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The Inviting Waters of the Great Barrier Reef!
It is now the end of Day 2, and it is a very worn and weary YC that headed into their night watches this evening. In truenautical fashion, we were awoken at 0630 this morning by the dulcet tones of Red Watch and XO Paige telling us it was time to get up. All members of the Ship’s Company quickly made their way on deck for someearly morning wake up activities, before heading off for showers and breakfast.At 0800 after a hearty breakfast and a refreshing shower, we conducted our first morning brief. This is the time for YC to beinformed of the plan for the day as well as an educational lesson from ‘The Chief’ about the origin of some of the unique nauticallingo we use (known colloquially as Jackspeak). Following the Morning Brief it was time to commence the busy activities of the day.After giving the Ship a clean, the YC were taken on a tour of the ship by Dutchy and shown all of the safety equipment onboard. The YC then spent the next few hours conducting some line handling and deck safety lessons. They have all been working very hard, learning how to handle the lines, winches and stoppers that may be found onthe upper deck. At 1400, after some sweaty work it was decided that the inviting waters of the great Barrier Reef were just to much to ignore. On advice from XO Paige, the YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Public Swimming Pool was opened. At about 1430 with all the YC safely re-embarked from their refreshing experience, the anchor was weighed and we> proceeded to sea.With the Ship finally getting a breeze over the deck and proceeding into the Great Barrier Reef for the passage to Mackay. Itwas time for the YC to put into practice all the skills they had just learned, and set some sails. Finally the day rounded out just after 1800 with a set of Tacking Drills in which we tested the Youth Crew in their ability to manouevre the ship by use of sails. This is the culminating event of the day, and I am very satisfied that the YC, ifcalled upon, will be quite capable of tacking the Ship through the night should they be called upon to do so.With the Youth Crew now settled back into night watches, they will have a chance to reflect on their achievements today. They will also conduct consolidation training of the sail handling they have learned. It has been a very long day for all involved andparticularly after their very first night watch last night, I am sure that all YC members will sleep well this evening. Nautical Knowledge:Today we encountered one of our colleagues in SOUTH PASSAGE, a Sail Training Ship from Brisbane. On passing us she dipped her Ensign, to which we returned the compliment. Dipping the Ensign is a tradition that goes well back in history to the times when Britannia indisputably ruled the seas. As a mark of respect for a ‘Man O War’, a Merchant Vessel on passing, would lower their Ensign. This mark of respect would then be returned by the ‘Man O War’. The tradition still continues today amongst many Ship’s, and despite the fact YOUNG ENDEAVOUR is not a fully commissioned Ship in the RoyalAustralian Navy, we do fly the Australian White (Naval)Ensign. Thought of the Day: ‘The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong… Hatred can be overcome only by love.’ -Mahandas GhandiMore to Follow,Paul BarrieLEUT, RANActing Commanding Officer
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
At Sea, 6 NM East of Cape Bowling Green.
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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
