Captain's Log

V18/16 Exmouth (WA) to Fremantle (WA)

24 October 2016

Day Eight – Favourable Conditions

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 8 of our voyage. By Sunrise this morning we were located 45nm to the south of Cape Inscription motor sailing under fore and aft sail in light to moderate south westerly conditions.

Given these improved conditions we decided to catch up on a number of the activities that had been missed due to the bad weather experienced prior to our arrival in Shark Bay, this included a good set of rotational tacks, my sail theory presentation and some refresher training on sail setting and furling and deck safety.

Throughout the day we remained close to the coast taking advantage of Leeuwin Current and the inshore winds. Buy sunset this evening we were located 80nm to the north of the Abrolhos Islands still motor sailing against moderate to strong 15-20kt southerly winds and making good 6kts of boat speed.

Overnight the Youth Crew will complete the BEAREX (Communication and Teamwork Exercise) as we continue to make best speed to the Abrolhos Islands where conditions permitting we will anchor sometime tomorrow.

Kindly volunteering to write tonightâ€™s entry in the Captains Log is Jac from Blue Watch, please enjoy!

Until tomorrow, take care.

Yours Aye

Captain Gav

Hi everyone, welcome to Day 8!

Todayâ€™s blogger is Jac after Captain Gav got eaten by a Shark in Shark Bay! Not really, but we did have some Shark attack survivors according to the fantastic T-shirts that were purchased at the Denham Souvenir shop.

Our first day back on the high seas started off with weather better than we have had so far, with only a few cheeky bouts of seasickness. We got off to a cracking start but were still using the â€˜metal sailsâ€™ as we have been for most of the trip due to the wind being quite ignorant and not realising it is blowing in the wrong direction for us.

Gav normally talks about what we have done in great detail but given Iâ€™m likely to be a one hit wonder as a keyboard warrior a bit of an insight into the voyage so far is on tonightâ€™s menu.

Every day in morning brief we hear from many illustrious characters on board, some from hundreds of years ago when boats were made of wood and men were made from steel, and some who surface only for morning brief. Captain Gav is a regular fixture at morning brief and imparts a pearl or two of wisdom for us. Whilst he needs to work on quoting some Aussie Prime Ministerâ€™s, his poignant quotes fit the mood without fail.

Todayâ€™s pearl of wisdom was to never make excuses for not being the best you can be. On this ship, it can be easy to make the excuse of sickness or danger to avoid the fear of climbing aloft (up the mast), or to get out of pushing yourself through the 4 hours of watch in the middle of the night.

Finding magic in the little things aboard has become a real morale booster. Whilst mother nature needs to work on the wind direction and swell, sunrises and sunsets at sea are a different kind of beauty every day and donâ€™t get old. Nor do the turtles, dolphins, whales, birds and the other wildlife we see every day.

The small wins are a huge boost when life on board is taken back to just the simple things and make much more room for thoughts about each other and taking in what is happening around us as individuals. Something I think we fail to notice in our lives when they are filled with jobs, school and most of all, the internet!

Perhaps post voyage all of us will again become ignorant to the little things, like appreciating showers and beds that donâ€™t move. But as Captain Gavâ€™s quotes keep coming hopefully some of the wisdom sticks and we maintain an appreciation of the little things and a drive to be our best selves every day.

As the rest of my watch tease me for writing a novel, I will leave you with a shout out to Mum (Sally), Dad (Phil) and Simon; and a word of encouragement to Siobhan in the final week of her thesis.

Cheers to being the best that we can be!

Jac (Sparrow)

Latitude/Longitude:

26 58 S / 113 38 E

Conditions:

Currently located 80nm to the north of the Abrolhos Islands and experiencing 15-20kt southerly winds with a 1-2m SW swell. Our current speed is 7kts and the temperature is 16 degrees.

AUTHOR: Commanding Officer STS Young Endeavour

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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

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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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