Captain's Log

V07/15

14 November 2015

PIZZA NIGHT

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 24 of our voyage. Following some lighter conditions overnight the wind freshened again from the SSW at 0600 this morning which kept the morning watch busy putting the ship under a full press of sail so that we could take full advantage of these great conditions. The large swell that we have experienced for the past week has now dropped down to a more pleasant 1.5m so everyone onboard including the Chef are extremely happy.

Talking of the Chef he again out did himself tonight with some fantastic pizzas. Throughout this voyage it has become a bit of a tradition to have pizza on Saturday nights normally followed by a movie or something else to keep everyone entertained.

Being a Saturday Routine I havenâ€™t got that much news for you as we have keep activities to a minimum (except Cleaning Stations) so that those that need it can catch up on some sleep. This will occur again tomorrow with our Sunday Routine with the World Voyagers even giving Chef â€˜Jenkoâ€™ the day off by volunteering to cook lunch and dinner so it will be interesting to see what is on the menu.

Currently we are located 505nm WSW of Cape Town sailing under a full press of sail and still enjoying these strong but cold SSW winds which are driving us along at 7-8kts. The wind is forecast to back to the SSE early tomorrow morning which will still assist our passage to Cape Town.

Quickly writing tonightâ€™s log before going aloft for a sunset climb are the Ridiculously Good Looking Watch so please enjoy reading about todayâ€™s exploits onboard STS Young Endeavour.

Until tomorrow, take care

Yours Aye
Captain Gav

Late Mail: Tonight Zoe achieved her voyage goal of making it all the way to the Topgallant Yard for sunset, well done Zoe!!

Ahoy Landlubbers,

After a busy night setting, furling and then re-setting sails we awoke this morning to the dulcet tones of our new celebrity sea-master Liam and the symphonic orchestra. The morning was described as being beautiful, the seas were told to be majestic, and the breakfast was filled with promises of croissants and cakes. However, much to our dismay; our trusted sea-master had lied to us. There were no croissants! The wails and cries of our peers that echoed throughout the ship were nothing compared to the dismay of our valiant Captain Gav as the harsh croissantless reality dawned upon us. Luckily, Jenko and his master chefs had still wrestled up something great, in the form of bacon, eggs, fried rice and everyoneâ€™s new favourite breakfast cereal All Bran, meaning we could maybe live another day.

The morning started with our regular and always entertaining morning brief with Leighroy giving us his rendition of â€˜not so necessary nautical knowledgeâ€™ from his own sea fairing adventures. We were all very enlightened, and slightly traumatised. Thanks Leighroy! From there it was onto everyoneâ€™s favourite hour of the day, HAPPY HOUR! A time when we all band together to defeat the evil forces of Grime and his villainous henchman Dust.

Adrenaline levels spiked when the sounds of the fire alarm echoed down the busy corridors interrupting happy hour and sending world voyagers scurrying up companion ways to muster at midships in our watches. Our dashing heart throb heroes Evan & Kenny suited up ready to save the day. There was a fire in the galley! Silence echoed across the vast south Atlantic and the very forecastle that we sat upon. After several tense, nail biting minutes the heroes returned with the news that the fire had not been put out, because the fire was a DRILL!

Lunch was delicious as always with spicy chicken laksa clearing our sinuses and burning our lips. Then using Saturday sea routine to our advantage many of us hit our racks for a matter of hours. It is rumoured that Emily slept for 5 hours and even refused to emerge from her slumber for the now traditional Saturday Sir David Attenborough documentary.

Pizza night was divine.

Currently we are bobbing in the Atlantic with a much reduced and comfortable swell. We are under a full press of sail with Ridiculously Good Looking Watch safely and expertly guiding us in the general direction of Cape Town. The tunes are pumping, the sun is setting and the climbs are calling.

Until next time,

Jack and Emily on behalf of Ridiculously Good Looking Watch.

SHOUTOUTS:

Happy birthday to my beautiful Nan! Hope youâ€™re not giving everyone too much grief you old scoundrel. Miss you loads and canâ€™t wait to hug you. Have the best day, Em xx

p.s. Hey family and friends! Iâ€™m never leaving this ship.. I have elaborate stow away plans. Sorry not sorry.

Hey Liam, Leighroy says hey or something along those lines. Said we are docking in Cape Town soon? Em

Hey to all my fans, I canâ€™t name you all as I know there are heaps, just want to say I love you all. Its time to face my fear, we are about to climb up to the very top! Aarrgghh. So if I donâ€™t talk to you in 3 days, you should all know Iâ€™ve had a great adventure. Nearly on land, letâ€™s do this! Speak soon. Zoe

Hey Leighroy, itâ€™s Emily here. Liam asked me to say hey back to you. So HEY!

Hey Mum, Dad, and the gang! The days are disappearing quickly and soon my time on this wonderful ship will be complete. It has been amazing! But I look forward to seeing you all again in December – Jack

Latitude/Longitude:

35 degrees 47 minutes South / 8 degrees 11 minutes East

Conditions:

Currently located 505nm to the WSW of Cape Town sailing under a full press of sail and enjoying strong 18-23kt SSW winds with a 1.5m SW swell. Our current speed is 7.5kts and the temperature is 12 degrees with a Wind Chill Factor of 4 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

PIZZA NIGHT

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