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Day 10 – Exhaustion, elation and satisfaction
Ahoy there readers of this fine journal. We started Day 10 with Captain Warwick and his crew of scallywags still holding the weight of the conduct of the ship on their shoulders. We were motor sailing up the East Coast of Australia with the vista that is Sydney Harbour and the Eastern Suburbs as our backdrop to a beautiful sunrise. The urgency on deck was real as the team pushed to complete as many of their Command Day tasks as they could in the final hours that they had left.
We found a Warship outside harbour limits who graciously invited us to fall in astern and escort us in to harbour. We set to work furling sails and increased engine speed as we tried to keep up with the sleek great silhouette of the Frigate. Whilst manoeuvring to take our station the Youth Crew were thrilled to be given the task of firing our cannons on approach to harbour limits. With sail handed in we entered Port Jackson.
Sydney Harbour is a busy place and we were detoured around to approach Athol Bay via South of Shark Island to avoid a towing operation underway. Nothing is too much for our Navigator Tommo though and he dynamically repositioned the ship and gave us a tour of Sydney!
Once at anchor in Athol and the final minutes of Command Day ticked by the realisation that this was it started to hit home for both Youth and Staff Crew alike. At 1300 I took the ship back from Captain Waz and his band and offered heartfelt congratulations to the team for their 110% effort and massive achievements in the 24 hours that they had. This really is the culmination of the program and the Youth Crew met the challenge with zeal.
The debrief process after an ordeal like this is extremely important. So we gave the crew a rest before waking them up with a swim and a rope swing in Athol Bay. Nothing like the crisp water of the harbour to wake them up and re-energise the vibe. The debriefs revealed some profound lessons that will go with our Youth Crew as they leave the ship and return to Australian Society. This ship, this program truly changes each and every individual that joins as one but leaves as a member of a close knit team.
Pizza Night closed the day of action and Youth Crew settled into their final night of anchor watches and sleep in their quarters.
This has been an amazing voyage for all of us. Our beautiful blue ship with her trim sails and fine lines has delivered us from Hobart to Sydney once again.
Look out for us on the Harbour as we will be under the Harbour Bridge by 0915 and firing cannons with youth in the yards on approach to HMAS Waterhen, Waverton at 0945 for a 1000 alongside. Take photos, share them online and help make us more famous than we already are!!
Captain Leups Out +
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Sunny Wind: 10kn SE Temp: 22C
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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”
