ANOTHER SCORCHER

Hi Everyone,Welcome to day 42 of our voyage. Apologies for not writing in last nights log but I suffered a return of the dreaded â€˜Mindelo Bellyâ€™ and ended up back in bed for another 24hrs. Since this afternoon I have been feeling a little better so hopefully I am now on mend and life will be good again.Given the time spent recovering in my cabin I havenâ€™t got much news for you this evening so hopefully our World Voyagers will do a good job of enlightening you on their dayâ€™s activities. One thing that I can tell you is that it has been a hot one with very little wind and very high humidity which I guest we should expect when we are this close to the Equator. We are doing as much as we possibly can to keep the ship cool and due to the light conditions we currently have both the midships and the boom awning rigged which is providing plenty of much need shade.Â Currently we are located 450nm to the south west of Mindelo motor sailing in extremely light conditions. The latest forecast is for the wind to strengthen from the south east sometime tomorrow so hopefully when I sit down to write tomorrow nights log we will be back sailing and hopefully enjoying some slightly cooler weather.The Watches were all shuffled again today so writing tonightâ€™s Captains Log from the newly formed Blue Watch is Zac and Kate, please enjoy!Until tomorrow, take careÂ Yours AyeCaptain GavÂ Shout out:A big â€˜Happy Birthdayâ€™ to my wonderful sister Anne I hope that you have a wonderful day, as always you will be in my thoughts. Love Gav xoxCAPTAINS LOG 2/10/15We woke up this morning in a pool of sweat and made our way to morning brief where Dougie confirmed the official forecast was for another Stinker! And it lived up to it, also at the morning brief we learned we would be switching watches again for the second last time before we reach Rio. We are eagerly looking forward to getting to know our new watch members and get reacquainted with some of our old ones through our overnight watches tonight.After another rigorous happy hour, due to out breaks of squirty bum, we all retired to areas of shade because our days watches were kindly taken over by the staffies in order to make sure no one doubled up on watches from the previous day. We have had the large awning up for a few days now and it is a common sight to see many youthies reading their books, sleeping on deck and working on their tan.After another fabulous lunch we got prepared for an on deck pool party to escape the heat, when we arrived on deck much to our surprise the pool (blow up kiddie size) was already tightly packed with four fully grown men. Luckily the fire hose was rigged and there was plenty of water for everyone who missed out on the first session in the pool. The staffies came to join in on the cool down, some more appropriately dressed than others. (Horto our eyes are still burning seeing your attempt at a belly flop into said kiddys pool in nothing but speedos). Finally we hosed off the awning and closed the pool for today.Today was also the start of 12 games in 12 days where the youthies star as the Game masters. Getting us started was Talbot with a face painting extravaganza where we had to guess the animal which was coincidently a Tasmanian Devil. Followed next by Samâ€™s more educational approach where we were tasked to construct a catapult from ropes and sticks relying on our knowledge of lashingsâ€¦ Luckily Sam helped some of us with a few handy hints and before long we were catapulting grapes across midships at each other. Well done Sam and Talbot it was a great way to get started.Now as we write this captains log were cruising through the glassy conditions of the Atlantic waiting for the sun to set, listening to some tunes, digesting our epic chocolate peanut butter brownies (thank you Keely) and awaiting another surprise movie night! Cant help but feel blessed, thereâ€™s nowhere we would rather spend our Friday arvo then right here.Zac and Kate â€“ Blue watchShout outszac- hey mum and reggie hope your enjoying your holidays, ill give you a ring when I get to Rio. Love you both xKate: hey fambam still alive loving life cruising the Atlantic, even if it is super hot! Isabelle sorry I missed skyping you again – Iâ€™ll catch up when I get to Rio! Jenny if youâ€™re reading, unfortunately couldnâ€™t find â€œocean follyâ€™ graffiti on the docks in Mindelo! Speak soon xxxGilly: To the family! I was one of the few who didnâ€™t get sick, even though I ate heaps of local food on the Island! Still skinny thoughâ€¦ Talk to you soon! GO THE MIGHTY BRONCOS!!!Nina: Shout-out to my two fave peeps at OA; you know who you are. Hi to mum and dadâ€¦ sorry I didnâ€™t call you from Mindeloâ€¦ hope the ski-trip was a win. Special mention to the Burleys, Kennetts + Harleys. Iâ€™ll be seeing Trine in less than 3 weeks! Much loveVita: To my friends and family â€“ I love you all very much, youâ€™re in my thoughts and I will be in touch, for reals, once Iâ€™ve settled a bit in Rio de Janeiroâ€¦ eeekâ€¦ another year has nearly passed. VxMaddy: A big hello to Mum, Dad, Dayne, Jasper, Ally, Tay, Han and the rest of you lot. Iâ€™m currently watching the most beautiful pink and purple sunset off the coast of Western Africa and missing you all dearly! Enjoy the footy tomorrow. Speak to you all from Rio! Love xxxxxxxxxAnnie: Hi Mum, Dadda, Nanna, Kate and Jeremy! Today was a scorcher and it is only meant to get hotter as we continue through the doldrums! This little Tasmanian is struggling! Regular cold showers and ice packs are currently keeping me going haha. Miss you guys heaps! Off to watch a movie on the big screen on deck (tough life I know). Lots of love xx

