Day Nine – At anchor Rye

Hi Everyone, Welcome to day nine of our voyage.Well Command Day is now complete with our young mariners doing a great job of sailing the ship from Westernport Bay to Port Phillip Bay and along the way passing through some waypoints and of course successfully completing a number of challenging tasks along the way. At 1300 today the ship was officially handed back to the Staffies (thankfully still in one piece) and we then piloted her through the entry of Port Phillip Bay (The infamous Rip) and through to our planned anchorage just of the township of Rye which is located on the Mornington Peninsular.Once at anchor we let the Youth Crew finish one final task which was to construct a rope hammock at midships that would support all of them. With this task complete we opened the pool and the rope swing and gave everyone a chance to take a refreshing swim in Port Phillip Bay. Dinner followed with tonightâ€™s menu consisting of Roast Lamb and vegetables and Mossman Chicken Curry with Rice. Desert this evening was a Sticky Date Pudding with Ice Cream and Fresh Fruit Salad.Once we had cleaned up from dinner we conducted our facilitated Command Day debrief which we encourage the Youth Crew to focus on the good, not so good and most importantly the takeawayâ€™s from this activity that can be used in normal life and their work environments. The time is now 2130 and we have just finished this debrief and we have now settled into anchor watches for the night so following an extremely busy 24 hours everyone should get a well deserved good nights rest.Until tomorrow, take careÂ Yours AyeCaptain GavÂ Â Day 9Ahoy there, J team (Jess & Jordie) here for your day 9 captains log, bringing you all the entertaining news and events from the Young Endeavour.Continuing on from our command day the early hours in the morning were not in our favour wind wise, making sailing very difficult and resulted in us requiring to turn to motor sailing. We then continued strongly on course and managed to hit some of our check points tasks given to complete along the way. All youth crew managed to work together as a team and pulled through 90% of the tasks given to us. To much to our dislike we handed back the beautiful Young Endeavour back to the slightly more experienced staffies at 1300. And then they graciously (not so much from Sail Master Dion, who still wanted to drill us with activities for the rest of the afternoon) allowed us to have some free time. Which, of course was mostly used to catch up on much needed rest, and for others to take in the spectacular views from laying aloft where we are currently anchored at Port Phillip Bay off Rye.After our much needed afternoon siestaâ€™s, our next activity was at 1630 that involved constructing a hammock using nothing but ropes. Skills were put to the test as we had to use our knot tying knowledge that was acquired at early hours of the morning to hold all 24 youthies on our man made rope hammock at once, without touching anything but the ropes. After such a stressful event which was time limited to allow time for the next activity, we tried to complete this task as quickly as possible as we were all hanging out for the exciting opportunity to go for a swim!!! We managed to complete the rope hammock task and were then told we could go for a swim off the deck, which the staffies surprised us with a swing off the course yard, or alternatively jumping off the bowsprit, which we all thoroughly enjoyed as it was also starting to warm up.All crew and youthies then went into groups to have a debrief of the command day, how we went, what were the good things that happened, the bad things and also things that we would take away from it, this was a very worthwhile activity for all involved and everyone got heaps out of it, acquiring many skills to apply to the real world when this adventure is all over.For now we are out, time to get some much needed rest before anchor watches begin at 2200. Thatâ€™s from us,Until then, take care.Yours aye,Jordie & JessShoutouts:Ahoy Matey! Almost a pirate 95% of the way there!! Hope everyone at home is well, missing you guys, love Jordie xxx J AAAARRRRHH! I like the cut of your jib ;)Hey guys! My name is Lauren, Iâ€™m 21 years old, Iâ€™m from Melbourne, Victoria and am having the time of my life on the Young Endeavour. Although exhausted, the sheer amount of awesome adventures we have packed into this trip has been unbelievable and probably why Iâ€™m so tired. My favourite part about this trip has been getting to know each and every person on board and sharing stories and playing card games, this trip would not have been the same without these awesome people. I guess Iâ€™m writing this little shout out to let my family know Iâ€™m alive 😛 and I am having such a good time. I have discovered that I am quite a capable person when given challenges, even on 6 hours sleep, which has been a challenge in itself, and one that weâ€™ve all risen too. Iâ€™m so proud of all these people, and of myself, and all that weâ€™ve achieved today and yesterday, with the 24 hours in command, and the whole trip. We were complete strangers before this trip, and now I donâ€™t think I really remember why I was so nervous about going on this trip. Every aspect of this trip has been challenging and fun and always worth it and I am so grateful for this opportunity.Ahoy there!! Itâ€™s Toni from Wilcannia â€“ far western NSW here. A little shout out to Billie & Michael Maher (mum & dad), Michael Junior (bro), the rest of the fam bam and to the one and only Dwayne Matthews (the babe); just to let you all know that I am still alive ahah xxxÂ

Latitude/Longitude:

38 21 S / 144 49 E

Conditions:

Currently at anchor just to the south of Rye Jetty and enjoying light ESE winds with nil swell. The current temperature is 18 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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19 February 2024

Day 11 – Last Day of the Voyage

Good morning Shipmates, Sailmaster Sara's final Wakey Wakey song was pumped through the Ship’s speakers to jar the crew of YE from their deep slumber after a particularly tiring day of the Community Day Sail. Activities included end-of-voyage chats for the watches, harbour furling the square sails, eating as much home made pizza, cooked by master chef Ash, as we possibly could and knocking over final command day tasks including the Slide Show. It was up on deck for a quick head count to make sure everyone was out of their ‘racks’ and ready for their final day onboard. Breakfast was followed by the morning brief on the plan for the day and then the Staff Crew weighed anchor and got us underway while the Youth Crew laid aloft for a quick harbour cruise. Navigator Seb piloted the Ship from our Athol Bay anchorage, past Fort Dennison under the Harbour Bridge, where we fired the Ship’s saluting cannon, and then into Balls Head Bay to our berth. We berthed at HMAS Waterhen at 1000 to the warm welcome of friends and family of the Youthies, waiting on the wharf for us. Once we had secured the ship alongside we invited our guests onboard, allowed them a walk around the ship to see where the Youthies had lived and worked for the last eleven days, and then we gathered everyone at midships. Sail Master Sara spoke about our adventures during the voyage and then I presented the Voyage Completion certificates to the youth crew and the Young Endeavour Award to Liv for her outstanding hard work on in undertaking the voyage and her dedication to helping her fellow youth crew members to achieve their voyage goals. We then farewelled the Youth Crew of V04/24 after a fantastic challenging and enjoyable voyage. Thank you for following our adventures and hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Yours, aye, Captain Mike

V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 10 – Community Day Sail Sydney Harbour

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

V04/24

19 February 2024

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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Day Nine – At anchor Rye

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