Ouch!

The Youth Crew Command Day ended this morning when the ship was sailed to an anchorage off Cairns at the appointed hour. They did an excellent job of sailing overnight and the little sleep they did squeeze in they did not stand in the way of ensuring they worked hard toward their goal. At 6:30am, just as the sun peeked over the horizon, I resumed Command from Brendan Twine. He was glowing with praise of his team’s fine performance. Straight afterwards we hit the showers and devoured breakfast: we had to get into Cairns to meet our guests for the day sail.At 9am we berthed in Cairns and our guests were 23 Aboriginal teenagers from the Gumba Gumba Elders group, some local sportswomen, Councillor Margaret Cochrane, representing Cairns City Council and Channel Ten news. We headed seaward for three hours while the YC, acting as hosts, showed the new sailors how to set and furl sails, pull on lines and steer the ship. We even had a climbing display to demonstrate the YC’s prowess at climbing aloft.At 1pm we returned and farewelled our guests. The last day of the Voyage, like the second one, is always extremely busy. Harbour furls, debriefs, concerts, signatures and packing are what we will achieve today. Tomorrow is our last day and we will berth at Trinity No. 3 at 1000, Thursday.Youth crew entry by Huw Ross 22 Brisbane, Command Day XO.Imagine this….waking up at 3.30am because some stranger has just poured water over your face, you hit your head on your bunk OUCH..you figure out you are on a night shift and you make your way to the upper deck, hitting your head on the tight stair case OUCH. You then make your way to the bridge and hit your knee on the helm OUCH..Could you imagine a better experience… I couldn’t and it turns out that the person who woke you up is not such a bad person after all and is actually a fellow friendly sailor and also you do get used to the bumps.Just a quick note on our Command Day..A great day was had by all, all the mission targets were completed including the record BAT performance to Fitzroy Island. We arrived at our destination hungry, tired but alive with our spirits high.For future youth crew prepare for a plethora of extravaganzas, also handy hint ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ tune up your UNO skills…..On a personal note I would like to send my love and thoughts to Megan Balchin a truly amazing person…..Thankyou….Huw Ross..Youth crew member Marita Hurford 19 Melbourne.Hi mum (and dad), this is for you. Well this voyage has been possibly one of the best experiences I ever had. It hasn’t all been easy but the end result is worth it. Climbing aloft, working the sails, tacking, command day and dish pigging have become part of our daily routines. These moments are ones that will be forever etched in my mind along with the sweet victory of our BAT team last night on Fitzroy Island. Our crew consisted of Kath, Dennis, Dave and myself who with no doubt blitzed the BAT record leaving nothing but a trail of tourists behind.Command day proved to be a success, however wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of all crewmembers. Every crewmember had something different to offer the team, and with everyone’s motivation and support we reached our destination safely.As our voyage is now drawing to a close it gives us the opportunity to reflect on what we have learnt and just how far we have come. Many goals have been reached and many more have been set. Personally the challenges set before me throughout this voyage have encouraged and motivated me on many levels, leaving me with skills and knowledge to take away knowing the sky is the limit.My fellow crew and staff have been amazing throughout the voyage and living within such small quarters has formed many strong friendships. As we leave our ship in the morning I will take many fond memories and well-learnt lessons with me and I’m sure others will also.Mum and Dad, I’ll see you soon. Marita.Stay tunedAndrew Davis

Latitude/Longitude:

16Â° 51' South / 145Â° 50'

Conditions:

CO's LOG Wednesday 16 May 01Current situation at 1800: At anchor False Cape, Cairns. Wind Sou'easterly at 15 knots. Temp 26C.

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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