Latitude/Longitude:

9 degrees 42 minutes North / 27 degrees 15 minutes West

Conditions:

Currently located 450nm to the SW of Mindelo motor sailing in very light conditions. Our current speed is 6kts and the temperature is 24 degrees with about 90% humidity.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 11 – Last Day of the Voyage

Good morning Shipmates, Sailmaster Sara's final Wakey Wakey song was pumped through the Ship’s speakers to jar the crew of YE from their deep slumber after a particularly tiring day of the Community Day Sail. Activities included end-of-voyage chats for the watches, harbour furling the square sails, eating as much home made pizza, cooked by master chef Ash, as we possibly could and knocking over final command day tasks including the Slide Show. It was up on deck for a quick head count to make sure everyone was out of their ‘racks’ and ready for their final day onboard. Breakfast was followed by the morning brief on the plan for the day and then the Staff Crew weighed anchor and got us underway while the Youth Crew laid aloft for a quick harbour cruise. Navigator Seb piloted the Ship from our Athol Bay anchorage, past Fort Dennison under the Harbour Bridge, where we fired the Ship’s saluting cannon, and then into Balls Head Bay to our berth. We berthed at HMAS Waterhen at 1000 to the warm welcome of friends and family of the Youthies, waiting on the wharf for us. Once we had secured the ship alongside we invited our guests onboard, allowed them a walk around the ship to see where the Youthies had lived and worked for the last eleven days, and then we gathered everyone at midships. Sail Master Sara spoke about our adventures during the voyage and then I presented the Voyage Completion certificates to the youth crew and the Young Endeavour Award to Liv for her outstanding hard work on in undertaking the voyage and her dedication to helping her fellow youth crew members to achieve their voyage goals. We then farewelled the Youth Crew of V04/24 after a fantastic challenging and enjoyable voyage. Thank you for following our adventures and hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Yours, aye, Captain Mike

V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 10 – Community Day Sail Sydney Harbour

