Greetings from the Deep Blue Yonder

Situation at 20:00 – Last night was spent quietly at anchor off Dunk Island, catching up on sleep and otherwise relaxing. Today’s activitiesstarted off when all hands were piped on deck at 06:30 for early morning activity. This involved an easy jog around the uppersfollowed by some team activities led by XO Chooka.After showers and breakfast it was time for morning brief. XO Chooka outlined the plan for the day before turning over to the SaltySea Dog. Today’s nautical saying involved tropical fruit and Vikings and was very well acted out. Engineer Stewy made only a small harvest for his scran bag, but the quantity of the singers was more than made up by the quality of the singing. Happy hour was next, and today was ‘Deck’ day. The next activity was the communications exercise.The Youth Crew are divided into three groups and required to complete a task with each group using different mediums to communicate with. This proved to be very effective and several valuable lessons were learned. At 10:30 the anchor was weighed and we sailedEastward towards deep water and sea room. The third installment of Rope Races was next on the agenda. The Blue watch has taken the lead but Red and White are close astern and gaining.After a terrific lunch, courtesay of Chef Polly, it was time for the Youth Crew to watch the only TV of the voyage. This took the form of a 38 minute video of a square-rigger rounding Cape Horn in 1928. It is an amazing piece of footage and makes us appreciate the creature comforts we enjoy in YOUNG ENDEAVOUR. Demonstration andRotational tacks was the last activity of the day. This enabled the Youth Crew to experience tacking from the perspective of the other watches. It also allowed each of them to sit with Captain John and hear him explain the process, sequence and considerations taken into account when carrying out this complex evolution. This will be of benefit to them on command day.We will make ground to the South overnight as we shape a course towardsthe Palm Islands. The Youth Crew will complete themajor teamwork exercise of the voyage, requiring them to complete a complex task with no assistance from the Staff Crew. They will need to utilise teamwork, effective communication and cooperation if theyhope to be successful. Well done to the Youth Crew members who overcame their fear of climbing today to achieve a significantchallenge by reaching the lower and upper Top. Perseverance pays off. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: The Ship’s hull is made of steel and the decks are teak. The masts and all spars are aluminium. YOUNGENDEAVOUR was purpose built for youth development training and is extremely well equipped for her role. The Ship carries 12 tons of fresh water and is fitted with a reverse osmosis plant able to produce 4 tons of fresh water per day.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Close-hauled – Pointing as high on the wind as possible with the sails remaining full. In YOUNGENDEAVOUR this is when the wind is 60 degrees off the bow. Aback – A sail is aback when it is filled by wind on the wrong side. Setting a sail aback is a technique used to help tack the Ship and to assist inworking off a berth.Thought of the Day: All serious daring starts from within. Eudora Welty.Yours, Aye John Cowan, LCDR, RANHello Land People,We’re all having a fantastic time out on sea. It’s hard work hauling on the lines when tacking ship and sleep is hard to come by. Yesterday we practised setting and clewing the square sails, which was exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Team work activities have been fun and all teams are working well together – go team bluewatch :)I have found the lectures and information on navigating fascinating. The food on board is the best … so mum, I might not be coming home as soon as promised. As Chook says it’s all about the food. Looking forward to the many challenges ahead. See you all soon.From James in Sydney.G’day from the Shanty Sea People,Today I asked a question which was answered in a most interesting of ways. My question related to a procedure on the ship and the answer involved me eating coconut and cherry tomatoes. I climbed the foremast again today but today was clearer than previous days and the view was spectacular. On a personal note, hi to my Mum, Dad, sisters Rebecca and Imogen, and cousins Charlotte and Aleisha. From Liam in Brisbane. Greetings from the deep blue yonder,We are half way through our voyage and the past 5 days have been a blast. We have all learnt so much and made friendships to last alifetime. Many challenges have been accomplished and fears overcome.Today I climbed the foremast and the view was awesome. You feel like you can see forever. However it is hard to get sleep between tacks and night watches so I should probably hit the sack. I will leave youon the fact that Young Endeavour is the experience of a lifetime. P.S. Hi Mum 🙂 From Kat in Orange

Latitude/Longitude:

17Â° 56' South / 146Â° 20' East

Conditions:

At sea under five sails. Wind: Sou'East at 10 kts, Temp: 23c, Cloud:6/8

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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V04/24

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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