NOT A BREATH OF WIND

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 22 of our voyage which has been another day of warm conditions, blue skies and hardly a breath of wind which has meant the continued use of the â€˜Iron Headsailâ€™ (our main engine).Despite the lack of wind we have still managed to fit in a number of activities during the day which have included the construction of a rope hammock, set of rope races, PT class and to finish up the afternoon a refreshing swim. Overnight the World Voyagers will be kept busy while on watch completing harbour furls on the squares, putting covers on the mainsail and fisherman staysail and if time permits may even rig the midships awning. By achieving all of these tasks overnight it should only leave the tasks of storing and refuelling the ship on our arrival in Tenerife at 1000 tomorrow morning.Talking of Tenerife it is now only 30nm away and given the great visibility that we currently have we can clearly see the peak of the Pico del TÃ©ide volcano which is the highest mountain in Spain at just over 3000m.So as not to tell you all of the news of the day I will now handover to Kate, Maddy, Brad and other members of the Young Endeavour Crew who kindly volunteered to write tonightâ€™s Captains Log. Enjoy!As we will now be alongside in Tenerife for the next five days the next Captains Log will be released on the evening of Friday 18th September (our time).Until then, take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavLand Ahoy!!! The day had finally arrived, and after two glorious weeks of enjoying our own little world, Tenerife is at last on the horizon. Though, by saying Tenerife, we really mean the peak of Pico del TÃ©ide volcano, which many of us are looking forward to climbing upon our imminent arrival tomorrow!Saturday has treated us well. We began with a marvellous production of Ianâ€™s â€˜Two Six Heaveâ€™, though unfortunately Mila Kunis was unable to make it and instead, we had to improvise with poor Liv who was thoroughly impressed with the whole situation.From there it was Happy Hour (the happiest hour of the day) where we devised a plan to fit all 24 youthies onto a rope hammock. Iâ€™m happy to announce that such a task was completed with great success!Lunchtime was fabulous as per usual (cheers Marcus) and the following siesta was even better. At 1400, the well rested World Voyagers were summoned from their snooze and back to Midships to compete in the final rope races! It was a tight finish, and after a tie breaker of â€œskinning the snakeâ€ which was completed with varying degrees of success and it was Blue Watch who came out victorious, closely followed by White Watch, and then Red Watch. But hey, rope races are the real winner, right?Completely disregarding the fact that we are sailing through the tropics and itâ€™s pretty damn sweaty and hot, we raced into a quick PT sesh with the one and only Miquela, and topped off the day with another beautiful swim in the crystal clear Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately for us, old mate shark was nowhere in sight.So as we settle in for our last sweaty night at sea for a few days, weâ€™re watching the sun set over the Canary Islands and dreaming of the cocktails and adventures in the days to come. Though we say this with a little sadness in our Red Watch hearts, as tonight is our last night at sea with Tug, our fearless watch leader. Tug has been our watch leader, teacher and fountain of dad-jokes since we boarded the ship in Amsterdam, but unfortunately will be leaving us in Tenerife to head home to his family. All of Red Watch would like to thank Tug for the past three weeks weâ€™ve spent together; learning to sail, spewing over the side, climbing aloft the masts and just having a great time. We all wish you were coming to Rio. Cheers and giddy up.Love to all the Captainâ€™s Log fans,Kate, Maddy, Brad and the Young Endeavour CrewAnnie: Ahoy Family! Just wanted you to know I am still alive; no more sea sickness after we departed Brest! Having the most amazing time although I have missed every opportunity to see a whale close up!! Luckily there are 40 or so days left! Miss you all xoxMaddy: Bad luck about the game Dad, though at least it wasnâ€™t as bad as Hawthornâ€™s! Talk to you soon, love to everyone at home xx

Latitude/Longitude:

29 degrees 0 minutes North / 15 degrees 51 minutes West

Conditions:

Currently located 30nm to the north of the Canary Islands and experiencing 3kts of light and variable wind. Our current speed is 4kts and the temperature is 20 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

You might also be interested in

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

THE VOYAGE

Latest Captain’s Log

BEFORE YOU APPLY

Apply for Financial Assistance

FOR GUARDIANS

Youth Safety & Mental Health

FOR ORGANISATIONS

Scholarships for Local Youth

ABOUT US

The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme

OUR COMMUNITY

Make a Donation

NOT A BREATH OF WIND

Latitude/Longitude:

Conditions:

You might also be interested in

Ready to set sail?

More Information

Donations

Contact Us

1800 020 444

Keep in Touch

1800 020 444