Day 7 – Ashore to explore Ku-ring-gai

Ahoy dear readers, day 7 of our adventurous voyage found us anchored in Flint and Steel Bay in the vicinity of Hungry Beach. A lovely little spot in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, just around the corner from Summer Bay 😉
And although the weather has been less than summery, that did not deter some of our young sea-puppies from scaling the foremast, in the rain, for a cheeky sunrise climb. Believe it! Tough as nails that lot! The rest of us woke up at 0645 to breakfast, shower then the colours ceremony was conducted at 0800, followed by morning brief.
Dion laid out the plan then cracked the whip and into cleaning stations we all went. At 0900 the ship weighed anchor and we commenced setting sails and conducted Demonstrational Tacks in the Bay. Demonstrational Tacks is the final puzzle piece in terms of preparing youth crew for tomorrows Command Day. Several members of each watch would visit the bridge and get a front row tutorial on how to tack this fine vessel, with running commentary from yours truly. We tacked back and forth several times so all members had a look and gained an appreciation of what’s required.
Then it was time for sail handling validation, whereby myself and Sumo put each watch through their paces to ensure they can set and furl sails competently and safely on their own. They all passed with flying colours ladies and gents, I’m sure you’re glad to hear. We’ve prepared them as best we can and I’m positive it will be a successful Command Day.
We returned to anchor and sent the youth crew ashore to explore Hungry Beach and stretch their legs, which after 7 days at sea, was much needed. Back in time for dinner, I then gave the Command Day brief to explain what to expect and the positions available, in order to take charge of this beautiful brigantine for 24 hours.
After an amicable and democratic voting process, it gives me great pleasure to announce the following elected youth crew positions for this voyage… they are: Captain – Charlie (junior), Sailmaster – Nisha, Navigator – Cady, Watch Officer – Nova, Chefs: Gemma, Michelle and Sol, Watch Leaders: Tae, Eamonn and Alice.
Congratulations you lot, I’m sure you’ll serve the rest of your youth crew admirably. And with much excitement in the air, we put our favourite video on and cranked out the popcorn. The ship will remain at anchor at Hungry Beach overnight and commence Command Day tomorrow morning at 1000.
Stay tuned tomorrow night to see how our salty sea-dogs fare. I wish them godspeed.
Yours Aye,
Captain Adam Charlie Farley+
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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”
