The Perfect Dive

Yesterday evening I discussed the requirements of Command Day to the YC and the challenge that lay ahead. They still have a way to go, but I’m quietly confident that they will rise to the challenge. Awoke this morning to another glorious day and after cleaning stations the pool was opened prior to getting underway. We weighed anchor mid morning and after transiting Solway Passage, we soon had all sail set working our way south in a moderate SE breeze. After lunch it was a long afternoon of setting and furling drills interrupted regularly with tacking stations. The sail handling drills went quite well with only a few errors that have hopefully been corrected.The ship anchored in the lee of Shaw Island, another beautiful bay at 1700. We have all just enjoyed another Woody (the chef) extravaganza on the upper deck. This evening the YC will conduct their command day elections. Tomorrow is ‘Grand Final’ day with the Command Day commencing at 1000. I expect we will all be very busy. YC entry by Anita Hickey (age 23 from Roma, Qld) -After the Captain’s talk about Command Day, a thrilling movie (complete with popcorn) and an anchor watch, I managed to lay my weary head to rest. Our bodies were tired but minds were active with thoughts of the impending command day. The morning brief was highlighted by a visit from ‘Riccota’ who graced our presence to demonstrate the origin of the term ‘heads’ (shipboard toilet). To kick-start us for our days sailing the pool was opened. Several attempted to master the perfect dive from the yard arm swing rope. Most were unsuccessful, but we had fun anyway. We had another fantastic day of sailing with the watch teams practicing setting and furling drills. The continual pipe of ‘hands to tacking stations’ is still ringing in our ears. Our anchorage at Shaw Island has provided us with the perfect setting for the feast of feasts prepared by our very own Woody, the wonder chef.If this is paradise, I wonder what heaven is like. It is day seven and I’m enjoying every minute of it.Time to cut and runAndrew (and Anita)
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
At anchor Shaw Island, Wind SE 10kts, Temp 20, clear evening
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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

