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Day 2 – A great day of sailing
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to day 2 of our voyage. It’s been an action-packed day with great weather and favourable winds. The morning started early for our young mariners with a 0630m wakeup call followed by an early morning activity up on deck. Breakfast followed with Chef Ash cooking up another one of here legendary ‘Big Breakfasts’ which was going to keep us going until lunch.
At 0815 we cast of our lines and conducted a safe departure out of the Mackay Marina. Once in open water we conducted our first morning brief and then given the favourable 15-18kt SE winds we set the main staysail and shutdown main engines. The rest of the morning was spent with the Watch Leaders teaching the Youth Crew deck safety and how to set our staysails as we main good speed to the north under sail.
Lunch was another feast and after a short rest the Youth Crew were back on deck learning how to set a square sail which was then put into practice when each of the watches was given the opportunity to set and clew-up the topsail. With this activity complete we then set the jib and the mainsail then conducted our first set of tacks as a crew which was the final activity for the afternoon.
During all of this sail work we have been entertained with numerous sightings of breaching whales and have passed some beautiful islands and it really has been a great day.
The time is now 2030 and we are located 25nm to the south of the Whitsunday Islands with our current plan being to stay at sea overnight so that the Youth Crew can settle into their sea watches and then head to Whitehaven Beach early tomorrow morning where we plan to anchor for a few hours before continuing our passage north.
Until tomorrow, take care.
Yours Aye
Captain Gav
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Currently located 25nm to the south of the Whitsunday Islands and experiencing moderate-strong 15-20kt SE winds with a 1m SE swell.
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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!!
