Voyage 7/13 Day 1 – Newcastle Harbour

G’day shipmates,Welcome to Young Endeavour’s Voyage 7 for 2013. Our journey starts in the Harbour City of Newcastle and will conclude in Brisbane in eleven days. We have a magnificent tall ship, wind for our sails and the NSW Coast explore. The potential is limitless and sense of adventure is infectious. I would like to introduce the Team of Staff Crew that will facilitate this voyage of adventure:Captain – MikeSail Master – MattNavigator – TimWatch Officer – PaulRed Watch Leader – Ricko with Super-nummary AdrianWhite Watch Leader – Shayne assisted by TillyBlue Watch Leader – PennyChef – SquizyEngineer – SumoVoyage 7 officially commenced at 1500 today when the Youth Crew and their families and friends were welcomed onboard to have a quick look around the Ship and meet the Staff Crew before we sailed from Queens wharf, and berthed at FORGACS wharf, Carrington, to commence the afternoon’s activities. The Youth Crew divided into their watches and undertook a few ‘ice-breaker’ activities to get to know one another. That was followed by a detailed tour of the Ship conducted by the Watch Leaders.Dinner followed, with Chef Squiz amazing us with his excellent culinary skills. Once we had cleaned up from dinner, I had a bit of chat to the Youth Crew about what their voyage would entail. On completion, Matt, as Sail Master, gave his talk about some of the rules and safety aspects of Young Endeavour before giving a safety aloft brief and a demonstration on how to climb the foremast. On completion I undertook a harness confidence check for all members of Youth Crew. This involved each member attaching to a man overboard davit, trained inboard over the deck, and inverting to show they will not fall out of their harnesses. This is our final safety check prior to commencing our first climbs.This evening, with some nerves and a great deal of courage and determination every member of the Youth Crew undertook their first climb above the deck and made it to the Topgallant yard on the foremast. This was a huge achievement on the first day onboard. This completed today’s activities and after a hot cup of cocoa the crew turned in for their first nights sleep onboard Young Endeavour.I am very pleased to report that all of the Youth Crew has done extremely well on their first day and I am from the outset impressed with both their individual efforts and team attitude.Monday after lunch we plan to depart Newcastle Harbour and shape a course to the North.Until Monday evening, take care.Yours AyeCaptain Mike     “