Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

CLOG (Captains log) nine kicks off in the blur of an intense night: ALL HANDS TO TACKING STATIONS!
At 2245 we urgently needed to tack to ensure we made it to our waypoint on time. With spirits alive, we manouvered our ship with confidence, however, the decision from command was made to resort to motor sailing due to wacky wispy winds and predicaments beyond prediction.
The night owls on the bridge enlightened us to their astoundingly diverse and at times harmonious musical talent with their rendition of ‘Hooked on a Feeling’ at the 0650 wake-up call, shooting us out of bed to furl all sails except the main staysail.
We briefed at 0715 and breakfasted shortly after on the cooks’ nutritious and delicious omelettes, having been entertained by stories of Staminade. Happy hour saw us scrutinisingly scrubbing and pitilessly polishing till our ship was nice and clean and in a state to hand over, and the keys were solemnly returned to the reinstated Capt. Charlie Farley at 1000.
We “saw Esta” (siesta) and feasted on some sumptuous and scrumptious bangers, mash, pies, and vegies. This fuelled us for our expedition ashore to Port Arthur. We were looking at the ruins of asylums and penitentiaries whilst pondering “how’s the serenity?” as we were enveloped by the vibrant, fresh, and luscious landscape.
Our souls were cleansed on the invigorating trip back on board via Salty Airways™. Our souls were then promptly nourished by more of Ash’s unmatched culinary capabilities, with tunes, dancing, and feasting on deck.
We then took time to reflect on the challenges and rewards of the last 24 hours – of Command Day – meditating on the takeaways from the exercise, with guidance from our wonderful Captain & Crew. They made clear to us the importance and complexities of such ideas as resilience, communication, and challenge so we can be better prepared for our futures, whether aboard or off board.
The rest of the night will see us on anchor watches, getting ready for Hobart, and most of all catching some hard-earned rest.
Signing off,
Gemma and Henry
Shout-out: Hi Fam! I hope you’re all well, and ready to be bombarded with photos and stories of this adventure of mine for a very long time. I will see you all soon – Gemma
Shout-out: Hi Mum and Dad, I presume you’re still reading the clogs (Capt. Charlie Farley’s lexical invention, by the way), so here I am. Command day was really fun, and the whole trip has been such a great and varied experience. I hope your trip is going great. See you soon. – Henry
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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”