Good evening shipmates, After a well-earned quality night’s sleep at anchor in Hunters Bay, Sail Master Sara woke us with another of her soothing tunes to get us on deck for a quick early morning activity. After breakfast the staff crew weighed anchor and conducted the transit to HMAS Waterhen, at Waverton. We berthed there at 0900 and prepared to embark our guests for the Community Day Sail. At 1015 we cast off our berthing lines and departed with our 34 guests and commenced our 3 hour tour of the harbour. Our Community Day Sailors were a group 30 members and staff from the Windgap Foundation. We also embarked some defence personnel as well. We again passed under the Harbour Bridge and then proceeded into Rose Bay where we set some sails and commenced sailing back towards Waterhen. Whilst on the harbour our fantastic youth crew helped us host our Windgap special guests. They encouraged our guests to participate in setting the staysails and a square sail by helping to pull on the sheets and clewlines. The youth crew also helped Chef Ash to prepare and deliver the food to our guests on deck. At 1300, after 3 fun-packed hours on the harbour, we berthed back at the southern wharf at HMAS Waterhen. Once we had farewelled our guests it was time to commence our end-of-voyage activities and preparations. The staff crew managed to organise a visit to the RAN Ship MATV Sycamore, which is crewed by a mixture of civilians and Navy staff, is a multi-role aviation training vessel. The youth crew embarked with their watch leaders and were given a 45 minute tour of the ship by some of the Navy crew. On completion they returned onboard and Young Endeavour sailed and proceeded to our anchorage in Athol Bay, which affords a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. During the transit to the anchorage the Youthies undertook their end-of-voyage chats, facilitated by their watch leaders, to examine if they had achieved everything in their full-value contracts they had completed at the start of the voyage. After the traditional last voyage dinner of home made pizzas, Sara gave the Youthies the Harbour Furl brief, who then donned their climbing harnesses and laid aloft to undertake the ‘Harbour Furl’ of the square sails to make them look immaculate for our ceremonial arrival at the end of the voyage tomorrow. Once that was completed, the youth crew then finished off their final outstanding Command Day tasks, which were planned for the last night onboard. These included the Voyage Slide Show compiled of photos taken by everyone. This was excellent and provided a touching reminder of what we had experienced and the beautiful coastlines and islands that we had visited during the voyage. The final activity of the day was the end-of-voyage administration, which for the youth crew included a feedback questionnaire asking for feedback on their experience of the voyage, as well as a letter for each crew member to write to themselves on their experiences during the voyage, which the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme will post to the youth crew in 6 months time. The aim of this is to help reinforce what the youth crew have learned about leadership, teamwork and about themselves from the experience of the voyage. Once these were completed the crew were encouraged to go to bed. The Ship will remain in Athol Bay overnight and weigh anchor and sail in the morning at 0900 and undertake the transit to HMAS Waterhen, where family and friends will meet the Ship on arrival at 1000. Until you hear from me tomorrow for the final instalment of Voyage 04/24. Yours aye, Captain Mike

V04/24

19 February 2024

Day 9 – Command Day Part 2

Ahoy from Sydney! For today’s Captain’s Log: the Youthies took over and completed several tasks including singing the national anthem in three different tunes as well as giving salty sea facts to start the day in a nautical way. We finally made it! After a long and weary effort of the command team and watches, we were able to fully sail into Sydney Harbour. At approximately 11:50 we anchored in Hunters Bay. To celebrate we had a groovtastic disco in the 12 berth due to excessive rainfall but the youthies made it work, having a blast dancing to Billie Jean. Afterwards, the youthies as well as the staff reflected on our efforts during command day, following the handover of the ship to the Staffies, where we highlighted what we did well, what we could improve on and what lessons we can take back to our normal lives, of which there are many. Continuing on from the previous log, with command day still ongoing. We encountered multiple problems. One of which being that mother nature didn’t bless us and gave us little to no wind to work with. However with the efforts of the Youthies we were able to successfully gather up to 8 knots of speed after a 4am tack in which the youthies persevered despite a lack of sleep enabling us to make our way into Sydney. Before our reflection the Youthies finished their day strong with a ‘Happy Hour’ cleaning session and one final dance. The afternoon was spent relaxing and recharging from ‘Command Day’, going aloft and furling the square sails. For dinner, Ash prepared a barbecue with steak, sausages, chicken kebabs with buns and an assortment of salads with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. The Youthies are looking forward to the Community Day Sail tomorrow which will be a great opportunity to give back to Australia and put our sailing knowledge to the test. We have learned many lessons during ‘Command Day’, we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone and together a crew of 24 youth were able to sail a tall ship into the harbour of Sydney. Today’s score: 9 camels and a donkey (Amazing) Until next time Rock on! Tarvi, Kaeden and Matt. P.S. Happy Birthday for tomorrow little bro, love Lil xx P.S.S. Kai, sorry I didn’t do the thing for Meg. I just remembered and will do it when back.

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

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