Day 10 – Final Night

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Day 10 and the final night of our voyage. Following a peaceful night at anchor the Youth Crew woke to an overcast morning in Port Arthur. Originally we had plans to depart our anchorage early but a leaking grey water pipe required an emergency repair by our engineers, so we delayed our departure and completed harbour furls of the squares (very neat furls) instead. With repairs and harbour furls complete we departed our anchorage and then battled strong head winds and an ugly 2-3m swell in Storm Bay to final make it to the calmer waters of the Derwent River where we came to anchor just off the Hobart Casino at 1920 tonight. Once it gets dark later this evening we will screen a slideshow of memorable moments experienced throughout the voyage then complete our end of voyage admin before settling into anchor watches overnight for the final time for the voyage.

That’s enough from me I will now handover to Anna, Kate and Allie who will give you a full run-down of our action packed day.

Until tomorrow, take care

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Argh! Ahoy there. This morning the peaceful sleep of the Youth Crew was rudely disrupted by Imagine Dragon’s ‘On Top of The World’, and with great reluctance, we dragged ourselves upstairs to the beautiful view of Port Arthur where we had anchored the night before. To wake everyone up a game of ‘Moose’ was played, which ended chaotically (some of us still in our sleeping bags).

After another delicious breakfast involving quadruple-tiered sandwiches and a 15 minute wait for the toaster, the Youthies were ready for morning brief. Liv enthralled us for 10 minutes with a joke that could have lasted for two, featuring Bob the Loser and a pod of bloodthirsty porpoises.

Following brief, we split into watches and discussed our end-of-voyage goals and takeaways. We all agreed that this voyage has encouraged us to take every opportunity we could get our hands on, and has resulted in personal growth all round. If you’re reading this and thinking of applying for a voyage, do it! We promise you won’t regret it.

Youth Crew were then tasked with the job of harbour furls, which required every Youthie to climb aloft and spread out across the three yards of the foremast – Reddies on the top gallant, Whiteys on the topsail, and Blueys on the course. In raging 18 knot winds, we struggled to fold the sails up into the UV covers whilst holding on for dear life using nothing but the yard and a footrope. Fortunately no one fell off, our biggest accomplishment. All sails were folded successfully, with Blueys doing exceptionally well on the course, earning Chucky’s praise.

To determine once and for all the best watch (although it goes without saying Blueys are superior, no biases here), Shaun hosted a round of Zooper Dooper races. The chaos that ensued is indescribable, each watch competing to eat their icy poles the fastest. Brain freeze was inevitable. Unfortunately, Red watch came in first place, with White watch only seconds behind. Blue watch came third, but technically that’s still on the podium.

Finally it was free time, with some Youthies heading to bed for a well-deserved rest while the others joined Reddies on their watch, where they jammed out to some music and rode the waves, joined by dolphins. It was hard work though, with the youthies putting up two sails, fighting against the wind. However it was a highlight in everyone’s day when a huge wave came over the bow and absolutely drenched Evan.

Pizza night! It was something everyone was looking forward to and Haydo did not disappoint. With six different types of homemade pizzas (nearly 200 slices), we were spoilt once again. As we sailed into Hobart, Blueys took over watch – many of us finishing up bucket list goals we always wanted to do, such as climbing the 33m main mast and taking a selfie on the bowsprit. We were graced with dolphins several times throughout the evening until we finally arrived in Sandy Bay, Hobart, where we will be spending the night at peaceful anchor. Shoutout to the Green family parentals and siblings. I’m a little green and red but having a blast. Can’t wait to see you all soon. Miss you. Love Allie.

Shoutout to the Mulcahy family – Mum, Dad, Owen and Lukey. Hope you haven’t killed my fish and plants. See you tomorrow. Love Anna

Hey Clarkes – you better be reading these! Miss you and love you all loads – Dad, hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow! Let Grandpa know I didn’t get seasick, he was right. Love Katelyn

Signing off for now, Anna, Kate and Allie, proud members of the best watch, Blue Watch.

Latitude/Longitude:

43 09.0 S / 147 51.7 E

Conditions:

The time is now 2030 and we are currently at anchor in Sandy Bay and experiencing moderate 8-12kt SW winds with nil swell and the current temperature is 14 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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Good morning Shipmates, Sailmaster Sara's final Wakey Wakey song was pumped through the Ship’s speakers to jar the crew of YE from their deep slumber after a particularly tiring day of the Community Day Sail. Activities included end-of-voyage chats for the watches, harbour furling the square sails, eating as much home made pizza, cooked by master chef Ash, as we possibly could and knocking over final command day tasks including the Slide Show. It was up on deck for a quick head count to make sure everyone was out of their ‘racks’ and ready for their final day onboard. Breakfast was followed by the morning brief on the plan for the day and then the Staff Crew weighed anchor and got us underway while the Youth Crew laid aloft for a quick harbour cruise. Navigator Seb piloted the Ship from our Athol Bay anchorage, past Fort Dennison under the Harbour Bridge, where we fired the Ship’s saluting cannon, and then into Balls Head Bay to our berth. We berthed at HMAS Waterhen at 1000 to the warm welcome of friends and family of the Youthies, waiting on the wharf for us. Once we had secured the ship alongside we invited our guests onboard, allowed them a walk around the ship to see where the Youthies had lived and worked for the last eleven days, and then we gathered everyone at midships. Sail Master Sara spoke about our adventures during the voyage and then I presented the Voyage Completion certificates to the youth crew and the Young Endeavour Award to Liv for her outstanding hard work on in undertaking the voyage and her dedication to helping her fellow youth crew members to achieve their voyage goals. We then farewelled the Youth Crew of V04/24 after a fantastic challenging and enjoyable voyage. Thank you for following our adventures and hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Yours, aye, Captain Mike

