Captain's Log

V08/15

12 October 2015

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 tonightâ€™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 â€“ even if we canâ€™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 Jimâ€™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, Kennyâ€™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 â€“ 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 canâ€™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:

44 degrees 13 minutes South / 76 degrees 5 minutes East

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.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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Day 10 – Community Day Sail Sydney Harbour

Good evening shipmates, After a well-earned quality night’s sleep at anchor in Hunters Bay, Sail Master Sara woke us with another of her soothing tunes to get us on deck for a quick early morning activity. After breakfast the staff crew weighed anchor and conducted the transit to HMAS Waterhen, at Waverton. We berthed there at 0900 and prepared to embark our guests for the Community Day Sail. At 1015 we cast off our berthing lines and departed with our 34 guests and commenced our 3 hour tour of the harbour. Our Community Day Sailors were a group 30 members and staff from the Windgap Foundation. We also embarked some defence personnel as well. We again passed under the Harbour Bridge and then proceeded into Rose Bay where we set some sails and commenced sailing back towards Waterhen. Whilst on the harbour our fantastic youth crew helped us host our Windgap special guests. They encouraged our guests to participate in setting the staysails and a square sail by helping to pull on the sheets and clewlines. The youth crew also helped Chef Ash to prepare and deliver the food to our guests on deck. At 1300, after 3 fun-packed hours on the harbour, we berthed back at the southern wharf at HMAS Waterhen. Once we had farewelled our guests it was time to commence our end-of-voyage activities and preparations. The staff crew managed to organise a visit to the RAN Ship MATV Sycamore, which is crewed by a mixture of civilians and Navy staff, is a multi-role aviation training vessel. The youth crew embarked with their watch leaders and were given a 45 minute tour of the ship by some of the Navy crew. On completion they returned onboard and Young Endeavour sailed and proceeded to our anchorage in Athol Bay, which affords a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. During the transit to the anchorage the Youthies undertook their end-of-voyage chats, facilitated by their watch leaders, to examine if they had achieved everything in their full-value contracts they had completed at the start of the voyage. After the traditional last voyage dinner of home made pizzas, Sara gave the Youthies the Harbour Furl brief, who then donned their climbing harnesses and laid aloft to undertake the ‘Harbour Furl’ of the square sails to make them look immaculate for our ceremonial arrival at the end of the voyage tomorrow. Once that was completed, the youth crew then finished off their final outstanding Command Day tasks, which were planned for the last night onboard. These included the Voyage Slide Show compiled of photos taken by everyone. This was excellent and provided a touching reminder of what we had experienced and the beautiful coastlines and islands that we had visited during the voyage. The final activity of the day was the end-of-voyage administration, which for the youth crew included a feedback questionnaire asking for feedback on their experience of the voyage, as well as a letter for each crew member to write to themselves on their experiences during the voyage, which the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme will post to the youth crew in 6 months time. The aim of this is to help reinforce what the youth crew have learned about leadership, teamwork and about themselves from the experience of the voyage. Once these were completed the crew were encouraged to go to bed. The Ship will remain in Athol Bay overnight and weigh anchor and sail in the morning at 0900 and undertake the transit to HMAS Waterhen, where family and friends will meet the Ship on arrival at 1000. Until you hear from me tomorrow for the final instalment of Voyage 04/24. Yours aye, Captain Mike

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Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

Ahoy from Sydney! For today’s Captain’s Log: the Youthies took over and completed several tasks including singing the national anthem in three different tunes as well as giving salty sea facts to start the day in a nautical way. We finally made it! After a long and weary effort of the command team and watches, we were able to fully sail into Sydney Harbour. At approximately 11:50 we anchored in Hunters Bay. To celebrate we had a groovtastic disco in the 12 berth due to excessive rainfall but the youthies made it work, having a blast dancing to Billie Jean. Afterwards, the youthies as well as the staff reflected on our efforts during command day, following the handover of the ship to the Staffies, where we highlighted what we did well, what we could improve on and what lessons we can take back to our normal lives, of which there are many. Continuing on from the previous log, with command day still ongoing. We encountered multiple problems. One of which being that mother nature didn’t bless us and gave us little to no wind to work with. However with the efforts of the Youthies we were able to successfully gather up to 8 knots of speed after a 4am tack in which the youthies persevered despite a lack of sleep enabling us to make our way into Sydney. Before our reflection the Youthies finished their day strong with a ‘Happy Hour’ cleaning session and one final dance. The afternoon was spent relaxing and recharging from ‘Command Day’, going aloft and furling the square sails. For dinner, Ash prepared a barbecue with steak, sausages, chicken kebabs with buns and an assortment of salads with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. The Youthies are looking forward to the Community Day Sail tomorrow which will be a great opportunity to give back to Australia and put our sailing knowledge to the test. We have learned many lessons during ‘Command Day’, we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone and together a crew of 24 youth were able to sail a tall ship into the harbour of Sydney. Today’s score: 9 camels and a donkey (Amazing) Until next time Rock on! Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt. P.S. Happy Birthday for tomorrow little bro, love Lil xx P.S.S. Kai, sorry I didn’t do the thing for Meg. I just remembered and will do it when back.

Thank you Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt for your narrative of today's events. Intentions are to remain at anchor in Hunters Bay, just off HMAS Penguin, home of the RAN Diving School, a place close to my heart, having spent many a day there under training as a young Officer! The plan is to weigh anchor and proceed to HMAS Waterhen, in Waverton, to pick up our Community Day Sailors from the Windgap Foundation and take them for a sail around the harbour for 3 hours. The Youth Crew will help us host our visitors and give them an experience of Young Endeavour. We will drop them back to Waverton and then proceed to anchor in the harbour where we will have a good view of the Bridge and the Opera House for the Youth Crew's last night onboard. Until tomorrow. Yours Aye, Captain Mike

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