Hervey Bay

Shortly after lunch yesterday YOUNG ENDEAVOUR weighed anchor and bade farewell to Gladstone. The youth crew continued their set and furl drills as the Ship proceeded to sea. Set and Furl drills involve the setting and furling of stay sails or fore and aftsails, the most commonly used sails onboard. The strong southerly breeze reaching 25 knots ensured the sails were full, requiringclose cooperation to heave in the sails to a satisfactory trim.Following a short brief by XO Lisa, the youth crew proceeded to set and brail the Mainsail, and also to set and clew the Topsail. This activity gave everyone the opportunity to participate in settingevery type of sail held onboard, again very hard work in the strong winds. This culminated in the youth crew successfully wearing ship twice before breaking for dinner. This highly important evolution involves passing the Ship’s stern through the wind and drawing the sails andbracing the yards to the new tack, allowing the ship to alter course. For a youth crew who had only been onboard little over 24 hours they performed admirably at this task, and well deserved their delicious dinner prepared by Speedy.Unfortunately as the ship cleared Bustard Head (named by Captain Cook after a Bustard Bird he dined on there on 24 May 1770), theShip became subject to the southerly swell caused by the strong winds. Speedy’s fantastic feast was soon lining numerous sick bags, or supplementing dolphin diets as our youth crew succumbed to the scourge of seasickness.Overnight the sailing continued. The Topsail was clewed shortly before midnight, and staffies Mac and Dutchy layed aloft to secureit. Mac proved that even the staff do not have iron clad stomaches, narrowly missing Dutchy with his technicolour yawn, much to the merriment of the rest of the staff.This morning saw YOUNG ENDEAVOUR look like a warzone with little huddles of people laying all over the deck clutching little whitebags. The wind however has moderated all morning, and with a quick tack before 0900 the Ship is now making ground towards the mainland and its calmer waters. The youth crew are starting to come alive again, and realise what sailing is all about. It is fortunate we have remained in the relatively sheltered waters north of Hervey Bayand not the open ocean so far this voyage.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR FACT FILE:YOUNG ENDEAVOUR is steel hulled, with a teak over plywood deck. The steel is Grade A standard British steel and varies in thickness from 15mm to 8mm depending upon position in the hull. There are 56 main frames in the vessel.THOUGHT OF THE DAY:There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.Kenneth Grahame (Wind in the Willows)Yours Aye,Phil GadenLieutenant, RANActing Commanding Officer