Day 9 – The Morning After

Are you head to wind?? Because I luff you!
As the clock ticked over to midnight, the Youthies maintained Command of this beautiful ship sailing the cold waters South of Tasmania. Working tirelessly through the night, we fell into watches organised by our elected crew leaders. Fatigue was a prominent issue, with many crew members being challenged by long hours, broken sleep, adverse weather conditions (up to 30 knots of gusty winds!), and increased stress levels that come with undertaking leadership roles. Thankfully, we all pulled through and the ship has made it through the night in one piece and everyone still on board!
We were woken by the sweet tunes of Moana’s ‘How Far I’ll Go’ then went straight into a morning brief lead by Lucy who hyped us up for the coming hours, as well as Shakyra blessing us with some bagpipe melodies. After cleaning up the aftermath of command day during the famously popular ‘Happy Hour’. We counted down the minutes until we handed control back to the Captain Leups and ship crew. Followed by a quick debrief of what we completed during the 24 hours and how we worked together.
We worked our way to Hobart with the wind in our sails, and after a few hours and tacks we found ourselves in Stormy Bay. The specialised engineer ran an entertaining round of ‘Rope Races’ which included a bonus round of fender relays around the middle of the ship. After a few face plants and laughs we headed off for some well-deserved rest before a formal debrief with Captain Leups and crew. In this debrief we talked about the highs and lows of command and some key takeaways from our 24-hour experience.
We enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by our lord and saviour, Steve!! A few of our Tasmanian crewmates recognised familiar places as we sailed through stormy bay to our current anchor position in Hobart. Afterwards ending the day with a round of Ship’s Trivia run by our sail master Tomo.
We’re looking forward to meeting and mingling with the public tomorrow on community day and we hope to see you there!
Yours Aye,
Casey, Jack and Sienna +
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Rainy Wind: 15kn NNE 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!!