Voyage 11/13 Day 10 – Half Day Sail
Ahoy there Shipmates, A well deserved night’s rest in the Hunters Bay anchorage was had by all. I think everyone onboard slept very soundly and for good reason, most were exhausted from Command Day. That didn’t stop Sail Master Guv from waking us up early with one of his Retro tunes, but the heavy rain did stop us from doing any early morning activity on the upper decks. We had a busy program for today hence we needed to weigh anchor and get going early towards Woolloomooloo Bay, where we would pick up our Half Day sailors. After breakfast, followed by a snappy Morning Brief, the Staffies got the Ship underway and heading up the harbour while youth crew conducted Happy Hour and helped Chef Luke prepare the finger-food lunch we would share with our guests. We berthed at the Fleet Base East wharf and at 0930 embarked 30 guests from the Windgap Foundation, who provide services to adults with an intellectual disability. In addition the Navy Fleet Commander, Rear Admiral Tim Barret, who is a member of the YE Advisory Board, his family and two of his staff embarked to participate in the half day sail. Family and friends of the Staffies also added to the guest list. We departed the wharf at 1000 and, despite the terrible rainy weather we spent the next 3 hours sailing around the harbour. We set fore and afts as we made our way to Middle Head. We then weared-ship and set the Topsail and Top Gallant on our westerly run towards the bridge. As we approached Fort Dennison the wind died on us so we clewed-up and furled everything and motored up to Darling Harbour, where we reversed course and returned to FBE. During the day the Youth Crew hosted the visitors, conducting tours of the Ship, involving them in setting and furling sails and generally spending time with them while they were onboard. After a few photo opportunities our guests disembarked back at FBE at 1245. Once we’d done a quick tidy-up of the Ship the Youthies headed-off in their watches to do their end-of-voyage chats facilitated by their watch leaders. When they returned it was time for the final edition of ‘Ropies’ after which we conducted the harbour-furl of the square sails. To achieve this all of the Youth Crew proceeded aloft on the yards to fold-up the sails and then stow them inside their UV covers. The Ship then sailed and proceeded to anchor in Athol Bay. The Youth Crew then completed some end-of-voyage paperwork, after which Luke treated us to a pizza night! Once that was complete all the Youthies sang a fantastic song about the voyage and then we all viewed a slide show which did a great job of depicting the voyage, which was composed by Jessica Healy, Georgia Smith and Brittany Larkin. We then encouraged everyone to ‘hit the sack’ after a long exhausting day! Until tomorrow, Yours Aye Captain Mike
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Rain and more rain! Wind southerly at 10 kn nil swell, Temp - a toasty 13 deg!
You might also be interested in
Thank you Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt for your narrative of today's events. Intentions are to remain at anchor in Hunters Bay, just off HMAS Penguin, home of the RAN Diving School, a place close to my heart, having spent many a day there under training as a young Officer! The plan is to weigh anchor and proceed to HMAS Waterhen, in Waverton, to pick up our Community Day Sailors from the Windgap Foundation and take them for a sail around the harbour for 3 hours. The Youth Crew will help us host our visitors and give them an experience of Young Endeavour. We will drop them back to Waverton and then proceed to anchor in the harbour where we will have a good view of the Bridge and the Opera House for the Youth Crew's last night onboard. Until tomorrow. Yours Aye, Captain Mike