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Day 4 – Anchored in Jervis Bay
Ahoy all land lubbers!
Second nights watch proved just as eventful and gruelling as the first; minor squalls, navigation drills, and foremast climbs proved to be exceedingly challenging among strong winds. The foremast climbs involved the sea furling of all square sails, wherein the Youthies climb the foremast and step out onto the yards in order to gather and tie the sail in place. A sunrise climb by Blue Watch also eventfully brought us in toward Jervis Bay. 150 Nautical miles south of Sydney.
After near 48 hours of continuous sailing, we laid anchor in Jervis Bay. Jervis Bay being well known for its beautiful beaches and stunningly white sand. After the happiest hour anyone has ever spent at sea (cleaning), the Youthies were rewarded with a bay swim off the deck. The swim involving jumps off the bowsprit and a rope swing from the course yard (many attempted backflips included).
After a delicious lunch, the Youthies were taken out to the shore itself – our first breath of land in three full days. Many previous grim and green faces now donned a rosy hue and a toothy grin as we took in the surroundings. With beach volleyball, seaweed wigs and body surfing underway, a particular group of Youthies set about a mission. Dig as many holes as possible; and connect them. This mission soon amassed a following of half the youth crew all frantically digging tunnels to create a specially sandy subway.
By 16:00 the Youthies were to set back to the Young Endeavour. This entailed a rocky rubber dinghy ride captained by Salty Seb, leaving much of the now dry Youthies as sodden as fish. After the sand, salt, and sunscreen, the Youthies took part in an impromptu mass washing – plastering the bow and aft rails with hanging clothes.
Given the weather, dinner was had on deck with an amazing barbeque steak out prepared by Chef Ash, Chief Engineer Mick, and the young Master Chefs. Following dinner the Youthies took part in bonding activity called ‘3 Way Chatz’. This involved being in groups of three and being tasked to ask questions about each other’s lives before performing in front of the full crew as a randomly assigned group member; with each performance ending with charades of the youth crew’s favourite movies books, and shows.
Before settling in for a much needed sleep. The Youthies learnt the process of anchor watches that were to be carried out through the night. As opposed to watches at sea, anchor watches are composed of three youth crew members entrusted with keeping watch in one hour stints, conducting rounds and checking the anchor to make sure it is not dragging. On watch Staff Crew periodically fix the Ship’s position to confirm we have not dragged.
Shout out from Inez: Happy belated birthday Papi, hope you had an amazing day!
Shout out from Dani: Happy belated birthday Jayd Ellison! Love you!
Written on behalf of all Youthies, signing off for the night; Georgia Spiropoulos of Red Watch, Taylor Smyth of Blue Watch, and Arkady Walker of White Watch.
Good evening Friends and Family, thank you Georgia, Taylor and Arkady for your narrative of today’s hectic program of activities. We anchored in the southern end of the Bay in anticipation of the forecast ‘Southerly Buster’, which passed over us at 1930. The wind backed from the northerlies we had experienced all day to the south and strengthened to 30 knots briefly and has now eased to 10 knots. The plan is to remain at anchor here overnight and weigh anchor tomorrow during the Forenoon Watch, conduct some more tacking practice inside the Bay, before commencing our northerly passage to Sydney.
Until tomorrow, Yours Aye, Captain Mike
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Weather: passing showers, Wind: Southerly at 10 knots, 15 deg. C, Sea: 0.5 m, Swell: Nil
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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!!
