Login
ESMERALDA
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to day four our voyage. Well overnight we made best speed to the south east so that we could make our 1100 rendezvous with Esmeralda which sadly did mean the use of main engines but we didn’t want to be late.
Thanks to some good planning by Evan our Navigator we achieved our rendezvous waypoint right on schedule and sure enough over the horizon came this beautiful Chilean Tall Ship. Once close we put both ships under sail and enjoyed a close ‘sail in company’ as Esmeralda’s RHIB (Ships Boat) raced around both ships taking some great photographs.
Sadly because of our tight schedules we could not stay together for to long but it was extremely enjoyable while it lasted and it showed the close friendships that both Ships and the Chilean and Australian Navies share.
Since farewelling Esmeralda we have continued to make good speed under sail and at this time are hoping for the wind to back to the north east late tomorrow morning as forecast which will allow us to alter our course back to the south east.
Besides a few cases of seasickness our new World Voyagers have settled in well and are enjoying the early stages of their voyage.
Kindly volunteering to write tonight’s Captains Log is White Watches Emily and Caitlin so please enjoy!
Until tomorrow, take care
Yours aye
Captain Gav
CAPTAINS LOG 25 OCT 15
(WRITTEN BY EMILY AND CAITLIN)
We awoke on day two to nothing but ocean. No land, no ships; nothing. Whilst the scurvy hasn’t yet fully taken over, there are some who are feeling worse for wear. There is nothing and no one here but us, and the birds, the marlin…and the cargo ship to our right (starboard, for those in the know).
Overnight, by comparison, was quite crowded. We saw at least four vessels, rig tenders; out sharing the oceanic spaces with us. No communication passed between ourselves and them, but it was a comfort knowing they were there. The upperdecks were quiet, World Voyage crew either entirely worn out and asleep, or feverishly lying still in an attempt to overcome the seasickness; with other members on watch jokingly trying to convince them that they would, in fact, get better. This was also the time that a number of home remedies came out on how to cure seasickness, although if anyone of them worked, is yet to be seen.
The vast majority of us however are feeling great. The constant reminder of isolation from the world is seen in the ocean and the fact that the closest we have come and will come into contact with the outside world was our incredible rendezvous with the magnificent, incredible and awe inspiring Chilean 4 masted, gaff rigged, topsail schooner Esmerelda this afternoon. In the morning we saw her on the horizon, her size and beauty apparent even from 10Nm away. Eventually, just before lunch, we were close enough to set our own sails and sail alongside the crew and ship. Joyful waves and cheers were shared between the crews of both ships as what appeared to be 3 quarters of their 315 man crew came up on deck to greet us. But alas, we both have our own courses to stay on, so waving goodbye, we were separated what seemed as soon as we were together. Triumphant though; as we had finally started sailing without the use of our engines.
Following yet another delightful and satisfying lunch prepared by our very own gourmet chef Jenko; with the assistance of the able-bodied Horto; Chief Engineer/Assistant chef, we were brought out of our food comas with a friendly round-robin game of Thumb Wars-enthusiastically joined in by everyone; staff included. Despite many battles, several dented egos and many laughs, Caitlin, a member here on a suitability cruise, won overall.
Following this delightful event, we were regaled with more safety demonstrations by our knowledgeable and entertaining Dougie; our resident Bosun/Musician/Watch Leader. This entailed repeated demonstrations of safety equipment-familiarity breed’s confidence-and even got one of the World Voyage crew completely dressed up in Thermal Protective Suit and Lifejacket; to demonstrate the application and practicality of the evolution (thanks, Alice!)
The afternoon then consisted of us catching up on sleep, knots, and the glamorous and all exciting job of washing our underwear. The ship decorated with drying undies, our bodies rested and sunburnt, we ate and headed off to bed, or to watch. Ready for another big and exciting day on the big blue tomorrow.
SHOUTOUTS: To the Toze family; keep being crazy! Love Emily , Happy Birthday Hamish! Love Oscar
To my Dad and Uncle Rod, happiest of happy birthdays for next week, I wish I could be there. To my special one-if you get a chance to read this, stay safe and be there when I get home Love Caitlin
To my very own mini Sophie… Look after your Mum and try not to kick her around too much in the belly. All my thoughts are with the both of you and all my love as well. Dougie.
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 200nm SE of Rio sailing close hauled under fore and aft sail and enjoying moderate 12-15kt SSE winds with a 1.5m SE swell. Our current speed is 5kts and the temperature is 19 degrees.
