of the square sails, and the main sail. At 1630 and with everyone safely back on deck, I gave the Command Day Brief detailing their responsibilities on Command Day and the positions to be filled. After a delicious teak deck bbq they held their elections with the results as follows: Captain – Ben, Sailmaster – Chris, Navigator – Oscar, Watch Leaders – Dom, Jack T and Lulu, Chefs – Xander, Bella and Jess. To provide some motivation we then showed the documentary ‘Around Cape Horn’ ( a feat Young Endeavour achieved in 2015), which is about a tall ship of yesteryear. This was screened on the upper decks with popcorn and sweets…bit chilly though! As I write the Youth Crew are assuming anchor watches (90 minutes vice the normal 4 hours), eager for a good nights sleep…tomorrow the fun begins and the forecast is for strong winds…perfect for Young Endeavour! That’s about it for now…as always…fair winds…Captain Kenny
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: ESE at 10 knots Weather: Cold and overcast Swell: Nil Location: At anchor Salamander Bay, Port Stephens
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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!!