South West Cape

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day two of our voyage. The Youth Crew awoke to a clear and sunny Tasmanian morning and were called up on deck by Sail Master Dion for their first Early Morning Activity (EMA). This consisted of an ‘ice-breaker’ game of getting to know a little bit about your shipmates before we let them loose on Chef Zac’s delicious continental breakfast. We had our first morning brief after observing the ceremony of colours at which the Australian White Ensign (Navy ensign) was hoisted aft on the ensign staff and the Australian National Flag was hoisted forward on the Jack Staff. It also included eight bells on the Ship’s bell and the ‘Still’ being piped on a Bosun’s call.The Staff weighed anchor at 0900 and the Ship got underway commencing our passage towards Port Davey. Cleaning stations (Happy Hour) followed then it was straight into a ‘Leaving Ship’ stations exercise followed by a detailed Safety Equipment brief given by Karly, our resident Safety Equipment specialist. On completion of that Dion handed the Youth Crew over to their Watch Leaders for sail setting and furling drills.By late afternoon the Youth Crew were proficient at setting and furling most sails so we called the ship to tacking stations and in light conditions completed our first set of tacks as a crew which consolidated an extremely good day of sail work.Early this evening we passed South West Cape just as the wind backed to north-westerly and freshened to 20 kn, just as forecast. By then we had reduced to motor-sailing with the Fore Staysail, Main Staysail and Storm Tri-sail set. The wind is expected to increase to 35 kn overnight and back further to south-westerly.Overnight we plan to stay at sea riding-out the strong winds sailing westwards under the reduced sail plan. It is intended to tack during the night, altering course to close Port Davey, which we expect to enter about 0900 tomorrow morning and proceed to anchor. Yours ayeCaptain Mike
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Expecting fresh SW winds overnight, up to 35 kn.
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ARRRGH, ahoy there from the spectacular Jervis Bay! We’ve all been taken A-back by the crystal clear blue waters and snow white sands.
After a well deserved sleep in these sheltered waters which was a refreshing change to clinging to our bunk racks for dear life for the past few days, the ship rose to another banger of a morale tune “sung” by Blue Watch. Brekkie was fun after the early morning activity to get us all up and moving. We held another round of competitive not-competitive rope races which culminated in smashed eggs on deck and the mummification of said egg smashers.
Roast lamb for lunch was prepped by the staffies in the absence of our culinary wizard Steve. Once cleaned up, we took the RHIB’s across to Captains Beach bordering HMAS Creswell which was a mind-blowingly beautiful little spot. Pretty much everyone had a dip in the drink and a roll in the sand and played some creative beach games run by our Suitability legends, Speedy Sam and Eggs.
A few hours at the beach made everyone ready to head back home and attack a teak deck barbeque, devouring cheese platters, steaks, sangas, and salads. With our full stomachs, us youthies initiated the highly anticipated elections for our command day roles. Which will commence sometime around midday tomorrow. We held a vote for each available role that all willing youthies put themselves forward for.
The following roles were voted as follows: Captain – Warwick, Sailmaster – Hugh, Navigator – Ruscoe, Officer of the Watch – Dan, Watch Leader – Nick, Ben, Bridget, Master chef – Emily, Mackenzie, Alyshia
We were greeted after our elections by a low flying anti-submarine MH60-Romeo Helicopter which did a cool fly around our ship. *Thanks Squizz!!* And then watched an amazing film about the rounding of Cape Horn back in 1929 on a 7 story tall sail ship.
Signing off from our anchor watch, Ben and Giles.
“I believe that positive energy and optimism help us to take up any challenge in life and to succeed in even the most difficult tasks. I also believe that positive energy is contagious: We can transmit it to others”


After a rather nonchalant guts watch with the Bluies, Reddies came in guns a blazing, setting our beautiful square sails preparing us for a speedy and eventful day at sea. Scaling (laying aloft) the Foremast, whilst the ship swayed kept the Reddies on their toes, holding on for dear life as they let out the gaskets for the Topgallant and Topsail Yards. A challenging activity to start off our day rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over Starboard.
During the day we participated in a Meteorology Brief led by our resident Nav guru TOMO, learning everything there is about fluffy, rainy and stormy clouds. This was followed by Lunch and a needed Siesta.
Whilst some slumbered, Bluies kept watch. They had brave volunteers to climb both main mast and to the topgallant yard to sea furl the sails.
In the afternoon, our Watches came together to have Mid Voyage Chats, where we had the opportunity to reflect on our voyage goals, experiences and discuss our hopes for Command Day. There were some very heartfelt talks, from overcoming fears, to gaining confidence in working as a team, and we set our eyes upon what we want to achieve in the rest of the voyage.
The first dog (Reddies) (from 1545 to 1745) was full of excitement, with over 50kn winds and up to 50 degrees on the OOOH AAAH meter (heel). Watching the waves break higher than the rails was an exhilarating experience and kept us holding on tight. Sites of sharks and a Cargo ship kept our lookouts entertained, while Callum lead an engaging activity on Charts. At the end of the first dog watch, Nick and Phil braved these treacherous conditions to lay aloft on the mainmast to wrangle the mainsail!
Rockin and rolling, Youthies (the newest salty sea dogs) Hugh, Bridget, and Nick!!