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Wiser Today than Yesterday
Situation at 22:00: After the long 24 hours of command day, all hands were worn out and happy to spend the night at anchor. Sunrise was accompaniedby 3 meters swells rolling in through Sydney Heads and squalls bringing 40 kts of wind and heavy rain. At 08:00 YOUNG ENDEAVOURweighed anchor and made the short but very uncomfortable transit to Garden Island in order to embark guests for the half day sail.The number of guests that arrived for the half day sail was considerably fewer than had been expected, no doubt as a result ofthe awful weather. Because the conditions were so poor, and because of concern for the safety of our guests, it was decided that the Ship would remain alongside and the half day sail would transform into a half day adventure onboard. Our guests were from the Sunny Field Association and did not let the change in plans spoil their appetitesor their enthusiasm for being onboard. The Youth Crew served as hosts taking them on tours of the Ship and seeing that Chef Polly’s hard work was enjoyed by everyone. The Blue Watch put on a climbing demonstration and showed off their skill at laying aloft to the Topsail yard. A highlight of the visit was the skit that the Youth Crew put on at short notice. Cameronella was truely a Maiden in distress. Well done to all.Once the guests had departed, the serious job of harbour furling the square sails got underway. This can be a tedious job butis absolutely vital so that the sails are protected from the sun between voyages. Once the sails were taken care of, the WatchLeaders facilitated their watches end-of-voyage talks. This was an in depth look at how the Youth Crew saw the voyage and identified each individuals highlights and lowlights.After supper, all hands mustered a’midships for the Ship’s concert. The festivities were started off by the Staff Crew performing, as always, a play specifically written to parody events from the voyage. All three watches showed an amazing degree ofimagination and talent and produced outstanding performances. After the concert XO Chooka issued copies of ‘The Life and Times of YOUNG ENDEAVOUR’ to each of the Youth Crew to keep as a memento of theirvoyage. As I write this they are busily writing in each other’s books, passing on contact details and messages of farewell.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Fact File: The Ship’s hull is steel with a composite plywood and teak laid deck. Masts and spars are aluminumalloy and sails are modern dacron sailcloth. The standing rigging is stainless steel wire rope and the running rigging is either stainless steel or man made fibre rope.YOUNG ENDEAVOUR Glossary: Let Draw-An order to haul in the sheets of a sail so that it draws(fills with wind and drives theShip). Let Fly-An order to let go the sheets of a sail so that it luffs and empties of wind.Thought of the day: A man should never be ashamed to say he has been wrong, which is but saying in other words that he is wisertoday than he was yesterday. Alexander PopeYours, AyeJohn CowanLCDR, RAN
Latitude/Longitude:
Conditions:
Alongside Garden Island. Wind: South at 14 kts, Temp: 17c, 4/8 cloud.
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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”
