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Scott Stratten's Young Endeavour Voyage
25 Aug 2009
 After arriving at Proserpine airport after nearly a full day of flying I got off the plane to a shock; the weather it was nothing like Sydney had been enjoying over the past few weeks, it was 27° and sunny. Soon after I arrived at my hotel, which was amazing, and it was not long before my boardies were on and I was down by the swimming pool, eating wedges and enjoying the amazing view of Airlie Beach. Later that night I went for a walk to see the ship and with the sun setting behind her I thought to myself how lucky I was to be sailing on her tomorrow. Later that night I met up with some of the youth crew which I would be spending the next eleven days with. Together we had dinner, played pool and got to know each other.
Early the next morning I wandered down from my hotel room to the best breakfast I had ever seen. I ate so much that morning and while enjoying the view and weather of the Whitsundays I knew it was going to be a good day. A girl from the Young Endeavour called and said some of the group were going down to the Lagoons, which is where I spent half the day meeting, swimming and getting to know more of the people I would soon be sailing with.
Day 1: Once we arrived on the ship we were quickly shown by the crew where to take our bags and where we would be sleeping for the next few nights. We were then split into red, white or blue groups which would be our watches. After this we heard a siren and we were given a rundown of the trip and what we could expect. We then left the dock and headed out of Airlie Beach where we dropped anchor and stayed for the night. We spent the night getting to know the crew and the staff we would be sailing with. Later that night we climbed aloft watch by watch straight to the top gallant yard. The staff told us that this was going to be a great trip because they had noticed that as a group we had got through everything quickly, even when some were afraid and unsure. After rope drills we were in bed by 11:30pm.
Day 2: The 6:30am rise was early for many, but we woke to the pleasant smell of a feast being cooked in the galley by the Chef Chad who was later to become one of my favourite ‘staffies’. Chef Chad had no joke made a feast and everyone ate until they couldn’t fit any more in. After breaky we were straight into it learning about the lines and sails. We learnt how to heave, check away and how to set and furl the sails. It was a massive day for learning. At 12:30pm we pulled up the anchor and Harry, one of the youth crew and I were positioned in the chain locker, splaying out the chain as it came back in. As we set the sails and headed down the Whitsundays passage we began our fist watch shift of the second day.
Day 3: I woken up at 4am for my first watch for the day and was told to buddy check our harnesses as we were going to set some of the square sails and sea furl others. It was the middle of the night and it was a great experience not being able to see anything off the boat as we went up the mast. Later that morning we saw two whales jumping and swimming around. Around midday we had a man overboard drill where we furled all the sails and one of the staffy did the drill. Afterwards the sail mistress said we could all go for a swim and without hesitation the captain jumped off the side into the water. It was great to be swimming in the middle of the ocean.
Day 4: On the fourth morning I learnt that I was to be on Dish Pig duties which meant I was to help the chef. It ended up being that I caught a lucky break because my watch was on ‘the Gut’s watch’ which was 12pm-4pm and they were wrecked in the morning. I really enjoyed working with Chad in the kitchen as he was such a friendly bloke who said the funniest things. That night we anchored in Luncheon Bay and went swimming. Later we played a game called Three Ways where we were put into teams of three people we didn’t yet know, learnt as much as we could about them and then talked about them for three minutes.
Day 5: My watch, the white watch, were given the 8:30pm-12am watch which allowed us to get some much needed sleep as we wouldn’t be on watch until the next day. We set the ship’s sail, skippered the ship and did some navigation. During our watch we did an activity called ‘Apples and Onions’ where you would say something you admired about a person (an apple) and something that you thought they could improve on (an onion). I really enjoyed this activity as I got to see that people thought and what were my strong points are. When we woke the next morning we were told to get up as we were going for a swim, so I got up and the next thing I knew I was being thrown into the water by Taffy. On this day we got the chance to go ashore to an island and went snorkelling, played games, slept and kayaked. The island was beautiful and pristine and made me feel relaxed. We learnt a new activity which we would be doing for the rest of the trip called ‘Rope Races’ which revolved around remembering all the things we had learnt and getting to them before the other watches did when staffy Lindsey called them out.
Day 6: On the sixth day we were as far away from the mainland as the Young Endeavour could take us. We couldn’t see the mainland and were at the outer Great Barrier Reef (Wallaby Reef) where we snorkelled and had rope races. It was good to see that there was a part of the Great Barrier Reef that still remained pristine and with no rubbish in it. Every meal that day one of my now good mates Trev was in the kitchen with Chad and he made me massive portions so that I could hardly walk after leaving the galley. For one of our rope races we had to design a parachute for an egg we were given as we were throwing it off the top sail yard down to the deck of the boat. This was one of the only rope races the white watch didn’t win as two other teams boiled their eggs so they wouldn’t smash.
