Captain's Log

Jul-16

28 May 2016

Day 8 – Command Day Part One

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to day eight of our voyage. Following a peaceful night at anchor in the beautiful Broken Bay we awoke to another cool morning with some passing showers. Following the normal morning activities we gave the Youth Crew Command Team an opportunity to meet with their Staff counterparts to discuss their roles and responsibilities and to learn as much as possible from the Staff before the commencement of the 24hr command period.

At 1300 everyone was mustered at midships and during a short ceremony I handed Captain James the ‘Telescope of Challenge’ and in doing so giving the Youth Crew of Voyage 07-16 the responsibility of running the ship. During the 24hr command period they have numerous tasks to complete as well as navigating and sailing the ship safely the 50nm to Newcastle. One of the other tasks is to write the Captains Log for tonight and tommorrow so please enjoy reading Captains James Log on how the Command Day is going.

Until tomorrow, take care

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Captainâ€™s Log

Day 8 â€“ Saturday 28 May 16

Good Evening All,

Today marks the eighth day of our voyage on the Young Endeavour, and as the newly elected captain of the youth crew, I am giving you an update on everything we have been up to. We started off the day in Broken Bay, with stunning views of the surrounding area and a small amount of rain earlier on in the morning. Day eight is also known as Command Day, and involves the youth crew taking control of the ship for a 24 hour period. After the elections last evening we had decided on who should fill each of the roles in our new leadership team and everyone else was rearranged into new watches.

Before commencing Command Day at 1300h, we went through our standard morning routine including the always entertaining daily brief, which featured the reappearance of two of our favourite characters, Salty and Nana. Following this we moved into Opposites where the youth crew had the opportunity to question their staff counterparts on the finer points of Command Day. After this was finished we had our final meal before the challenge began.

At the beginning of Command Day the youth crew received an envelope detailing a list of all the tasks that we should attempt to complete throughout our 24 hour command period. These tasks included the basics like maintaining safety, to the challenge of getting the ship to Newcastle. The new leadership team moved immediately into action and conducted the first exercise by having a number youth crew row to Fishermanâ€™s Beach to locate our navigation information. Once there the crew also claimed the land on behalf of the Young Endeavour, thereby completing another task. Whilst these crew members were completing this task, the rest were working on designing a mural on the shipâ€™s deck detailing the voyage so far. Finally once we all came together again we went aloft and had a photo taken with all of the youth crew up the foremast.

After receiving a Spanish themed dinner from the newly elected chefs we weighed anchor and set sail for Newcastle. It is now 2100h and we are on track heading north up the coast with the youth crew conducting watches overnight. It has proven to be a long and challenging day, but the crew remains positive and are looking forward to the challenges of tomorrow.

Youth Captain James

Latitude/Longitude:

33 30 S / 151 21 E

Conditions:

Currently located 12nm to the NE of Broken Bay and experiencing moderate 14-18kt WSW winds with a 1-2m SW swell. Our current speed is 4kts and the temperature is 13 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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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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