You might also be interested in
Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 6 of our voyage. The strong northerly’s experienced yesterday moderated overnight and by the early hours of this morning we had entered Great Oyster Bay and were now motor sailing due to the light conditions. Just before sunrise we altered course to the east and transited through Schouten Passage which gave the morning watch an opportunity to view the western side of the Freycinet Peninsular and witness a spectacular sunrise. Once safely through the passage we altered course to the north, handed in sail, then proceeded directly into the famous Wineglass Bay where we came to anchor at 0830. Once at anchor we conducted the normal morning’s activities and have spent the rest of the day enjoying this beautiful part of Tasmania. That’s enough from me I will now handover to Liv and Mei who have done a wonderful job of writing tonight’s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain Gav Ahoy there! This morning started off with a “funny” parody of “Let It Go” from “Frozen” featuring a memorable yet un-relatable line: “the vomit never bothered me anyway”, created by Red Watch. Thankfully, White Watch could sleep through this as they were on guts watch from 0000 to 0400, where they worked as a team to set the storm jib in a record time of 40 minutes! Other highlights of the night included learning about navigation, steering the helm by the wind for the first time and our famous midnight café featuring a lot of vegemite. Some very special guest dolphins swam around the ship and looked truly majestic as they glowed with bioluminescence. We anchored and woke up to the stunning view of The Hazards at Wineglass Bay, which we later hiked up and saw a spectacular view of Young Endeavour looking gorgeous in all its glory. But before this, we had mid voyage chats where we evaluated our goals and how we’ve progressed since the beginning of the voyage. We then played the inaugural bin ball championships created by Bucky at Wineglass stadium featuring a sand court. Unsurprisingly, White Watch won with a tight score of 3-2 in the finals. After the hike, which we were told was going to be around 20 minutes but ended up being more than an hour, some Youthies took the chance to have a quick swim before going back to the ship. Tonight’s dinner menu included lamb satay curry and grilled chicken, as well as a special addition of Hoppy’s Sundae Bar, which proved to be very popular. Most of us decided to have dinner on the deck and take advantage of the picturesque view of Wineglass Bay. As always, a big shoutout to our Head Chef Haydo and Masterchef assistants for keeping our bellies happy! After dinner, we had a self-reflection “Stop Start Continue” workshop in our watches where we wrote about certain aspects we want to work on to improve ourselves. Hopefully we will see that we have been able to make progress on our goals when we get to read them again in six months’ time. We believe in you, you got this! Currently, we’re waiting to start the anchor watches (our favourite) and preparing to set sail again tomorrow. Finally a shoutout to Mum, Dad and Ruben miss you guys so much. Remember I’m looking at the same moon and stars as you are, Love you - Liv Shoutout to Dad as I live out his dream of “enjoying good food on a navy ship”. Mei This is Liv and Mei signing off J
Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 5 of our voyage. Overnight and during the early hours of this morning we continued to enjoy a great sail around the southern Tasmanian coast with all of the watches kept busy with setting and furling sails and doing some practical navigation. By sunrise we were located just to the south of Bruny Island now just sailing under fore & aft sail and hoping that the day would get warmer, which sadly it didn’t. But the cold and a little rain hasn’t dampened our spirits and we have still managed to fit in a lot of great activities today and our young mariners continue to impress with their endless energy and motivation. That’s enough from me I will now handover to Riley and Jack who have done a great job of writing tonight’s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain GavV03/23 – DAY 5
This morning the youth crew of the STS Young Endeavour woke to the frightening sound of red watch singing a parody of Riptide by Vance Joy over the ships intercom. This was then followed by the message that blue watch, the watch that was on guts the night before, could have a well-deserved sleep in. While members from blue watch went back to sleep the rest of the crew made their way down to the galley to enjoy another one of Haydos fantastic meals. After everyone had had breakfast the morning brief was given at 0900 which involved informing the youthies of the day ahead and a very educational story by Matty on the origins of the nautical term “two six heave”. After the morning brief the crew went below decks for Chucky’s favourite part of the day: Happy Hour! (Also known as cleaning the ship hour). In the afternoon the three watches conducted rotational tacking stations. This involved the watches rotating through the positions that the other watches fill when we tack which helped the crew get a better idea on what happens when we tack. Captain Gav came up on deck to give us a crash course about sailing theory and the ships history. This was very interesting and gave the youth crew a helpful insight into why different sails are used depending on different wind conditions. Round 3 of the famous Rope races were then commenced at noon with a twist of the round being worth double points. This highly non-competitive competition ended with Blue and Red watch drawing making it a close race for the rest of the trip The biggest highlight of most people’s day was sailing through the straight between Tasman Island and Cape Pillar in the afternoon. We all gathered at the bow of the ship as we gazed upon the spectacular columnar basalt edged cliffs rose up on either side of the narrow passageway. We had to furl all the sails, which involved sending two youth crew members up the main mast in rough swells and high winds to gasket the sail. Engines where turned on for the first time that day so we could safely pass the straight. The effort was truly worth it as we passed the resident seal colony and schools of dolphins. One of the greatest things about the STS Young Endeavour is even though the ship may sway from side to side and youth crew struggle to walk straight without getting knocked into a wall; the ships Chef continues to work hard and impress us with meals made from a kitchen which is smaller than the size of most people’s laundry room. It continues to amaze me how he keeps this quality in these rocky conditions. Not enough praise can be given to the hard work this man puts in keeping everyone happy. Go Haydo!Hi mum and dad I’m still alive, somehow we are already halfway through. See you in six days. Jack. You probably won’t see this but love you to the moon and back mum and dad. Riley. Until next time… Youthies Jack & Riley
