Poor Ducky!
Yesterday was a tremendous sailing day. At 1030 we sailed from the anchorage in a moderate NW breeze in glorious sunshine and headed out to sea. In short order we had all plain sail set and had the ship making 8kts in 16kts of breeze. Prior to lunch I gave the youth crew a lecture on sail theory and afterwards we put the theory into practice and conducted a series of demonstration tacks.By late afternoon, the W-SW change that was expected came in allowing us to head further north. With the change came an increase in wind speed and soon the ship was dipping the lee rail and powering along at over 10 kts. The wind continued to increase and the seas started to build so some sail was shortened in. Red Watch lay aloft to gaskett the top gallant in very trying conditions – well done guys. It was a wild and bumpy night with sea sickness returning for some. Ducky, Red Watch leader, has now had four voyages in a row where somebody from his watch has managed to vomit on him. Some people are just lucky I guess.This morning we are working our way back towards the coast and hoping to anchor off Coolangatta this evening. Hopefully the wind will continue backing to the south as forecast. In todays log and perhaps in future entries, I am adding a paragraph from one of the youth crew. Hopefully this will provide a different perspective of daily life in YE.YC entry by Cassandra Hart (age 16 from Scone NSW) – At last, our first full day under sail. We began by sailing from anchor which took an effort by all. We finally got to appreciate the power of the sails without the engines. Once again out of sight of land, we sat on the deck in the sunshine enjoying nothing but the serenity of the wind and waves. Last night in our watch groups, our skill, strength and teamwork were tested as we were all challenged beyond our boundaries. This goes to show that over the past days we have come to rely more on each other, with teamwork and a build up of confidence being the end result of trust and growth of friendship. I have never been out to sea before so this has been a huge change in lifestyle, and it is difficult having to adapt to the irregular sleeping patterns, 90 second showers and everything heeled over at 30 degrees. But as the days pass by, I am realising that this is one of the greatest times I’ve ever had.CiaoAndrew (and Cassandra)
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Course 190/6kts, Wind 225/15kts, Temp 18
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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