Day 7 – Hello Nelson Bay!

Ahoy shipmates…Day 7 and Command Day Looms! After a pleasant run up the coast we arrived in Nelson Bay in the early hours of the morning and have had a jam packed day exploring Port Stephens, preparing for Command Day, and enjoying a peaceful twilight teak deck BBQ. As I write the Command Day elections have just completed (see below) and the youth crew are enjoying a showing of the documentary ‘Around Cape Horn’ in our open air cinema…motivation for tomorrow. Once again youthies (Paris and Emma) have eloquently put the day into their own words…so that’s it from me. Looking forward to the adventures of the next few days (and putting my feet up while the youth crew take charge). Until tomorrow, fair winds, Cap K.———-

Captains Log: Day 7 -10 November 2019
Blue Watch: Paris and Emma
Paris and Emma here, writing today from Nelson bay in Port Stephens. Blueys woke up in the early hours for the â€˜gutsâ€™ watch at 0001 to 0400 to guide the ship safely through the headlands to anchor into Nelson Bay at 0345. The winds intensified and became gusty as we headed for port, but our newly learnt maritime Rules of the Road helped us navigate by the light of the channel markers.
On completion of night watches and after all youthies had breakfasted with deliciously hot victuals we headed for morning brief. We had Tracey tell some interesting facts about Port Stephens and then Harry ferried us all ashore in the tender. Once we gained our land legs back we started our 8km trek to the top lookout of the beautiful Tomaree head. On the way back our land legs then led us through the markets of Shoal bay onwards to the local marina cafÃ© for some well-deserved ice-cream, milkshakes and hot chips. As we headed back to the old girl, we were welcomed back by the sights of bottlenose dolphins in the marina putting us in high spirits for lunch and happy hour (cleaning hour). Then it was time for the highly competitive/non-competitive rope races with youthies battling it out over the issue of square sails. As always, the final challenge was a nail biter as the watches were tasked with safely delivering an egg (which represented their watch leader) from the course yard with homemade materials provided from Engineer Reggie. With blue watch starting off it was a close call as the eggâ€™s parachute was caught amongst the wind heading for the sea but was saved in the last moments by the well placed foremast gantline, before the careful landing of the un-cracked egg on the deck (up the bluies!!). The redies and whities put up a solid fight but unfortunately had a rough flight to deck causing some yolk-leakage.
In preparation for command day tomorrow, Captain Kenny delivered some useful advice to the youthies for electing positions and wise words to help our team performance. Soon afterwards Tracey held a navigation master class to ensure prospective navigators can safely guide us to Newcastle in one piece (fingers crossed). Thanks to the Northerly clear weather and calm swell, tonightâ€™s dinner will be a barbeque on deck with a range of snags and Aussie game such as, emu, kangaroo and croc (which we originally thought was chickenâ€¦crickey!) and some fresh salads on the side to fill the gap. We participated in deck games â€“ way too much fun and laughter â€“ will close the day before we commence our anchor watches. With a good night of sleep expected, due to the calm conditions of the friendly Nelson Bay, we will be well rested for tomorrows challenges.
COMMAND DAY RESULTS – Captain – Curly, Sailmaster – Doug, Navigator – Lexie, Watch Leaders – Sam, Macca and Courtney, Chefs – Scottie, Chloe and Jacko. Congrats to all and good luck!
Shoutouts: Paz- Ahoy there from the high seas to my loved ones back on landâ€¦Iâ€™m having the best experience swapping my land legs for sea legs and school student for sailor girl. Not long left now, miss and love you allâ€¦see you soon. P.s Lachie, I got a bottom bunk (SCORE!).
Em- Hi Mum and Dad, having a brilliant time on the high seas being part of our motley crew of youthies. Youâ€™ve probably realized by now but we stayed in Sydney Harbour on the first night (hope you still enjoyed your dinner overlooking the harbour mouth, minus the silhouette of the Young Endeavour!). Love you both and canâ€™t wait to tell you all about this incredible adventure! P.S. please give Pip a cuddle for me

Latitude/Longitude:

33 42s / 152 08e

Conditions:

Wind: SE at 8 knots Weather: Fine Sea: Calm Location: At anchor Nelson Bay

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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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

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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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Day 7 – Hello Nelson Bay!

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