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Day 2 – Victualled and Free
The ship was woken at 0630 with a wakey wakey song to start the day. All Youth and Ship’s Crew piled onto the upper decks and limbered up with an Early Morning Activity (EMA). We then rolled through a morning brief introducing the Navigator for a summary of where we are and where we are hoping to get to! Followed by the Saltiest of Salty Tales and a quick chat from the Captain. Then it was into the happiest hour of the day – Happy Hour – which leaves the ship nice and clean.
Then it was onto Sail Master and Captain chats. We ran through some ground rules for life onboard, a summary of our planned voyage ahead and answered a lot of insightful questions.
We were waiting, waiting, waiting for stores to arrive – they finally turned up just after lunch and we quickly and efficiently stored ship as we were in a race against time to beat the rapids of the Rip – we had to push through there during the slack water window or we risked a night at anchor inside Port Phillip Bay. With the freezers full and the fresh food fully victualled we slipped lines and left Geelong in our wake around 1530. The Navigator used all his wiles and we managed to catch the start of the flood tide which is favourable for exiting this treacherous bit of water.
Our Youth Crew will remain in Sea Watches overnight. They have been working through deck safety and setting and furling sails. This will continue during the silent hours and tomorrow we will get into tacking stations.
The ship remains on track to achieve a sensational voyage with weather favourable for a crossing of Bass Strait. We like a bit of wind and we like a bit of sea. Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor!
Tomorrow night I am going to invite two members of the Youth Crew to take over this journal and share the adventure from their perspective. So sit back and enjoy the journey.
We will be surging across the deep blue overnight closed hauled with some sea on our beam. The ship loves these conditions and so do we.
Captain Leups Out+
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Overcast Wind: 20kn SW Temp: 21C
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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!!
