COMMAND DAY PART 1

Ahoy Shipmates,Command Day is now well underway with the YC tasked with sailing the Ship from Coles Bay to Storm Bay a distance of approximatly 80nm. Besides sailing and navigating the ship the YC have been given a number of tasks to complete along the way. One of those tasks is to complete the Captains Log for both tonight and tomorrow, so please find attached Captains Log Entry from Captain Coops and her team.Until tomorrow. take care.Yours AyeCaptain GavYOUTH CREW COMMAND DAY VOYAGE 3-09CAPTAINS LOGAs the sun rose over the east while we were anchored in Wine Glass Bay Tasmania, we awoke at 0600 to the glorious sound of Paul’s voice, a voice that we have gotten so used to, too quickly! While we were doing our morning exercises of Mounts, Knights & Cavaliers it dawned upon the youth crew that today was the dayï¿½. COMMAND DAY, where the youth crew take over the ship for 24 hoursï¿½ would you trust us??!!!! After only being on the ship for 6 days with most of the youth crew’s heads over the side of the boat crossing Bass Strait, today was our day to shape up & show off just what the amazing crew had taught us on this life-changing tall ship.Of course the day could not proceed without our last breakfast from Jarod the Chefo, with all of the crew eating as much as possible because we didn’t know what the ability of our new cooks for the next 24 hours would be. Along with acquiring new chefs for the Command day, we also had the chance to vote in a new Command Team. This command team was split into two groups who would be in charge of taking over the ship in two 12 hour lots. Voted amongst the new crew were Captain Mighty Miko & Captain Crazy Cooper, Sail Master Reliable Russ & Sail Miss Magical Mikaela, Navigator Amazing Alex & Navigator Marvellous Maree, Officer of the Watch Silly Simon & Officer of the Watch Beautiful Beck, our six watch leaders Ben, Mick, Dunc, Jannah, James & Kieran and our three chefs Kirsty, Dee & Mitch. However the ship could not sail without the help of all 24 youth crew who all play a very important role with respect to every aspect of the ship, as well as with the challenge that we have been set by Captain Gav & his trusting team. As we’re all seeing this command day, it’s not about any one person making decisions. Rather, it’s a group of 24 who make the decisions together as a team.So, the day had come for the youth of Australia on Voyage 3-09 to take control of the ship. After breakfast & happy hour (cleaning the ship) we departed to shore for a “leisurely” walk. Little did we know that we were trekking up one of the mountains from Wine Glass Bay to the other side of Coles Bay. When we arrived we were then given instructions as a team with a list of 20 tasks to achieve. The first one was soon under way, with the Beach Assault Team singing the National Anthem on the deck of the cafï¿½ with as many locals & strangers as possible, in order to mark the beginning of the youth crew’s journey. All about & we were ready to go, asking as many questions as possible from our respected leaders to cram in as much information as our brains could handle.Square sails ready, anchor up, yards braced & we were off. Not long after getting out of the bay we nearly had the ship in full mast. With the weather perfect, the gods were on our side. At this time of the evening, we still have control of the ship, have already met a few of our tasks, have been fed with a decent meal (go chefs!) & have sailed the ship without power further in the few hours that we have had control, than we have in the past 6 days (sorry Gav ïŠ the weather is too good).So it’s at this time in the evening that Captain Mighty Miko & Captain Crazy Cooper say Good night me hearties, check in tomorrow for the second chapter of our adventures. Â Â

Latitude/Longitude:

42Â°37's / 148Â°22'e

Conditions:

Currently 6nm to the East of Maria Island and enjoying 20-25kt NE winds with a following sea (the weather gods are finally smiling upon YE)

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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COMMAND DAY PART 1

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