The Voyage Unfolds

Situation at 20:00- As we crossed Bass Strait last night the wind and seas increased as forecast. In order to weather Cape Otway all hands werecalled on deck to tack the Ship at 23:45, and then again at 05:00. The watches completed their teamwork exercise and some valuable lessons in teamwork and effective communications were learned.It was a tired Youth Crew that mustered for morning brief. Today’s morning brief was just that…brief. Salty Sea Dog Chookadescribed the nautical origins of an everyday saying and Navigator Luke reviewed our progress since sailing from King Island. The strong winds and seas have brought the return of seasickness to several ofthe Youth Crew, but despite this all hands are getting on with business. The weather didn’t dampen XO Lolli’s plan for Happy Hour,and Engineer Rags did the honours as the celebrity inspector.Most of the remaining activities scheduled for today have been posponed until tomorrow and hopefully the weather improves. Those hands not required on watch were able to catch up on sleep and make themselves as comfortable as possible. Chef Polly did his usual magic but meal hours were rather poorly attended. The one activity that did go ahead as planned was the mid-voyage talks. This is where the Youth Crew discuss how they see the voyage is unfolding and offer the Staff Crew advice on how to improve the youth development program. All hands indicate that they are enjoying the challenge of learning to sail a tallship and having a great time. There were a few suggestions about removing seasickness from the program, but the only guareenteed cure that I know of is to go and sit underneath atree. I will see if one can be ordered through the naval stores system.Overnight we will continue on our way towards Portland and plan to anchor there tomorrow afternoon after conducting theactivities that were cancelled today. Our progress since sailing from King Island has been good and we are ahead of schedule. Accordingly, it will be necessary to tack at the start of the morning watch.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: Three of the Staff Crew are qualified as Minor War Vessel Medical Care Providers, capable ofadvanced first-aid. If necessary, and with approval from medical authorities ashore, they are able to administer pain killing drugs and close cuts with stitches or other techniques.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Gale- A wind blowing at a speed between 34 and 47 knots, force 8 and 9 on the Beaufort scale. Windsof this strength are usually divided into two general descriptions, a gale (34-40 knots) and a strong gale (41-47 knots). Storm- A wind whose average speed lies between 48 and 63 knots, force 10 and 11 onthe Beaufort scale. Winds of this strength are generally described as a storm (48-55 knots) and a violent storm (56-63 knots). Winds blowing above 63 knots are classified as hurricanes.Thought of the Day:Far better it it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much,because they live in the gray twilight that knows no victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt.Yours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RAN
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
At sea under four sails. Wind: Sou' West at 30 kts gusting to 45 kts in squalls, Sea State:6, Temp:12c, Cloud: 6/8.
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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”
