Refuge Bay

After another delicious lunch, the youth crew continued their set and furl drills. This confirmed that they have all the necessary skills to sail YOUNG ENDEAVOUR for their Command Day. The emphasison these drills is ensuring that the youth crew can safely set and furl sails without risking damage to themselves or the Ship.At 1415 the Ship came to anchor in the aptly named Refuge Bay at Scawfell Island. This bay provides shelter from the strongsoutheasterly winds that we are experiencing. This uninhabited smallisland measuring just 2.5nm by 2nm has three peaks over 300m high, and is home to many large spiders, lobsters, reef sharks and giant turtles.Mid-voyage talks were conducted shortly after anchoring by the watches. This presents an opportunity for the youth crew to share their experiences of the voyage so far. The feed back from this forum indicates that the youth crew are having a fantastic time meeting new people and facing new challenges. The only realdisappointment has been how many people felt the effects of seasickness, thankfully now passed.A magnificent buffet dinner was followed with the screening of a video showing footage of a massive tall ship weathering huge storms in the 1920’s. The sheer size of the ship, and the safety regulations (none – just hang on, it would be silly to let go!) serve to show how fortunate we are to be able to experience such weatherwith the back up of modern safety and navigation equipment.At 1900 the youth crew were briefed on Command Day, and then conducted their elections for their command structure for the day. Congratulations to YC Captain Hugh, YC XO Nic, YC Navigators Bel andLuke, YC Watchleaders Darren, Pat & Michael, and YC Chefs Aiden, Alana & Daniel. Special mention to the YC BRAT (Beach Ready Assault Team) of Stacey, Bree, Duncan & Nick. A quick morning activity was followed with breakfast and then a short boat trip to Scawfell Island. A fun round of Head-Butt Tag and Dead-Ant was followed with a great swim, exploring the many rock pools and generally relaxing in the National Park. Thank you also to the youth crew who collected a small pile of rubbish from thebeach ensuring the beach remains clean and pristine for future visitors.All safely back onboard, the youth crew are busily preparing for the hand-over ceremony at 1400 where they will assume command ofthe Ship for the next 24 hours. They have been given a series of tasks and way-points to complete, and are excited about thechallenges facing them. So are we.Young Endeavour Fact File:YOUNG ENDEAVOUR is fitted with two Stokes Anchors (cast steel anchor with forged steel shanks) connected by 6 shackles (90feet per shackle) of 17.5mm cable to deck clenches in the cable locker. The combined weight of the anchor and fittings (excluding cable) is 444kg.Thought of the Day: ‘Never act a certain way to fit in, for when all your acting is done, you will have forgotten who you really are; Christopher SwiftYours Aye,Phil GadenLEUT, RANActing Commanding OfficerYouth Crew Impressions:Luke 16, MudgeeThe voyage so far has been great! I’ve managed to climb higher than I ever thought I could. I’ve conquered my fear of heights and had fun doing it. It’s been amazing. I was elected navagator which was a realhighlight.Soph 22, MelbourneYoung Endeavour has been amazing so far – even have managed to climb aloft which was pretty intimidating but felt great to do it! Going ashore to Scawfell island today was beautiful! Having a great time…Natalia 23, TasmaniaGreat weather, fantastic people, beautiful islands, magnificent ocean… and lots of learning and climbing. Hi Alina and Jose!
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind south-easterly at 20 - 25 knots. Weather fine.
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Hi Everyone, Welcome to Day 5 of our voyage. Overnight and during the early hours of this morning we continued to enjoy a great sail around the southern Tasmanian coast with all of the watches kept busy with setting and furling sails and doing some practical navigation. By sunrise we were located just to the south of Bruny Island now just sailing under fore & aft sail and hoping that the day would get warmer, which sadly it didn’t. But the cold and a little rain hasn’t dampened our spirits and we have still managed to fit in a lot of great activities today and our young mariners continue to impress with their endless energy and motivation. That’s enough from me I will now handover to Riley and Jack who have done a great job of writing tonight’s Log. Until tomorrow, take care. Captain GavV03/23 – DAY 5
This morning the youth crew of the STS Young Endeavour woke to the frightening sound of red watch singing a parody of Riptide by Vance Joy over the ships intercom. This was then followed by the message that blue watch, the watch that was on guts the night before, could have a well-deserved sleep in. While members from blue watch went back to sleep the rest of the crew made their way down to the galley to enjoy another one of Haydos fantastic meals. After everyone had had breakfast the morning brief was given at 0900 which involved informing the youthies of the day ahead and a very educational story by Matty on the origins of the nautical term “two six heave”. After the morning brief the crew went below decks for Chucky’s favourite part of the day: Happy Hour! (Also known as cleaning the ship hour). In the afternoon the three watches conducted rotational tacking stations. This involved the watches rotating through the positions that the other watches fill when we tack which helped the crew get a better idea on what happens when we tack. Captain Gav came up on deck to give us a crash course about sailing theory and the ships history. This was very interesting and gave the youth crew a helpful insight into why different sails are used depending on different wind conditions. Round 3 of the famous Rope races were then commenced at noon with a twist of the round being worth double points. This highly non-competitive competition ended with Blue and Red watch drawing making it a close race for the rest of the trip The biggest highlight of most people’s day was sailing through the straight between Tasman Island and Cape Pillar in the afternoon. We all gathered at the bow of the ship as we gazed upon the spectacular columnar basalt edged cliffs rose up on either side of the narrow passageway. We had to furl all the sails, which involved sending two youth crew members up the main mast in rough swells and high winds to gasket the sail. Engines where turned on for the first time that day so we could safely pass the straight. The effort was truly worth it as we passed the resident seal colony and schools of dolphins. One of the greatest things about the STS Young Endeavour is even though the ship may sway from side to side and youth crew struggle to walk straight without getting knocked into a wall; the ships Chef continues to work hard and impress us with meals made from a kitchen which is smaller than the size of most people’s laundry room. It continues to amaze me how he keeps this quality in these rocky conditions. Not enough praise can be given to the hard work this man puts in keeping everyone happy. Go Haydo!Hi mum and dad I’m still alive, somehow we are already halfway through. See you in six days. Jack. You probably won’t see this but love you to the moon and back mum and dad. Riley. Until next time… Youthies Jack & Riley

