Voyage 11/13 Day 3 – At Sea

G’day Shipmates,Welcome to day 3 of our adventure under sail. The ship continued motor-sailing south overnight along the QLD coast and then crossed into NSW. The wind remained a fresh southerly and the swell was 2-3 metres, also from the south, through the night. The swell is long though so the ride is not too uncomfortable. It has been a challenge for some crew members as they struggle to gain their sea legs. Overnight the crew focussed on getting a handle on their watch duties. These include helmsman, lookouts and doing weather observations and engineering rounds, all essential things to keep the Ship running 24/day.As the sun rose, the sight of some clear blue skies, the promise of a new day and a cheerful Wakey Wakey song (attached below) from Blue Watch, who had the morning watch, the remainder of the crew awoke after their first night at sea in Australia’s National Sail Training Ship.After another of Luke’s spectacular breakfasts (including porridge, cereals, fresh tropical fruit, bacon, eggs, French toast and fresh-baked bread) we gathered on the bridge for the morning brief. Today the crew heard from ‘Salty the Sea-Dog (Dougie) who explained the origin of why Ship’s toilets are called ‘heads’. ‘Nana Diesel’ (Mick) also made her first appearance, giving tips on shipboard hygiene and cleanliness. She then taught the youthies the first of her nautical songs ‘Crabs and Seashells’ which provided a lead-in to the much-loved Happy Hour.The weather had been forecast to abate a little mid-morning, but the opposite happened. The wind strengthened and the swell became shorter making conditions onboard more uncomfortable and difficult to work on deck and also resulted in more crew going down with sea sickness.After lunch, which was rather poorly attended, we kicked off the first round of Rope Races (Mick the engineer’s favourite). This activity is a competition between the watches to test their retention of ship knowledge on a variety of topics such as safety equipment, parts of the fore-and-aft and the square sails.The wind veered to south-westerly in the afternoon for a few hours and then backed southerly again at the start of the First Dog watch (1600). At the change of watch between the Last Dog and the First watch (2000) we weared-ship, set the Jib and Mainsail and shut down the engines to enable the crew to have a more comfortable night’s sleep.The intention is to remain at sea again overnight continuing to make good ground towards Sydney. We will anchor tomorrow at Coffs Harbour to allow the Youth Crew to go ashore for a couple of hours and to ‘hug a tree’, the best cure for seasickness.Yours AyeCaptain MikeBLUE WATCH WAKEY WAKEY SONG – SAT 22 JUN(To the tune of ‘Eye of the Tiger’)Rising up, up off your bunks,White had the guts, and red had the first.Blue……(dada da)Past Coolangatta, up through the night,Starry skies and musky waters.Blue……(dada da)It’s the Young Endeavour no need to be sad,We will fight off sickness and we will climb the mast,Chef’s cooked us a breakfast that is not to be missed,So get out of your beds it’s the best.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR     “