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DEVONPORT: FULL OF SURPRISES. LEARNING NEW THINGS EVERY DAY. AN AWESOME WAY TO SPEND 10 DAYS."" KATE
02/28/04
10 December 2021
The best and worst experiences of my life”””,,Past Voyages,Captain’s Log,NOON POSITIONSAILING OFF PORTLAND
ROCKHAMPTON: “”I’VE HAD THE BEST AND WORST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE. MEETING HEAPS OF TERRIFIC PEOPLE ON BOARD. DEFINATELY THEBEST TIME
Latitude/Longitude:
/ 38° 24' South
Conditions:
141° 40' East
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Eden to Melbourne
21 January 2025
2025_Day 7, Eden to Melbourne
Hello, this is Isy and Crash (Collison) reporting from the coast of Phillip Island just south-east of Melbourne. Today we woke up after a night of sailing to a warm, sunny day, by the suited ‘Here Comes the Sun’.
Beginning the day in our different watch groups, nervous but excited to have Captain Leups test our knowledge of sail setting and furling. All were deemed competent and pleasantly surprised with fresh Tim Tams that tasted better than ever before. Following our chocolatey pre-breakfast reward we had our morning brief from the Staffies, including a literal off-the charts low for the spew-meter, earning a celebration for no sea-sickness the past two days.
We then broke off to our respective watch tacking stations and took turns up at the bridge to learn what was actually happening to the ship when we close up and execute a tack. We are usually on deck hauling lines and it was great to see it from the Bridge perspective.
After lunch Blue Watch won the final round of ropies, with the bonus round of a race to consume Zooper Doopers the fastest. Calories were consumed. Brains were freezed. Mouths were numb.
With the buzz of the zooper doopers, youthies were disappointed to hear that we had a navigation brief, however, when the plan quickly changed to a swim around the boat, a huge roar of surprise followed. With the current too strong we launched the boat and went for Plan B which was a run in to Cowell Beach, Philip Island.
Captain Leups talked us through a brief on the conduct of Command Day. This is the culmination of all the training and drill we have been doing out here. It is very exciting! After speeches were spoken and votes were counted, the results for the different positions are as follows:
Seth as Captain; Andrew as Sailmaster; Isy as Navigator; Gunita as Officer of the Watch; Crash, Lila, and Mark as Watch Leaders of the new Dog, Cat, and Bird Watches, Sam, Daisy, and Darby will be our Master Chefs; and Amaya and Harry as our created positions of Morale Officers.
The day was then finished with movie snacks while we watched the short documentary, Around Cape Horn, about Captain Irving Johnson’s trip on the 17 storey tall-ship, Peking, in 1927. Despite the vast differences in safety equipment, ship size, and the conditions, the movie served as a reminder of the seafaring knowledge we have gained.
Time to sign off as the final day of being a Youthie, tomorrow we will become proper Salty Sea Dogs.
Isy and Crash Out +
Eden to Melbourne
20 January 2025
Day 6 – Onwards through the Bass Strait
Hello, this is Dais and Gunita reporting from the deep blue sea. We’re proud to say that at an anchored rest we all had fantastic sleeps. Especially considering the single hour watches (they’re usually four). We were woken up by “Here Comes The Sun” over the PA followed by a stretching session with Karsen. Breakfast was a morning BBQ consisting of bacon and egg rolls, surrounded by the gorgeous, isolated Deal Island. We were most sad to leave. But excited to move on.
After happy hour (cleaning), The first activity of the day was mid voyage chats, were in our watch groups we reflected on the goals we’d written for ourselves on day one. Both Gunita and I are from blue watch and we as a whole believe we’re tracking very well on those goals. Such as seeing the marine life, sunrise climbs on the mast and coming to understand and experience sailing.
Shocking we know but we did also do some sailing. Many tacks were underway, which requires the whole youth team to work together. We were then better set on course. We were lucky enough to spot pods of dolphins, schools of fish and a single seal. Lunch was veggie ravioli as well as lamb. Thank you, Alex (the master chef). Chucky then assigned time for a siesta, which is a nap. If you didn’t know (I didn’t). Gunita and I both took up the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Even though we were late to rope races. Whoops- Regardless blue watch dominated. The topics were square sails and random objects. Following that was flag races. The flag races relate to the communication area of the navy and are a common practice. Random groups were allocated and tasked to hoist and identify twelve signalling flags as quickly as they could. The team with the quickest time won. Good job team two! Dinner was honey glazed ham, beef stroganoff with potatoes and veggies, man we are fed well.
That leads us to now. Sadly, Gunita and I have guts watch tonight (12am-4am) so the bed is calling us to the unconscious realm. Onwards.
Goodnight,
Dais and Gunita
Eden to Melbourne
19 January 2025
Day 5 – Deal Island!
This is Sam and Iaroslav coming live from Deal Island, today was a jam-packed day filled with lots of fun and laughs.
Day 5 started off with some freshly baked croissants and the sight of land for the first time in 3 days! Not long after wakey wakey we set anchor In East Cove, Deal Island and prepared to head ashore!
Once on the island after a short but fun boat ride we got ready for a 3km hike up to the Lighthouse. Despite some very sore legs, a few strong youthies (Including Iaroslav), ran the whole track! We achieved the hike and saw what a great view and lighthouse Deal Island had to offer.
After getting to know some of our other ship mates on the walk down for our three way chats we were all ready for an ocean swim. The swim started out with ball games, snorkelling and a swimming race between Sam and Crash - and of course Sam won in record time.
After a joyful swim and heaps of laughs we walked over to the other end of the beach to hear an inspirational talk by Samual and his journey of how he built a boat out of fish farming scraps. He is now sailing it around the country educating young people about the dangers of marine waste.
It's not a day unless the Queenslanders have something to say about the weather... Today all of the cold Queenslanders ran across the beach to get back onto the ship for a warm shower : which might have been more than 90 seconds (sorry Dan!!)
By the time everyone was on board, and the Queenslanders were warm, the Staffies had prepared an amazing feast for all the hungry youthies. After eating a true Aussie meal; sausage sizzle, burgers, and salads all the youthies came together for a short dance party on the top deck where we brought out the true Aussie moves with the nut bush, macarena, YMCA, Gangnam style and hot to go. Tonight white watch made a very brave move to announce “we are white watch and we are the dirtiest nastiest double duffers” to the rest of the crew as they gracefully munched on their second duff of the evening.
Today was filled with highlights including seeing many wallabies on the island, playing charades, and having the spew meter at an all time low of ZERO!
Now as we finish writing this we are beginning our watch rotations and settling in for a much-needed night at anchor after a few rough nights a sea. Time to get the 2B pencils out and do the Navigation Challenge!
Sam and Iaroslav Out!
