Captain's Log

V05/25, Sydney to Brisbane

4 April 2025

Day 3 – Cruising the Central Coast

Ahoy readers of this fine journal. Tonight we have some insightful words from Annabel, our brave Youth Crew member who volunteered to share her reflection on the day’s activities in her own words:

The day started in segments. I finished up “guts watch” and traipsed down the stairs for a shower in the confined quarters. Next thing I awoke with a start when I thought that the boat was going to tip over and had to prevent myself falling out of bed. Thankfully I didn’t fall out of bed, and I returned to my slumber being rocked to sleep by my new mother for the next 9 days – the ocean.

We had a few briefings and lessons today. A memorable point from the one this morning is not to leave dishes in the sink – we Youthies must do our own dishes outside of mealtimes. An annoying but understandable rule. You can imagine my disappointment when I was allocated to the task of kitchen hand and had to do it for everyone. But something that I’ve learnt on this voyage is that even the most mundane tasks can become fun with some good company, laughs, tunes and a positive attitude.

More sailing today with everyone involved in changing the orientation of the sails. A pause to watch a family of dolphins jumping in and out alongside the boat. “2… 6… heave”. My sailing knowledge was put to the test as I had to locate the gant line (blue) rope and man overboard rescue boat to score points for my team during the competitive (non-competitive) Rope Races.

After a delicious lunch and a lot of dishes we learnt the fundamentals of Navigation at sea and I’m looking forward to learning more as the voyage continues.

Dinner today was a delicious array including Carbonara, Lamb, Roast Veggies, caramel slice and fruit salad. This was of course followed again by a lottt of dishes. Second Dog watch this evening and watching the ocean sunset from the STS Young Endeavour is something that is truly very special and made doing all those dishes worth it.

PS: I asked the Captain if I could use ChatGPT for this and he said no.

Positive vibes

Annabel

Latitude/Longitude:

32 08.020 S / 152 46.215 E

Conditions:

Weather: Sunny Wind: 5kn E Temp: 27C

AUTHOR: Andrew Leupen

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And so ends another amazing voyage of self discovery and adventure - thanks for the good times Voyage 08/25. On the 13th of May we set sail with 16 landlubbers and today we arrive at our anchorage off Thursday Island with 16 salty sea dogs. We sailed nearly 600 nautical miles and explored some very remote sections of the Australian coastline - and had a lot of fun doing it! The South Easterly Trades took us North on a beautiful broad reach, right up through the Inner Great Barrier Reef, and we shared the vast ocean with dophins, turtles, and lots of sharks! The odd Spanish Mackerel was seen to be dancing with the ship as we gracefully yawed our way down sea and down wind. Captain Georgia and her team did an amazing job sailing us out into the Gulf of Carpentaria during Command Day and had us re-entering the Prince of Wales Channel right on time to be back at anchor before dinner on Day 9. Lots of self reflection and open, honest, discussion teased out life lessons that our Youthies will take with them back into their respective hometowns in Australia. Hopefully they will continue to send ripples of positive energy back out into Australian Society with their new found sense of purpose, identity and motivation. The Crew were sad to see them go but we know that when they look back, they will look back with pride and - hopefully - with a smile as they remember all the fun times. The friendships and memories will endure as the sun sets on this particular adventure. For now we are going to remain at anchor near to Thursday Island Wharf and clean up the ship. We are hoping to have some visitors from the Australian Navy Cadets onboard tomorrow for a ship tour and a chat. We're making new friends up here in the Torres Strait as we had four members of the Australian Border Force stop by for a visit this morning. As a Royal Australian Navy crew we love engaging with our friends across all services - if you're up here then please reach out and say Ahoy! Until Monday Captain Leups Out +

V08/25

22 May 2025

Day 10 – V08/25, Cairns to Thursday Island

Today is our last full day on this wonderful voyage. We started at anchor in the Torres Strait, near our destination of Thursday Island (conveniently located next to Wednesday and Friday Islands). Overnight we were treated to the sight of a large shiver of beautiful reef sharks. We woke up in this lovely spot taking in all the views of the islands, the clear blue water and playing a game of Ubuntu. We then cleaned the boat for some special guests that were arriving. We had the absolute privilege of meeting the whole of government effort in the Torres strait with representatives from; 51 Far North Queensland Army Regiment, the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We showed them around our ship and the skills we have learnt over this incredible voyage. We also learnt so much off them and the important roles they play in such a remote area as well as the importance of working together to achieve a common goal of keeping Australia safe. We then did our final rope races, with Red watch coming out on top but participation of all watches and staff made this such a fun competition throughout the voyage. We then had our final lunch, and we were treated to a Chicken Parma (not parmi) and teriyaki noodles. We set sail for our last run at sea for a few hours and began making our way to our final destination, anchoring between Thursday and Horn Islands. Whilst at Sea we climbed the yards and challenged ourselves once more by putting on the UV cover of our sails whilst underway at sea but still able to take in the beautiful views of this remote part of Australia. We then went into our end of voyage chats to reflect on our time throughout the voyage. We reflected on how we have all grown and developed into more amazing young people and were also tasked to write a letter to our future selves to read in 6 months’ time. The reflection tasks have helped us to learn about ourselves and the people we want to be and become. After a BBQ dinner we are off to a disco to dance and sing the night away with the amazing people we have become to know over the last 10 days. This journey is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and all the people we have met and made incredible connections with will forever hold a place in our hearts. The memories we have made and the self-development we have achieved has made this voyage priceless. It will be incredibly sad to say goodbye to everyone tomorrow, not just other youthies but also the extraordinary staff that make this program possible. They are the most passionate people you will meet with huge hearts and a lot of love to give. There is no big enough thankyou we can give to everyone on board. If you’re ever thinking of taking this opportunity have no ride regret and just submit that application because it will truly change your life no matter how big or small. Love youse all x Your favourite ginger twins (Georgia and Taylah) +

V08/25

21 May 2025

Day 09 – V08/25, Cairns to Thursday Island

Ahoy there Landgoers and arm chair readers! Today we awoke abruptly to the call of “all hands to tacking stations!”. It was a rude yet exhilarating way to start the day! As we yelled “two, six, heave!” on the jib, those at the front of the ship were witness to the beautiful amber sun gradually rising over the churning ocean, while towards the stern there were crewmembers holding their heads over the rails and throwing up last night’s dinner into the ocean. What a glorious way to start Command Day. The Command Day Captain (Georgia), Sailmaster (Jackson), Navigator (Elijah), and the rest of the youth crew worked like a well-oiled machine as we pulled the jib to the opposite side of the wind and continued to sail through the great blue ocean. The day was busy with lots of tasks, and it was only through each and every one of us pulling together that we were able to successfully complete our Command Day. As we sailed towards our final destination for command day, the Youthies and the crew prepared for the staff handover. Once Captain Leups and the team took the weight, we finally had two full hours of downtime, with most people sleeping face down on the deck, exhausted. Afterwards, we had command day debrief and reflection where we went through our strong points, areas to improve, and major takeaways from the 24 hour experience. From this, we had time to do some quiet reflection on how we could apply what we learnt to our personal lives. This was a relaxing way to end the day and prepare ourselves for our final full day tomorrow. Nathan & Tobias Out +

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Day 3 – Cruising the Central Coast

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