CLIENT: Youth Voyage
VOYAGE NUMBER: 20260705
FROM: Cairns To: Townsville
POSITION: Mourilyan Harbour
DATE: 6 July 2026
REPORT: Red Watch
It was a dark and moonlit night, and brave sailors Jasper and Keenan ventured out into the murky depths of the night sky. “It is very, very windy”, Jasper exclaims. Keenan observes how the boat was not drifting. He contemplates about how his parents encouraged him to venture this journey alone. “You’re not alone,” Jasper says, “you have me, Keenan.” Jasper and Keenan sipped wistfully on their hot chocolate and jotted down the true bearings that appeared before them whilst they were on deck. It’s no walk in the park, these treacherous midnight watches.
The clock struck one *bing bong!*, and the three musketeers (girls) relieved the men of their watch. They continued the difficult feat with pride and with a wealth of knowledge. Nicola, the guiding light, the ever-strong beacon of hope, crafted masterfully the hot chocolate for Bernadette and Ryder and they filled the booklets with a myriad of wise words. They also checked the bearings. The intertwined brothers, Alexander and Magnus fearlessly checked the anchor wasn’t dragging them, third time is the charm, checked the bearings. They listened soulfully to the wind direction and established their findings in the logbook. Then…
The bugle sounded. Sharp, piercing, dragging the diligent sailors out of their deep slumber at 4:30am sharp. “Raise the sails!” Tony the watchleader commands, and hands the number of tasks to be delegated to the one and only Ryder. And soon, the sails are raised, and The South Passage is set to sail off into the sunrise. We returned to bed, wrapping ourselves in the embrace of the warm unconsciousness.
Time to break the fast, and we waited for our watch from 1000 to 1200, resuming our previous positions from the last day. We tacked with 110% effort, manoeuvring the ship with ease. Not a drop of sweat ran down red watches’ foreheads, no, this was an effortless feat. Alexander was in charge of the helm, driving the crew to success and Bernadette and Charlotte were both on the port side, hauling in the staysail sheet. Whilst Nicola was on the starboard side, easing out the line. Ryder was on the Jib sheet, easing it out. Jasper, Magnus and Keenan were hauling the Jib. Do you smell that? That beautiful aroma of caramelised onions and frying beef? It’s Hugh’s masterful creation of customisable cheeseburgers that he had provided the hard-working bunch.
After a restful nap for the red watch, Peter exclaims, “All hands on deck!”, which led to the watch lowering the main sail at Mourilyan harbour. Dense forestry surrounded the crew as they faithfully and efficiently won the rope competition with 39 seconds, too easy! Reef knots have nothing on Red Watch. The other watches sadly took more than a minute. For dinner, we heartily consumed the beef stew and rice with cheesecake for dessert, fuelling us for our next shift at 1800-2000 where we set the bearings and delegated our watch for the next day.
What a beautiful day, it was. As red watch grew closer, and Keenan was teased in jest for forgetting everyone’s names in his watch, the crew said goodnight to yet another day of braving the storm, and persevering the depths of the unknown. Keep this up, Red watch, and you’ll be able to conquer the Bermuda Triangle next. Adios, Au revior, Zai Jian, Sayonara, Tschüss.