Day 7: My watch was on the early morning watch on day seven and it was a particularly cold morning up on deck, but we had to get into it and sail the ship. During the watch we did an activity called the ‘Bear Game’ where we were set a challenge by the staff and as a watch we had to decide on a time frame that we thought it would take and then had to try and beat it. The task we were elected was to set the fisherman sail which has one of the biggest sail areas of 97sq/m. It was a bog task and I was given the command role to figure out how to set it, what lines to heave and check away and to allocate everyone a role. The timeframe we said this would take was 45 minutes, but we set the sail in 15 minutes which made the watch and I feel great. Later that day when the sun was up we anchored in Shark Bay which was a place famous for dugong sightings. We went ashore, swam, ate coconuts, played footy and cricket and all had a great time.
Day 8: Being told to walk around in circles up on deck at 6:30am was the worst way to wake us up, yet the sail mistress did it a few times. Later in the morning we chose our command day positions and I was elected by the crew to be leader of the watch but gave it up to work in the galley with Big Trev and Z. That night Trev, Z and me worked on a menu that would cook for the 32 hours that we would be in control of the galley. We did this with ease as me and Trev are big food eaters and knew what we liked. We were asleep by 11:30pm after the menu was made and the food to be prepped and cooked was gathered.
Day 9 Command day: We woke up to a 3 metre swell and 25 knots of wind which made all the meals we had to prepare hell to do. Trev seemed to be able to avoid sea sickness whereas Z and I were a different story. However we prepared all the meals on time and everyone really enjoyed them. When it came time to give the galley back Chad commended us and said “you guys did the best job and made the best effort I have ever seen a galley crew do” which made us all feel good. It was the job of the youth crew to get us to Horse Shoe Bay in Magnetic Island just off Townsville by 10:30am but we were there by 5:00am. In the 24 hours (or 32 if you were working in the galley) that we took over the ship we had to complete 29 different tasks and our youth crew got all 29/29 which no youth crew had ever done before. I must say that command day was probably my worst 32 hours onboard the ship but I still had a fantastic time even though I had thrown my guts up and was very tired from lack of sleep. We did an end of command brief where we all talked as a group and worked out what had worked and what hadn’t, what we had learnt from our experiences and what we would take away from it.
Day 10: When in Horse Shoe Bay we had to sea furl the square sails and I really enjoyed just hanging up there talking to Courtney, one of the other. We scrubbed the ship as we would be having guests onboard for a half day sail. Kids of all ages and race, as well as kids with disabilities came out for the half day and to see these kids enjoying themselves and loving life was a highlight that I will never forget. Later that afternoon we went to shore and played beach cricket where I lead the NSW/Victorian team to victory over the Queenslanders, who we absolutely dominated. Later that night we had the staffy/youth crew concert where the staff dressed up and did a drama and where every watch performed and entertained each other. My watch and I sang a song and played a few games and did a few jokes, it was really a great night. Harry and Owen, two of the youth crew made a slide show from all our photos from our cameras and I think it was a really good reflection of what we had achieved and the good times we had shared. White watch then got together as a group and talked about all the things we had learnt and the experiences that we would take away from our trip.
Day 11: On day eleven we did a big happy hour and cleaned the ship. We harbour furled the square sails, packed our bags and proceeded to head to our berth. On our way to our berth we were all in our Young Endeavour shirts and we all were manning the yard, so we all were up the mast and sitting on the yards. As the white watch won the rope races we got the top gallant yard which is the highest yard at 33 metres. On the way to port we sang the songs we had learnt on the trip. When we made port we had an award presentation where we all received awards, but the stand out award was for Trev who received an Order of Australia for being a person who truly represented the whole idea of what Young Endeavour Program was about. Later that afternoon as we said our goodbyes and headed away from the ship most of the youth crew went to lunch. Four hours later when we had eaten and said our final goodbyes it was time for me to head to Townsville Airport where I flew back to Sydney and ended the trip of a lifetime.
The Day after My YE trip 09/09: It was back to work for me with a 7.30 start at North Sydney, but for the rest of that day and weekend I could not forget all the experiences I had on the ship, the things I had learnt, the people I met and the friendships that will last a lifetime. To this day I still think about the trip all the time, and I always smile knowing that I gave and took 110% out of the trip. Throughout our time on board the ship we learnt and experienced so many different and new things that pushed us and helped us to challenge our self physically and mentally. It was an experience of a life time and I feel so privileged to have been part of the youth crew. I can say that I left the Young Endeavour with no regret’s, and with memories and experiences that I will never forget.
Big Thanks go out to Noakes Youth (Nicole Langman), Noakes boat and Shipyard (Sean Langman), the Young Endeavour and the Staff aboard trip 09/09, and everyone who was involved in the organisation and made this trip possible for me. It was the experience of a lifetime in which I learnt so much and took so much from.
Scott Stratten.
If you would like to learn more about the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme visit their website at www.youngendeavour.gov.au
Visit the Scott Stratten's Young Endeavour Voyage Gallery
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