Southerly blow

Hello Shipmates, Welcome to Day 2 of the voyage. Following a well deserved and much needed night’s rest the Youth Crew were woken to a mild last day of winter’s morning at 0645 by Sail Master James, who treated us to an early morning swim and our first chance to use the rope swing. After breakfast the Youthies experienced their first ceremony of ‘colours’ followed by the morning brief at which they met ‘Salty the sea-dog’ (Sandy), whose job it is to explain the nautical origin of some expressions in common use in the English language. On completion of the brief it was straight into cleaning stations (this activity is known as our ‘Happy Hour’ and even has its own little song). During Happy Hour the Staff Crew weighed anchor and the Ship proceeded out of the harbour via the Eastern Channel. On exiting the shelter of the harbour, the Youth crew got their first taste of the Ship’s motion under the influence of the weather. The wind was north-easterly at 10 knots with an easterly 1.5 m swell, good conditions for our passage south to Jervis Bay. The crew then progressed deck safety training to ensure our new crew members would have the necessary training to carry out the basics of setting and furling Young Endeavour’s sails safely. The Ship was also visited by ‘Captain Safety’ (Brendon’s alter-ego!) who gave a more detailed presentation on the items of safety equipment onboard. After some solid practice at setting and furling the Stay Sails, Sail Master James gave a briefing on the procedures for setting the Square Sails, after which the Top Gallant, Top Sail and Course square sails were set. We ran downwind towards Jervis Bay on the squares and two stay sails. In the 20 kn conditions we achieved 9 kn over the ground, which Navigator Harry maximised by positioning our navigational route to get the best assistance possible from the East Australia Current (EAC). The plan was to get to a sheltered anchorage in JB before the forecast strong southerlies kicked-in. At around 1800 the wind became light and variable and the southerlies arrived early at 1900. Motoring into the wind we had a speed over the ground that had reduced to 3.5 knots. We were close to JB but at that speed it would have taken us another 4 hours so I decided to anchor short of the bay in Crookhaven Bight, just off Currarong to the north of the Beecroft Peninsula. We were 16 on the anchor with 4 shackles of anchor cable holding us securely in position by 2030. It is intended to remain in this anchorage overnight and assess when it will be practical to continue our passage to Devonport. The Youth Crew will help the Staff Crew with conducting anchor watches overnight. The winds are forecast to peak at 30 kn tomorrow. Yours Aye Captain Mike