Day 10 – The Sydney penultimatum

Ahoy there dear readers, the penultimate day of V08/23 commenced at anchor in Watsons Bay, Sydney, amid increased winds and a little drizzle.
Colours ceremony took place at 0800, followed by morning brief. Happy hour was next then, ashore to explore… Youth Crew were ferried to Watsons Bay wharf where they went for a stroll around the area including up to the cliffs of ‘The Gap’ and it’s surrounds. Of course they found a coffee shop and stocked up with assorted beverages for their return trip.
Ash had lunch ready on their return, after which a wee siesta was necessary. We then weighed anchor and proceeded for a harbour cruise, as youthies climbed the masts and set a couple of sails, then under the bridge we went. We hooked a u-turn and passed under the coat hanger once more, then past the nuns in a scrum… deja vu much?
Anyway, Rose Bay was our destination and so we made a bee line and came to anchor to the east of Shark Island, with the most spectacular Sydney view to the west. Passing showers continued during the late afternoon and into the evening but that didn’t dampen the crust on Ash’s pizzas… no-no-no. They were crispy and saucy and tasty – bellisimo shipmates.
Then a final recapping of the voyage in the form of a photographic slide show, and in song as Youthies Alice and Hamish played guitar and sang an original piece, inspired by the voyage. It was gorgeous, melodic and very memorable, dear readers, and don’t be surprised if you see those names in lights very soon!
Well, that’s that. This is the final night onboard YE for V08/23. 10 Days ago 24 youth crew from places various, came together to sail this vessel, have fun and challenge themselves. They have not only done that, but have faced and overcome fears and learnt a lot about themselves and each other along the way.
Tomorrow they will leave with new skills, improved persistence, resilience and adaptability, as well as generally knowing they are more capable than what they probably thought. And of course, having made great new friends – most probably, friends for life.
It never gets old for us staff members, as we truly love our work.
Yours Aye, Captain Adam Charlie Farley+
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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!!