Day One – Welcome Aboard!

Ahoy there readers of this fine journal. Voyage 02/25 has kicked off with a bang with 24 Youth Crew joining this beautiful ship whilst alongside the Eden Multipurpose Jetty. The lovely people of Eden came to visit us yesterday at our open day with over 200 visitors talking all things Tallship and Youth Development. But a day alongside is a day wasted so we embarked our new crew and slipped lines at 1630. The smooth waters of TwoFold Bay beckoned, and we anchored within sight of the township.
It is a thrill to welcome new Youth Crew and their friends, families and loved ones onboard on Day One of a Voyage. My crew and I made some introductions. Sailmaster; Chucky, Navigator; Matty, Officer of the Watch; Karsen, A/OOW; Bec, Engineer; Dan, Chefo; Kingy, Blue Watchleader; Kyle, White Watchleader; Sara and Sean, Red Watchleader; Simon, VIP extraordinaire and wealth of knowledge; Charlie. What a cracking group of people to call your ship-mates. The Youthies are in for an experience.
It is easy to be enthusiastic about our program and our beautiful ship. She was a gift from the Queen of England after-all. I love the look of surprise on the Youthies faces when I tell them that this is in fact their ship – she was gifted to the Australian Government and People for the express purpose of delivering our World-Famous Youth Development Program. We are all here to facilitate their once in a lifetime adventure!
Tonight we went through a series of briefs to introduce concepts of; life at sea, communal living, routines, acceptable behaviour, the structure of the program itself and, of course, lots of pointers on how to get the most out of the next 10 days.
With a strong Southerly system rounding the Southwest corner of NSW it is our plan to hang around TwoFold Bay tomorrow. We will introduce climbing harnesses and working aloft procedures before challenging our new joiners to climb to the top of the mast. After a sailor’s five on deck safety and setting and furling sails, we will weigh anchor and dance our way around the bay as we practise setting and furling our fore and aft sails. That weather looks a bit grim but our future is bright and our Youthies will sleep soundly tonight.
Family and friends – I’ll see you here same time tomorrow for an update on our progress.
Captain Leups Out +
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Overcast/Rain Wind: 10KN NNE Temp: 22C
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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!!