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Voyage 06/17 Day 5
Ahoy there Shipmates,
We had a great night at anchor in Nelsons Bay, with the light and variable winds having no effect on the ship as we rode securely on the anchor overnight. Youth Crew got their first experience of anchor watches, during which they were responsible for monitoring the safety of the Ship through the night.
Wakey wakey over the Ship’s broadcast stirred those, not on watch, out of their slumber at 0630 and motivated everyone to get up on deck for morning activity, which consisted of a quick game of ‘Knights, Mounts and Cavaliers’.
After a hearty breakfast, courtesy of Jenko and his helpers, the crew mustered on the bridge for the ceremony of ‘Colours’ at 0800. The staffies added a twist by singing the usual Advance Australia Fair first verse to the tune of ‘Working Class Man’. Unfortunately our singing talents didn’t allow the youthies to recognise the tune! This was followed by morning brief, which included Salty’s explanation of the origin of another nautical expression ‘to shake a leg’. We were then paid a visit for the first time by Nana who gave the crew a reminder on the importance of tidiness and cleanliness onboard. She had with her a sack full of clothing she had tidied-up from the youthies accommodation. After that she added the first song, ‘Crabs and Sea Shells’, to our repertoire.
The crew then launched into ‘Happy Hour’ to ensure the Ship was clean and tidy. This was followed by my presentation on Sail Theory. The aim of this brief was to equip the crew with some basic knowledge on the requirements of the Young Endeavour sail plan as well as the wind limitations of the different sails, which will be necessary knowledge for the Youth Crew on Command Day.
The Sail Master and I then decided it was time to break-out the rope swing for the first time on the voyage and we opened the ‘big pool’ for a quick 15 minute swim. After lunch we weighed anchor and departed Port Stephens and put to sea. As soon as the Ship was in open water we conducted rotational tacks to allow the watches to see what the other watches did at their Tacking Stations. This is also part of the preparation for Command Day.
On completion we held round two of Rope Races and then the watches laid-aloft to cast-loose gaskets from all three square sails, which were then set for our overnight passage towards Broken Bay.
Until tomorrow evening.
Yours Aye
Captain Mike
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Wind 090 at 8 knots, Weather: fine, Swell: 1.5 metres from the East, Waves: 0.5 metres from the East, Temp 19 deg C
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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”
