Day 8 – STI Sydney to Auckland Race

Ahoy there Shipmates,After a relaxing night at sea, during which the wind and swell abated further and we continued to transit slowly towards Cape Reinga, we were aroused by the Red Watch singing from the lower top. Unfortunately something was lost in the VHF transmission! We also were pleased to see we had managed to keep pace with Oosterschelde through the night and she was just 3 miles ahead of us.After a hearty breakfast from Luke and his apprentice masterchef helpers, we ran the Morning Brief in the morning sun. A/Sail Master Dani ran the show which included ‘Salty’ Ian who, with the assistance of the A/Watch Leaders Tim, Emma and Jen acted-out the nautical origin of the term ‘son-of-a-gun’.After the brief the crew got into the usual Happy Hour, which was followed by lunch, during which the positions of the other race competitors were received over he radio by Mick, who shared them with us. Apart from Oosterschelde overtaking us, there had been no other place changes amongst the racing Tall Ships.After today’s edition of rope races, Sail Master Matt issued his challenge to the Returnees to produce an audio visual spectacular of their own Young Endeavour version of the video ‘I still call Australia home’. Matt’s grand plan is to hold a concert onboard the Ship at anchor in Opua and invite participants from the other Ships. Our returnees will screen Sail Master challenge product as the concert finale.The Ship will continue making slow progress towards the finish line overnight.Until tomorrow.Yours AyeCaptain Mike Yesterday\’s Blog:  Ahoy there!Our seventh day onboard began on calm seas with light winds, which, for the Youth Crew presented another welcome opportunity to gain some much needed R&R.After being roused from their sleep by White Watch performing an inspiring rendition of Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’, the Youth Crew was treated to a hearty breakfast courtesy of Luke and his eager Youth assistants. Morning brief was held by Youth Matt who set high standards for the coming days introductions of Salty, Rico and Captain Mike.Happy hour and Rope Races were crammed into the remainder of the morning. Sumo, the ever sneaky engineer managed to fool three of the Youth Crew by swapping Nelson’s Port and Starboard balls around prior to directing the three unsuspecting victims to locate the Starboard ball. Much to the amusement of the Staff Crew that were privy to the joke this seemingly simple task proved to be a considerable challenge for the Youth Crew involved.After lunch both Youth and Staff crew were treated to a relaxing afternoon of ‘silent running’. All the mechanical, ventilation and water systems were shut off for a few hours bringing a strange sense of calm to the ship. Much to the Youths delight; those not on watch had the afternoon off to enjoy the silence in their own way, however, many chose to lie in the sun listening to Adrian deliver a captivating recital of the Dickens classic, ‘Great Expectations’.Overshadowing the afternoon was the constant reminder of our precarious position in the race -Oosterschelde was an unwelcome addition to the horizon, gradually growing from a faint speck in the distance to a sinister and intimidating presence behind the ship.The last highlight of the day was the whirring of Sumo’s fishing line late in the afternoon. After a hard fight, Sumo skilfully landed a good sized Bluefin Tuna. The fish was immediately sent to the galley where Luke’s hands quickly transformed part of it into a delightful Sashimi dish.Many thanks to the Staff crew for allowing the Youth a much needed afternoon off, we certainly appreciate it!Yours Aye,Tom, Dani, Adrian and Jen    “Â
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind: 290 / 6 kts, Weather: fine, Swell: westerley 0.5 m, Temp: 17 deg. C
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Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!

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”
