FINAL NIGHT OF WORLD VOYAGE

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 29 of our voyage and the final night of Young Endeavours 2015 World Voyage. I was getting nervous yesterday when we were only making 5kts but thankfully the wind gods came to our rescue as they have in times of need throughout the World Voyage and overnight we got some nice strong south easterly winds which had us sitting on 9kts for most of the night which thankfully put us right back on schedule and will now see us Sail into Fremantle at 1400 tomorrow completing the final leg of our year-long circumnavigation of the world.

In the 12 months that we have been away from Australia we have sailed over 35,000nm visited 18 countries and embarked over 200 young Australians, 7 New Zealanders and 1 trainee from Malta who have all contributed greatly to the success of the World Voyage and who I am sure will remember this experience for the rest of their lives.

For the Staff and Crew of Young Endeavour this year has been a huge challenge. Rounding Cape Horn, participating in Centenary of Anzac commemorations at Gallipoli, taking the Ship back to the United Kingdom for the first time since she was built 28 years ago, participating in the North Sea Tall Ship Regatta with the Worlds Great Tall Ships, crossing the Atlantic Ocean on three separate occasions and finally rounding the Cape of Good Hope, crossing the Indian Ocean and arriving safely back in Australia has been a major achievement for all of us and we are extremely proud of these achievements.

The majority of the Staff Crew have completed just over eight months of the World Voyage which is a long time to be away from their families and they have done an amazing job. Never once have they lost their focus or passion for the ship and program that we proudly run and all of them are great ambassadors for Australia the Royal Australian Navy.

Working behind the scenes supporting the ship is the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme who have done a wonderful job with the selection of World Voyage Crews, logistical support and even providing staff to meet and farewell crews and to organise tours in some of the ports. Without their ongoing support this voyage would not have been as successful as it has been.

Finishing this log entry tonight I would like to thank the World Voyagers of Passage Eight and all of the World Voyagers who sailed with us during Young Endeavours 2015 World Voyage. You are wonderful group of young Australians and it has been a pleasure to have you onboard and to share this great adventure with you.

This will be the final Captains Log for the World Voyage as the ship will now go into a reduced activity period until the 12 Jan 16 when we will commence our 2016 Youth Development Voyages which will see us sail back to Sydney via, Esperance, Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne.

Please enjoy the final nights Captains Log written by the World Voyagers of Passage Eight.

Merry Christmas and all the very best for the New Year.

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

CAPTAIN’S LOG – 21 DEC 15

Tonight’s log is our final log. It has been a truly amazing day. Although we have not yet dropped anchor and the west coast still sits just beyond our eyes, we know we have made it. We have worked hard and battled through adversity as a team and on an individual level. Today has been an early reward for this.

The morning started with an incredible sunrise that captivated those lucky enough to be up. The warmer weather was finally here and everyone’s mood rose with the temperature. The deck, a once desolate place of ropes and winches, now bustled with life. As the shorts and shirts came out, the cuts and bruises were displayed and we all took turns discussing how we came to wear these badges of honour as we all realise that our journey is coming to an end.

As we began our final preparations for customs and immigration, we made sure to make the most of the sunshine and the spectacular SODS Opera was performed. Some epic melodramas in some not so epic outfits left many of us stunned as we still continue to learn about each other’s hidden talents. Most of Red Watch couldn’t believe their ears when they found out that they had taken out top honours for the coveted Ropes Races, their reward being the right to sail into port aloft on the topgallant yards. Congratulations to Red watch. More importantly though, congratulations to Horto who swept the board and took out all prizes in the ‘Who wore it Vest (best)’ competition. Honourable mentions go out to Navan for runner up.

As we write this now, the sun sets on our backs and brings to an end our first day of really pleasant weather. In between the cleaning duties, SODS, and other things, we have spent as much time as we could on deck soaking up the sun, playing games and simply relaxing. Today we even ate dinner on deck for the first time since leaving Cape Town, giving us a lovely change of scenery.

Tonight we will be having a slide show up on midships which will be looking back on our journey. Although we are all busting to arrive and say ‘We have done it!’ we will disembark with a sweet sense of melancholy. It has been a real privilege for all of us to take part in the final leg of this circumnavigation. We would like to take this moment to give a special thanks to the staff who have been on board with us for the final chapter. We would also like to say thanks to all the previous staff and youthies who have worked to get the ship this far, allowing us to have the privilege of sailing it home across the Indian Ocean.

We will leave this short and sweet as there is a beautiful sunset that we must go and watch.

Yours Aye,

Whiskey Victors