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Day 10 – Community Day Sail Sydney Harbour

Good evening shipmates, After a well-earned quality night’s sleep at anchor in Hunters Bay, Sail Master Sara woke us with another of her soothing tunes to get us on deck for a quick early morning activity. After breakfast the staff crew weighed anchor and conducted the transit to HMAS Waterhen, at Waverton. We berthed there at 0900 and prepared to embark our guests for the Community Day Sail. At 1015 we cast off our berthing lines and departed with our 34 guests and commenced our 3 hour tour of the harbour. Our Community Day Sailors were a group 30 members and staff from the Windgap Foundation. We also embarked some defence personnel as well. We again passed under the Harbour Bridge and then proceeded into Rose Bay where we set some sails and commenced sailing back towards Waterhen. Whilst on the harbour our fantastic youth crew helped us host our Windgap special guests. They encouraged our guests to participate in setting the staysails and a square sail by helping to pull on the sheets and clewlines. The youth crew also helped Chef Ash to prepare and deliver the food to our guests on deck. At 1300, after 3 fun-packed hours on the harbour, we berthed back at the southern wharf at HMAS Waterhen. Once we had farewelled our guests it was time to commence our end-of-voyage activities and preparations. The staff crew managed to organise a visit to the RAN Ship MATV Sycamore, which is crewed by a mixture of civilians and Navy staff, is a multi-role aviation training vessel. The youth crew embarked with their watch leaders and were given a 45 minute tour of the ship by some of the Navy crew. On completion they returned onboard and Young Endeavour sailed and proceeded to our anchorage in Athol Bay, which affords a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. During the transit to the anchorage the Youthies undertook their end-of-voyage chats, facilitated by their watch leaders, to examine if they had achieved everything in their full-value contracts they had completed at the start of the voyage. After the traditional last voyage dinner of home made pizzas, Sara gave the Youthies the Harbour Furl brief, who then donned their climbing harnesses and laid aloft to undertake the ‘Harbour Furl’ of the square sails to make them look immaculate for our ceremonial arrival at the end of the voyage tomorrow. Once that was completed, the youth crew then finished off their final outstanding Command Day tasks, which were planned for the last night onboard. These included the Voyage Slide Show compiled of photos taken by everyone. This was excellent and provided a touching reminder of what we had experienced and the beautiful coastlines and islands that we had visited during the voyage. The final activity of the day was the end-of-voyage administration, which for the youth crew included a feedback questionnaire asking for feedback on their experience of the voyage, as well as a letter for each crew member to write to themselves on their experiences during the voyage, which the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme will post to the youth crew in 6 months time. The aim of this is to help reinforce what the youth crew have learned about leadership, teamwork and about themselves from the experience of the voyage. Once these were completed the crew were encouraged to go to bed. The Ship will remain in Athol Bay overnight and weigh anchor and sail in the morning at 0900 and undertake the transit to HMAS Waterhen, where family and friends will meet the Ship on arrival at 1000. Until you hear from me tomorrow for the final instalment of Voyage 04/24. Yours aye, Captain Mike

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Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

Ahoy from Sydney! For today’s Captain’s Log: the Youthies took over and completed several tasks including singing the national anthem in three different tunes as well as giving salty sea facts to start the day in a nautical way. We finally made it! After a long and weary effort of the command team and watches, we were able to fully sail into Sydney Harbour. At approximately 11:50 we anchored in Hunters Bay. To celebrate we had a groovtastic disco in the 12 berth due to excessive rainfall but the youthies made it work, having a blast dancing to Billie Jean. Afterwards, the youthies as well as the staff reflected on our efforts during command day, following the handover of the ship to the Staffies, where we highlighted what we did well, what we could improve on and what lessons we can take back to our normal lives, of which there are many. Continuing on from the previous log, with command day still ongoing. We encountered multiple problems. One of which being that mother nature didn’t bless us and gave us little to no wind to work with. However with the efforts of the Youthies we were able to successfully gather up to 8 knots of speed after a 4am tack in which the youthies persevered despite a lack of sleep enabling us to make our way into Sydney. Before our reflection the Youthies finished their day strong with a ‘Happy Hour’ cleaning session and one final dance. The afternoon was spent relaxing and recharging from ‘Command Day’, going aloft and furling the square sails. For dinner, Ash prepared a barbecue with steak, sausages, chicken kebabs with buns and an assortment of salads with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. The Youthies are looking forward to the Community Day Sail tomorrow which will be a great opportunity to give back to Australia and put our sailing knowledge to the test. We have learned many lessons during ‘Command Day’, we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone and together a crew of 24 youth were able to sail a tall ship into the harbour of Sydney. Today’s score: 9 camels and a donkey (Amazing) Until next time Rock on! Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt. P.S. Happy Birthday for tomorrow little bro, love Lil xx P.S.S. Kai, sorry I didn’t do the thing for Meg. I just remembered and will do it when back.

Thank you Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt for your narrative of today's events. Intentions are to remain at anchor in Hunters Bay, just off HMAS Penguin, home of the RAN Diving School, a place close to my heart, having spent many a day there under training as a young Officer! The plan is to weigh anchor and proceed to HMAS Waterhen, in Waverton, to pick up our Community Day Sailors from the Windgap Foundation and take them for a sail around the harbour for 3 hours. The Youth Crew will help us host our visitors and give them an experience of Young Endeavour. We will drop them back to Waverton and then proceed to anchor in the harbour where we will have a good view of the Bridge and the Opera House for the Youth Crew's last night onboard. Until tomorrow. Yours Aye, Captain Mike

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Day 10 – Final Night

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