STRONG WINDS

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to day 18 of our voyage. Overnight and during the majority of today we have continued to make good speed under sail but are now experiencing a short lull in the wind as we wait for the next front to come through which we expect later this evening.
Our World Voyagers continue to be kept busy on watch with plenty of sail work as we continue to adjust our sail plans with the changing conditions. All of the watches are now very proficient in most things so whether it be setting a sail, climbing the mast or just putting a fix on the chart they just get on and get the job done which makes it very easy for us Staff Crew.
Being another blustery and cold day we have spent most of our time below decks keeping warm. Shaun kept us amused with a Ships Quiz then Kenny put on a movie to finish of the afternoon. It may seem that we are not doing that much at the moment but when eight hours of your day is spent up on an open bridge on watch in temperatures of less than -4 degrees then really you want to be keeping warm and doing only small interesting things when you are off watch and not eating or sleeping.
The good news is that with this next front we should get some warmer conditions as the wind should come from the northwest and not the south so the wind chill factor should not be so bad.
Currently we are located 1987nm WSW of Fremantle and experiencing moderate to strong WNW winds with a 2m SSW swell.
Kindly volunteering to write tonight’s Captains Log is Jamie and Josh from Ice Watch, please enjoy!
Until tomorrow, take care
Yours Aye
Captain Gav
Captains Log 10th December 2015
Last night, not long after the last log was signed off we made our way up for watch. It was uneventful for the most part but thoroughly enjoyable none the less. At approximately 22:00 we were instructed that the wind conditions were suitable to set the square sails. Jimmi, Matt G, Claudia and Josh A proceeded to battle the elements and climb the foremast to cast loose the gaskets. It was freezing and very windy but the job was completed in great time and we descended to set the sails. We ran into a dead end when one of the gaskets was missed on the topsail and we could not set the sail. Marcos consulted his leather man and between the two of them they set free the gasket and we continued on, however not the last problem we would have with gaskets and the square sails.
Midnight approached and we woke the next watch to take over. Tammy woke up and, slightly disorientated, joined us on the deck albeit 4 hours too early for her watch. It was good to have the extra hand for the sails at the time though.
After being in our new watches for the past few days, Ice watch was awoken by the sound of Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice- our anthem. From here it was destined to be a great new day!
We were up for a beautiful breakfast cooked by Jenko and his loyal subjects, the highlight being pancakes with berry sauce. Our 08:00 to 12:00 watch saw us clean the bridge and make our home Ship-shape during the happiest hour of the day – even if we can’t quiet sing the tune yet as well as sit through another Shit House Production on nautical punishments. From here we set the Course, a square sail, but not without some problems. A gasket was stuck in the clew pulley and Grenfell saved the day with some quick thinking and freed the gasket to allow the sail to be set smoothly.
After lunch we had our much looked forward to siesta until 14:00 to wash clothes and sleep; all the necessities really. We were then treated to a trivia competition in our watch teams. The staffies team came first followed by Polar, Artic and most importantly Ice Watch. Some of the questions were certainly picked for their complexity and had most of us clueless so we decided to create some of our own trivia questions:
1) Where did Jim’s legging thermals go?
2) Who will be the first to crack?
3) Which uni will Hamish choose?
4) Who will win the chess final?
5) Who has had the least amount of showers?
After the winners of the trivia was announced we watched Master & Commander, Kenny’s pick and a great nautical story with tall ships, quick thinking, Russell Crowe and a whole lot of crazy sailors. Not to dissimilar to our current situation, trading Gav for Russell Crowe an upgrade for sure as we prefer Gav!
Jenko looked after us again with Rocky road and our beautiful Taylor and Claudia fed our souls with fresh made lamingtons. Kenny was looked after here ensuring he had enough lamingtons stashed for the rest of the voyage; lucky man!
While some of us were enjoying the wide screen, Rebecca showcased some of her talents and opened a barber shop on the bow with four customers straight away. Dougie, Evan, Dr. Nic and Hordo enjoyed their experience and highly rate Salon de Bec.
Thank you to Nic G, Megan and Rebecca for a lovely dinner of Moussaka, lamb stir fry and a beautiful trifle to top it off. We now head in to our watch and then off to bed for an early 04:00 start tomorrow.
Until tomorrow, goodbye and goodnight!
Josh A and Jamie – Ice Watch
SHOUT OUTS
Hi Everyone- Sitting in the middle of the roaring 40s currently with some high winds and more expected soon! The Gill jacket is amazing so thanks to Mum for finding it, and to Mum and Dad for driving up to Sydney with me to get it. Miss you all and see you in 2 weeks. Love Nic xo
Missing my buddies. Hope you guys are having an awesome time back home. Today I dressed up as a pirate and shaved my beard into mutton chops, Argh! I can’t wait to catch up for a beer and go to the next Midnight Alibi gig! Party on, Grenfell!!!!!
Kia Ora Maynard whanau! Missing you all, love you lots. Xx clauds (p.s mum the Christmas lights are working a treat)
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 1987nm WSW of Fremantle and experiencing moderate to Strong WNW winds with a 2m SW swell. Our current speed is 7kts and the temperature is 7 degrees.
You might also be interested in

Ahoy followers of our Young Endeavour journey! Command Day. We made it.
The beautiful weather at our anchor point at Jervis Bay made for a spectacular day under the command of our fellow Youth Crew! A morning stretch and some wise words from the Ship Crew gave Captain Waz and the team a step in the right direction.
With the new watches all set and ready to go, Captain’s Setting and Furling gave all our youthies the chance to prove their abilities on the high seas. Strong performances from all three watches; Sharkies, Chompers and Narwhals!!
Morning brief gave the Sailmaster a chance to give us the daily orders and help get everyone on the same page. With the staff crew getting ready for a holiday and giving us the ship, floral shirts and party music filled the deck and, with some final preparations, the ship was ours.
The Captain was given a small but very significant envelope that contained the essential, non-essential and completely optional tasks to be done over the course of the next 24 hours. 2 tacks were to be made at a minimum before leaving the bay and safety checks were the essential tasks to start our journey. However.
More amusing, optional tasks allowed some of our youthies to become part of the “Beach Assault Team” while others were put to the task of making a slideshow of the voyage, tying all the knots on the list, etc. These were some activities that bided the time for our incredible navigator - Ruscoe to set out a plan and work together with the Sailmaster - Hugh to create a sail plan.
Tacking stations were the focus for our late afternoon, preparing to weigh anchor and leave such a beautiful bay, for our last stretch of this incredible voyage.
Happy Birthday to the Capitan, Warwick, who turned 24 today! The wonderful MasterChef’s created a “cherry ripe” cake out of rice crispies, coconut, chocolate, and love. With a beautiful ceremony to end our day.
Sailing into the night leaves us the ability to see the lights from our destination. Sydney, here we come!
Wish us luck! From Nat and Tom!!

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”
