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Day 2 – Into the Tasman Sea
Ahoy dear readers, Day 2 of our voyage began at anchor Athol Bay today.
It was a beautiful and still morning when Sailmaster Evan commenced the day with a 0630 Early Morning Activity on deck. We all met again at 0800 to sing the National Anthem as part of our (the Royal Australian Navy’s) traditional Colours ceremony, where we hoisted our suite of colours (Australian National Flag and the Australian White Ensign).
The plan for the day was then hatched before youth crew were introduced to their climbing harnesses by way of a safety briefing, then buddy checks and a climbing demonstration before we commenced our first night climbs. Each watch took turns at climbing, cheered on by Taronga monkeys, then when back on deck, their seamanship training continued.
I have to say that I was very proud of each and every one of them this morning, they definitely pushed through their fears and gave it their all.
After lunch, it was time to finally get underway, so at 1300 we weighed anchor and departed Sydney harbour into a two metre easterly swell. We gave the ship a little clean on the way out before turning-to sail handling training, setting and furling the fore, main and topgallant staysails. As anticipated a mass fish feeding event took place mid-afternoon, as youthies searched for their sea legs in a lumpy Tasman Sea. Some however were not perturbed by the movement of the ship and managed a climb to the lower top.
Dinner was smashed before commencing their first watches on deck, where they would conduct watch-on-deck duties of helming, lookout and rounds responsibilities, while the other watches slept. They will do this overnight, in a 4 hour watch rotation with some more climbing and sail handling consolidation thrown in. Anyway, a fantastic day and well done youth crew.
We’ve shaped a course to the south and will make ground towards Jervis Bay overnight, where we will look to anchor at approximately 1200 tomorrow.
Goodnight and sleep tight everybody.
Captain Adam Charlie Farley+
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: Fine. Wind: E @ 5 kts. Swell: ESE @ 1.5-2m. Temp: 20.
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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!!
