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Resembling Rainbow Warrior
The Youth Crew have come leaps and bounds since leaving Great Keppel Island. Although we are all tired I think the feeling amongst the crew is that they are doing really well – and they are. They’ve handled some rough weather and getting up in the night, outside of their watches, to tack the ship. We’ve done heaps of climbing and sail handling and the team ethic is really showing. One more night and sea and we will reach our destination for the start of Command Day on Monday.Youth crew entry by Ange, 23, from Sefton,NSWBeing a member of the youth crew on the Young Endeavour has been the most exhausting, amazing experience. Last night the sea got rough and I had the worst sleep of my life – rolling from one side of my bed to another trying to stop myself falling out. Then we were woken at midnight to tack the ship, and I had to be up again at 4am for my watch shift. But the excitement of being part of a team that can turn a ship around in a huge swell in the middle of the night makes up for the hard times. My emotions have been extreme. I have felt the indescribable feeling of climbing to the top of the 30 metre mast at midnight the first night, seen a dolphin swim underneath us while sitting on the bow sprint at the front of the ship, jumped off the railing into the ocean for a quick dip, taken the helm and been strapped to the side of the boat for hours throwing up over the side at the peak of my seasickness, which hit the ship like the plague Monday afternoon and lasted a little more than 24 hours. It is definitely hard work on this ship and sometimes I wonder why I got myself into this without even the chance of a million dollars at the end. Just want to say hello to my mum and anyone else who may be reading. Youth crew entry from Larry, age 18 , where from Mildura.Today was yet another amazing day of sailing. The wind has been strong at our backs and we seem to have escaped anything that tropical cyclone SOSE may throw at us. However, there was some inconsistent showers throughout the afternoon. Today’s program was full after being spoiled by Great Keppel’s lovely beach the day before. A lot of tacking, weaving and sail setting was practiced today as we went to alternative tacking stations in order to perfect our skills before command day (starting 8 am Monday). The spirit amongst the crew is growing as the days go on and it makes such a difference when we aren’t turning the side of the boat into something resembling The Rainbow Warrior. There is growing self-belief amongst both myself and the rest of the youth that we can do the job come command day since the staff have decreased their input into our work. Tomorrow provides us with the chance of choosing our crew and this will be interesting to say the least. G’day every one back home. PS – hope the rowing regatta went well and see you on Friday. Cheers LarryStay tunedAndrew Davis
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
CO's Log Saturday 14 Apr 01Current situation at 1930: At sea in the Whitsundays, near the Percy Group. Wind sou'east at 25knots. Temp 25C. Passing showers and gusts.
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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
