PASSAGE TO LOWESTOFT

Hi Everyone,Â Welcome to day 7 of our voyage. Just after 2300 last night we completed our long pilotage out of the Thames then farewelled our Pilot. Due to the favourable tides we made better speed than previously anticipated so rather than spend the night avoiding heavy shipping traffic in the English Channel I decided to change our original plans of continuing to sail overnight and instead go to anchor and give everyone the opportunity to get some much needed sleep, especially our Navigator Miquela and other members of my bridge staff who had an extremely busy day.Given that we will not have many opportunities to go to anchor during this voyage due to our crossing of the North Sea and participation in the Tall Ship races, remaining at anchor has given us the chance to progress through a number of activities normally reserved for later in the voyage and it has also given the World Voyagers more time to spend together outside of their watches so that they get to know a little more about each other.Â Following a full day of activities we departed our anchorage early this evening and are now experiencing some pleasant sailing as we make our way along the English Coast to Lowestoft where we are scheduled to berth alongside at 0800 tomorrow morning.Lowestoft is important in the life of Young Endeavour as it is where she was built and it is extremely special to be finally taking her back to where it all began. Despite it only being a short 32hr visit I know that the local community are excited about seeing the ship again and I am sure that we will receive a very warm welcome.Â Writing tonightâ€™s Log is Blue Watchâ€™s Mikey, Leanne and Ethan. Enjoy!Â Until our departure from Lowestoft, take care.Â Yours AyeÂ Captain GavÂ CAPTAINS LOG 18 JUL 15Â AHOY!Â Greetings from Blue Watch! Mikey, Leanne and Ethan here! Itâ€™s currently 1800 and we have just finished an amazing dinner put on by Marcos and his dish daisies. We are in the challenge room writing this as the radio chatters away with vessels talking between each other and the coast guard.Â Last night as we piloted up the River Thames we were well ahead of schedule. Therefore we anchored at Inner Sunk which is 70NM out of London.Â Last evening Blue Watch went aloft led by Dr. Nick to enjoy the sunset from the lower top and with Mikey, Lucy, Tim climbing further to the upper top and the Topsail Yards. Observing the sunset from aloft was a great experience and nice way to send off a busy day.Â It was a clear night last night so Blue Watch were able to lie on deck for a brief period to enjoy some star gazing with minimal light pollution. We look forward to learning about navigation especially using the stars like old times.Â We dropped anchor close to midnight and managed to wake up all the girls in the 12 berth cabin below as the anchor chain is stored below. Screams could be heard throughout the ship as panic ensued as the girls were not prepared for the rude awakening. After, a nice sleep was enjoyed by all.Â At 0700 sharp, Wakey wakey was performed by White Watch who sung to us through the PA with breakfast ready soon after (another amazing meal, with chocolate chip pancakes). Morning watch had an appearance from Salty who told us about the old sea tale of why the toilets on a ship are called the heads. Happy hour followed and as Kenny says â€˜A happy ship is a clean ship, and a clean ship is a healthy shipâ€™. In preparation for the upcoming tall ship races, Taffy took us through a â€˜crash courseâ€™ on the rules of the road â€“ for the sea. A very informative and interactive time was had.Â Free time was enjoyed before lunch, basking in the beautiful weather, with some people sun baking, others grabbing a quick nap and others hanging out and relaxing.Â After lunch we went into Rope Races Round 2, with Blue Watch performing well with our knowledge of the sails and the lines. Then we were split up into groups of 3, one person from each watch to learn more about each other â€“ three way talks as they are called by the Staffies. After 90 minutes we then presented what we had learned to everyone by pretending to be one our fellow shipmates. It was a great chance to know everyone that we havenâ€™t had the chance to yet.Followed by this we had some fun with everyone playing some â€˜team buildingâ€™ games that involved close encounters, clenching and fruitâ€¦Â We will weigh anchor at 2000 and start sailing to Lowestoft where the ship was built; we are looking forward to practicing our skills, and hosting a function tomorrow night on board.Â Hi to Mum, Dad and Caleb! Wishing you all well, and canâ€™t wait to see you all soon! ïŠ Thankyou to Melissa, Anthony, Caitlin and Ewan for helping me around London and catching up with me numerous times! You guys really made me want to stay longer! Wishing everyone else back home all the best and I miss you all! Also Iâ€™ve been wearing a hat so I donâ€™t get burnt on my bald head!Â Love EthanShout out to Red, wishing you are well! Make sure you play with Spike and Squid for me. Dear Joan, I hope the Vernal Pools are holding water and the shield shrimp are thriving.Â Love Mikey,Hi to Ng family – hoping itâ€™s not too cold in Melbourne and that everyone is well. Greg â€“ miss you and see you soon in Copenhagen. Love Leanne.

Latitude/Longitude:

51Â°53'n / 1Â°37'e

Conditions:

Currently located 40nm to the SE of Lowestoft and experiencing moderate 10-15kt SE winds with nil swell. Current speed is 4kts and the temperature is 17 degrees

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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