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Captain's Log
6 October 2008
Sailing, Command Day
Hello, Captain Dimity here! (Hi Mum and Dad). Today was the beginning of Command Day. Two Command Teams were voted in last night, the first taking control of the ship from midday to midnight. The positions are: Captain – Dimity, Sail Master – Pat, Navagator – Jaryd, Watch Leaders – Carla, Kylie and Lachie. After a Beach Assault Team claimed part of Hayman Island for the Youth of Australia, we set sail from the island heading for Holbourne Island. We battled through 2 metre seas and extremely hectic tacks, where one crew member put her body on the line to successfully tack this $15 million piece of Australian heritage. We are now slowly making our way to our final destination of Magnetic Island at a speed of 7-8 knots. With four hours left in Command, this is Captain Dimity signing off.
Latitude/Longitude:
19° 41' South / 148° 8' East
Conditions:
Wind SE 20-25 knots, sea moderate, swell low SE'LY
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V07/23
30 March 2023
Day 4 – Flinders Island to Sea
Ahoy there,
The Youth crew woke up this morning bright and early after completing their overnight anchor watches. YE was anchored in the beautiful Blythe Bay, Flinders Island.
Starting off with the morning with colours, we raised the Australian flag and Ensign while singing the national anthem. Followed by the morning brief, captain’s inspirational quote of the day, the daily agenda and then straight into ‘Happy ½ Hour’: cleaning stations!
Before weighing anchor the youthies participated in the squares brief before climbing the foremast to cast loose the gaskets on the squares. It was challenging as the swell was 1 metre high and very unpredictable.
By lunch time we had weighed anchor and set the sails, which was made easy, thanks to our amazing chef Haydo who fuelled us with delicious sausage rolls and hot dogs before we entered the Bass Strait.
The rest of the afternoon was spent sailing through the Bass Strait, which we soon learnt was not easy. As we continued to sail the swell and winds grew leading to every youthie clipping onto the ship for safety.
By 14:00 travesty hit with the course sail getting slightly damaged, leading to all three watches jumping into action to clew up the course sail. 4 youthies were then selected to climb the foremast in order to tie up the gaskets.
As the night continued on and everyone tried to settle down for the early evening, we soon learnt it was going to be a long rolling night – as dinner proved challenging. It didn’t seem to want to stay on the table!
The night watches have now started with White watch at 18:00, due to the weather it will be all hands on watch as the sails have to be furled in challenging conditions. The night will continue with broken sleep while changing watches, moving into early morning.
Tomorrow will consist of ongoing sailing through along the VIC and NSW coasts, where hopefully we can anchor south of Sydney by night fall.
Emilie says hi to her family and friends and misses them very much (but is having so much fun!), Ariyah says she’s having a blast but she’s missing Alby and Molly says happy 16th birthday to her brother Charlie.
Goodnight and sleep well,
Emilie and Ariyah.
V07/23
29 March 2023
Day 3– Sea to Flinders Island
Good evening Shipmates,
This evening three Youth Crew have kindly volunteered to write the Captain's Log, with their perspective on the day's events. Take it away Thomas, Josh & Ethen:
The Youth crew woke up this morning bright and early after completing their first night watches.
Today’s weather was much colder than yesterday, but the youth crew got straight into work. Starting off with the formalities – the captain’s inspirational quote of the day, the daily agenda and then straight into ‘Happy Hour’: cleaning stations!
In the morning, there was a fantastic talk delivered by the Navigating Officer to the youth crew. They learnt about various methods of navigation and fixing the position of the vessel with printed charts.
At lunch we enjoyed freshly made rolls – courtesy of Chef Haydo. Divine! From there, some members of the youth crew enjoyed a good few hours of sleep, whilst red watch was called onto deck – conducting rounds and ensuring the safety of all crew.
Tommo once again raised the bar with his exquisite presentation skills: discussing the Sea Rules of the Road & Navigational Markers. Following this – under a healthy Bass Straight dew – we tackled tacking stations for the first time: manoeuvring the main forestay sail, jib and mainstay sail. Above this, we hoisted the main sail for the first time this voyage!
Following this, blue watch enjoyed an eventful and exciting afternoon on deck: furling and setting various sails as we came into our anchor point for the night – Flinders island! We could finally rest our 48 hours of constant transit, upon anchoring into safe harbour – allowing us for the first time to recover our ‘sea legs’.
Haydo once again outdid himself with “Haydo’s Famous Ol’ Pavlova”. Sparing no expense to the main course: a veritable feast of beef casserole, salmon and lamb cutlets served over delicious roast veggies. Shoutout to the Masterchefs: Tias, Tommy and Grace, for delivering a Michelin-star-worthy service.
To finish off the exhausting yet accomplishing day, we settled down under stars to enjoy each other’s company and get to know each other a little better.
As we write this, the youth crew is now preparing their early wakeups overnight for their ‘dog watch’ duties – always alert and ready to take on the adventures ahead!
Laughs have been shared, sails have been set and the Young Endeavour remains to be a grand adventure!
Signing off,
Thomas, Josh & Ethen
V07/23
28 March 2023
Day 2 – Port Arlington to Sea
Ahoy there Shipmates,
The youth crew of V07/23 awoke to the soothing sounds of George Harrison’s “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You” (Sail Master Evan’s pick) at a crisp 0630 for a few brisk laps around the deck. After a scrumptious English breakfast provided by the magnificent chef, Hayden, the youth crew assembled on the deck for the Young Endeavour (YE) Working Aloft Harness Brief, followed by the YE Climbing Brief. Both were delivered by White Watch Leader Theresa. We then laid aloft to conduct First Climbs in our relatively sheltered anchorage.
Climbs were conducted efficiently, and I was pleased to see that most Youth Crew successfully climbed to the Top Gallant Yard on their first attempt. This was completed by 1100 and the crew then cleaned-up and proceeded to lunch.
The morning brief, which had become the afternoon brief, followed lunch and included a rundown of Evan’s Plan for the Day, Navigator Sebastian’s navigational Plan, to get us out of Port Phillip Bay, and his meteorological forecast for the day. Next was the Youth Crew’s first experience with Young Endeavour’s version of ‘Happy Hour’, where the youth crew give the internal living and working areas of the Ship a good clean. The Young Endeavour Ship’s brass bell also received a loving polish.
STS Youth Endeavour weighed anchor at 1330 and commenced the transit across Port Phillip Bay and through The Rip. During this transit the watches commenced Setting and Furling drills on some of the Staysails and continued Deck Safety training, supervised by their Watch Leaders. The crew also took the opportunity to conduct a couple of un-alerted exercises to assess that response times to alarms for Emergency Stations and Leaving Ship Stations were acceptable.
We exited The Rip at 1530, which coincided with slack water to facilitate an easier transit out of the bay for us. The Youth Crew then commenced watch keeping on the bridge which will be maintained through the night. Their duties will include steering the Ship, acting as Lookouts and conducting Engineering Rounds of the Ship, all of which will result in keeping the Ship safe through the night.
The plan is to continue on passage overnight and anchor at Flinders Island tomorrow evening.
Yours Aye, Captain Mike