The real challenge

Ahoy shipmates and welcome to day 9. It’s Dion here again to fill you in on the day’s activities. Overnight we remained at anchor in the protection of Scawfell Island. After their command day elections the Youth Crew had a movie night (complete with popcorn) and then settled into anchor watches for the remainder of the night.A busy morning followed with the normal early wake up and morning brief followed by happy hour and then “Opposites†where the Youth Crew elected to positions had the opportunity to discuss all of their thoughts and questions with their Staff Crew equivalent. Then the moment they’d all been waiting for arrived. Captain Steph and her motley crew were given the keys to this magnificent tall ship. The staff handed over and are now enjoying a well earned day off. . .   I’ll now hand over to Taylor and Lizzy to fill you in on the activities from their perspective. Until tomorrow, fair winds, Dion                      Ahoy there maties! Taylor and Lizzy here. This morning started in anticipation as we woke to the beating hearts of a crew ready to take the ship for themselves! MUTANY! In our briefing, Captain Steph outlined the tasks of the next 24 hours which began with hauling the entire youth crew up the foremast and into the yards for a group photo. Next photo moment was on the man-made, 25 person hammock made by some knot-worthy youthies. Then began the real challenge… Adrian not getting sunburnt!The masterminds behind our challenging 24 hours took their well deserved holidays in the staff quarters, while the leaders of the youth crew worked hard to make plans to get us all safely to port! In setting our first sails independently from anchor, we looked less like crew members and more like chickens as we scurried around deck. The Young Endeavour fought valiantly and left many of us with bumps and bruises – but we forged on with our heads held high! At last we were at sea again and powering towards Airlie Beach! Our second attempt was all hands on deck as we tacked the ship and did so with the ease and efficiency of a crew who had lived on the boat for over a week – oh wait that’s us. About time! Hard at work in the helm were the navigational team, constantly tracking our journey, while down below the crew enjoyed their last few days at sea – making up songs, putting together presentations and completing the other tasks set by our sea lords! Not to mention the hard working chefs feeding us all along the way! All in all the day was a success! But the day is only half way through as night watches begin and the crew take their shut eye. Who knows what will happen tonight and how we will manage the darkness and the wild seas, but it will all be worth it on this challenging but incredible adventure of ours!
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind 158 at 22knots Sea 2m Swell SE at 1.5m
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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!!