Into Bass Strait
Hello Shipmates, Welcome to Day 2 of the voyage. In order that we could depart Port Phillip Bay through ‘the Rip’, the notoriously challenging entrance / exit of the bay, at the optimum state of the tidal flow, the Staffies weighed anchor at 0645 and commenced our transit from Portarlington to the Rip. The Youth Crew were woken by Sail Master Harry at 0700 (a sleep in!) and made their way onto the upper decks for an early morning activity (EMA) to get the blood flowing and the mind active. As we exited the bay, the Youth Crew experienced their first morning brief, stage managed by Harry, which included a brief from the Navigator Ev and ‘Salty the Seadog’ made his first appearance. It is his job to explain the origins of some of the typical expressions or terms in common use in the English language which have a nautical origin. This was followed by ‘Happy Hour’, which is our name for our daily session of cleaning the Ship. Unfortunately we had to cut short the cleaning due to many of the new crew members struggling to locate their ‘Sea Legs’ as the Ship began to move at the mercy of the Bass Strait swells. We started cycling people through lunch at the usual at-sea time of 1115, however the turnout for food was reasonably low. The new crew members spent the remainder of the day undertaking sail setting and furling practice with a strong emphasis on Deck Safety as the Ship transited to its next planned anchorage at Deal Island. The turnout at dinner was slightly better than for lunch perhaps due to the reduced motion of the Ship as the easterly swell reduced in size to around one metre. As the evening progressed the wind also started to reduce in strength. The crew then prepared for their first night at sea. This will involve keeping 4 hour Sea Watches through the night, during which they will keep the Ship safe performing duties as helmsman, lookouts, and conducting below deck engineering rounds. No doubt the crew will sleep well after a busy day! Until tomorrow, Yours Aye Captain Mike
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather - fine, Wind - easterly at 10 kn, Swell - from the east at 1.0 m, Temp - 17 deg. C
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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