Day 5 – Tasman Sea to Broken Bay

Day 5 today, after taking watches through the night the crew were woken by the wondrous vocals of Rick Astley’s song “Never going to give you up”. After this serenade we were gifted a hearty breakfast by chef Jenko who whipped up a classic scrambled egg, bacon and mushroom breakie.

When all youthies had called in and were waiting the morning brief given by sailmaster Evan, a greater container ship slowly crept by us, connecting to the later lesson of the day “rules of the road” where Matty showed us what is the correct way to conduct a tall ship such as Young Endeavour through the great wide ocean. The announcements continued giving us the wondrous news that we would be making anchor in Broken Bay, where we would spend the night, giving some a much needed respite from the tumble of the sea.

Continuing the day, Captain Charlie Farley gave us a lesson on sail theory, how squares worked differently to triangular sails and how on command day we would need to utilise all our knowledge acquired over the next few days to properly and most of all safely conduct this fine vessel.

Then to kick the day off into high gear we jumped into ropies! A high octane friendly competition between the watches on how much we really know about the rigging of the ship, as well, as fun bonus rounds, which today consisted of constructing a water fountain with a singing, dancing youthies component! (The fountain was a squirt water bottle and ropes so much imagination was used.)

After this we had lunch, once again supplied by renowned chef Jenko (pasta and bolognaise, with a side of garlic bread). Afterwards, an obligatory check of the front of the ship by one youthie who was sure the dolphin striker might have disappeared… (Let V15/21 be remembered for its brilliance even though short). This turned into the youthies bracing the ship’s yards and furling in the sails in preparation for anchor, which lead to a group of courageous youthies climbing the masts and walking the yards to sea furl the square sails!

This moment was celebrated with gusto by all due to the rough weather playing havoc on our stomachs while we travelled the ocean, from Jervis Bay to Broken Bay. From this moment of respite we had half way talks – checking in on the goals we set at the beginning of the voyage and how we had progressed so far. Dinner was then upon us and beautiful lamb chops, gravy, veggies and a Pavlova for desert awaited us! From this we broke off into watches to have some self-reflection upon ourselves in a unique activity “Stop, Start, Continue” where we would choose a set of things that we would stop doing, a set we would start doing and a set we would like to continue doing. This was a great opportunity to reflect on our lives back on land since we were so far from reality. These reflections will then be sent in 6 months time to each of us, so we can see how we are tracking.

After the reflections were complete, the majority of the youthies embarked on a night climb in the rain while we write this very CLOG, listening to the sea shanties of red watch as they climb the mast. The youthies will soon settle in to anchor watches as we rest up for a busy next few days before command day.

p.s written to you by Declan a.k.a Meatypaws (Hi mama and papa!), Zaley (Morning Mum and Dad missing you xx) and Lachie (Hope you’re all doing well mum, dad, Bella, Tom and Big G)