Captain's Log

Voyage 15/23

22 August 2023

Day 7 – At Sea IVO Yeppoon

Ahoy there Shipmates!

[On ya Blueys!]

We started the day of strong at 4:00 for the guts watch before chowing down on eggs, bacon and hashbrowns for brekkie and an early morning tack. For our 9:00 brief we learned about ‘turning a blind eye’ and the epic crusade of Captain Nelson and the British battling the French. Then we sang the famous HAPPY HOUR SONG!

After happy hour and our daily dose of sea shanties, we got sent off to watch leaders to consolidate our skills in preparation tomorrows test. Us blue watch focussed on setting and furling the main stay sail and topgallant sail.

Lunch was a delicious spread of steak (medium rare. Always), roast chicken, chips and salad, so yum. We had a quick round of ropies which we won with the final decider challenge…The egg toss. Then came the highlight of the day, going onto the bow sprit which felt like ‘big drop’ carnival rides but even better as we were soon joined by pod of dolphins, which were jumping beneath and beside us. This was such an unforgettable experience that we all got to share as a watch. Once we got down back onto the midships we had one more tack to complete before having a nap.

Next came trivia time, and a cheese platter made by Cylvie. There were 5 rounds covering geography, history, science, the sea and Tommo’s round (music). The blue watch smashed the geography and music round but unfortunately was beaten by the staffies, rigged! Mikey’s rendition of textbook on space to the tune of happy birthday wasn’t enough to pull through for the win.

We wrapped up the day with another amazing meal prepared by Cylvie consisting of roast pork, lamb, veggies and a Thai green curry , followed by a desert of ice cream and fruit. After dinner we had a quick nap before beginning our 8:00pm – 12:00 am watch. The oceans were a lot calmer today which has helped the sickies to finally have a good day, we are tracking well and hope to have a stop soon.

Zach-hi all enjoying the trip, managed to avoid sea sickness look forward to seeing you soon.

Mum, dad, Cal and Spikey- after a bit of a rough start I had the absolute best day yet, definitely worth it and I’m learning heaps! Cant wait to tell you all about it! , Love Freya xoxo

Thank you Freya and Zach for your excellent account of today.

Yours, Aye, Captain Mike

Latitude/Longitude:

22 57.7' South / 151 15.5' East

Conditions:

Weather: fine, Wind: ESE at 17 knots, Temp: 22 deg. C, Sea: 1.0 m from ESE, Swell: 1.0 m from SE

AUTHOR: Michael Gough

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Day 10 – Community Day Sail Sydney Harbour

Good evening shipmates, After a well-earned quality night’s sleep at anchor in Hunters Bay, Sail Master Sara woke us with another of her soothing tunes to get us on deck for a quick early morning activity. After breakfast the staff crew weighed anchor and conducted the transit to HMAS Waterhen, at Waverton. We berthed there at 0900 and prepared to embark our guests for the Community Day Sail. At 1015 we cast off our berthing lines and departed with our 34 guests and commenced our 3 hour tour of the harbour. Our Community Day Sailors were a group 30 members and staff from the Windgap Foundation. We also embarked some defence personnel as well. We again passed under the Harbour Bridge and then proceeded into Rose Bay where we set some sails and commenced sailing back towards Waterhen. Whilst on the harbour our fantastic youth crew helped us host our Windgap special guests. They encouraged our guests to participate in setting the staysails and a square sail by helping to pull on the sheets and clewlines. The youth crew also helped Chef Ash to prepare and deliver the food to our guests on deck. At 1300, after 3 fun-packed hours on the harbour, we berthed back at the southern wharf at HMAS Waterhen. Once we had farewelled our guests it was time to commence our end-of-voyage activities and preparations. The staff crew managed to organise a visit to the RAN Ship MATV Sycamore, which is crewed by a mixture of civilians and Navy staff, is a multi-role aviation training vessel. The youth crew embarked with their watch leaders and were given a 45 minute tour of the ship by some of the Navy crew. On completion they returned onboard and Young Endeavour sailed and proceeded to our anchorage in Athol Bay, which affords a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. During the transit to the anchorage the Youthies undertook their end-of-voyage chats, facilitated by their watch leaders, to examine if they had achieved everything in their full-value contracts they had completed at the start of the voyage. After the traditional last voyage dinner of home made pizzas, Sara gave the Youthies the Harbour Furl brief, who then donned their climbing harnesses and laid aloft to undertake the ‘Harbour Furl’ of the square sails to make them look immaculate for our ceremonial arrival at the end of the voyage tomorrow. Once that was completed, the youth crew then finished off their final outstanding Command Day tasks, which were planned for the last night onboard. These included the Voyage Slide Show compiled of photos taken by everyone. This was excellent and provided a touching reminder of what we had experienced and the beautiful coastlines and islands that we had visited during the voyage. The final activity of the day was the end-of-voyage administration, which for the youth crew included a feedback questionnaire asking for feedback on their experience of the voyage, as well as a letter for each crew member to write to themselves on their experiences during the voyage, which the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme will post to the youth crew in 6 months time. The aim of this is to help reinforce what the youth crew have learned about leadership, teamwork and about themselves from the experience of the voyage. Once these were completed the crew were encouraged to go to bed. The Ship will remain in Athol Bay overnight and weigh anchor and sail in the morning at 0900 and undertake the transit to HMAS Waterhen, where family and friends will meet the Ship on arrival at 1000. Until you hear from me tomorrow for the final instalment of Voyage 04/24. Yours aye, Captain Mike

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Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

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Day 7 – At Sea IVO Yeppoon

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