CANTERBURY! HMNZS - Royal New Zealand Navy

During March and Aprilthe Australian SailTraining Ship YOUNGENDEAVOUR visitedNew Zealand. Our Navy(through the LeadershipDevelopment Group) wasoffered opportunitiesfor junior officers toserve on board duringthree separate voyageswhile in NZ waters.SAIL TRAININGENS Matthew McQuaidundertook the Wellington– Auckland voyage.STS YOUNG ENDEAVOUR – A KIWI’S EXPERIENCEFOR ten days in early March I had the privilegeof sailing in the Australian Sail TrainingShip STS YOUNG ENDEAVOUR, along withMidshipmen Clayton Dando, Elizabeth Lewerand Scott Ward. The voyage was from Wellingtonto Auckland via White Island andGreat Barrier Island. On a sunny Sunday afternoon,23 nervous-looking Aussie trainees– and ourselves - embarked in the ship, mostwith no real idea of what to expect or whatlife at sea under sail would offer.The YOUNG ENDEAVOUR is a 44 metrelong Brigantine - two masts, with the foremastsquare rigged with three yards. Shewas a gift from the people of the UnitedKingdom to the people of Australia to markthe Australian bicentenary in 1988. The shipis crewed by the Royal Australian Navy but isopen to civilian trainees and YOUNG ENDEA-VOUR has hosted over 9000 young Australiansonboard for leadership development. Inher 19 years of service YOUNG ENDEAVOURhas circumnavigated the world, participatedin the 1990 Commonwealth Games celebrationsin Auckland and has acted as the radiorelay vessel for numerous Sydney to Hobartyacht races.Trainee accommodation onboard is relativelycomfortable with one 12 berth messdeck underneath the foc’sle and two 6 berthcabins located midships. In addition to theENS Matthew McQuaidtrainees were the ten RAN ship’s companywho probably have the best posting in theRAN.Our voyage began in a choppy Cook Strait,that had a number of trainees running forthe heads or the side. With unfavourablewinds we motor sailed for the first threedays. There was also a touch of excitementfor the trainees when the ship was divertedto take part in a search and rescue effort offHawke Bay. However after an exciting threehour run the search was eventually called offresulting in a bit of an anti-climax.Our first port of call was Wiapiro Bay northof Gisborne for an afternoon on the beachand a BBQ onboard in the evening. Aftereverybody stretched their legs and had ahuge BBQ meal we packed up and madeour way towards White Island at ‘speed’- for those who have done time in the IPC’sand thought 12 knots was slow, try makinggood 6 knots if you’re lucky! The nextday we awoke to the sight of White Islanddead ahead of us billowing out its sulphuricsmoke, and by lunchtime we were up closeand personal with New Zealand’s activeisland volcano.On Day 6 of our voyage, the crew handedover the ship to the trainees for “CommandDay”, unfortunately for the RNZN personnelonboard we were made to “re-learn” everythingso we could not provide too much assistanceto the trainees. After a lot of stressand a couple of toys thrown, the traineesgot us underway and moving towards ourobjective; a run ashore in Port Fitzroy, GreatBarrier Island. After 24 stress-filled hoursthe trainees has us at Port Fitzroy only 5minutes late.That afternoon the CO took the shipalongside at Port Fitzroy and from there weproceeded ashore to the Boat Club, whichwas owned by the mother-in-law of one ofthe crew members. A great evening wasenjoyed by all with plenty of laughter andshenanigans!The next day the staff decided that a 4 hourhike was just what the doctor ordered - soall the trainees hiked into the spectacularKauri Dam. This dam was built to assist inthe logging of kauri timber from the inlandparts of GBI. The scenery was spectacularand all the Australians were impressed atthe natural beauty of the island.On completion we hiked back to the shipand departed Port Fitzroy, transiting throughthe narrow Man O’ War passage and downto Whangaparapara Harbour for anotherrelaxing night ashore courtesy of a libertyboat routine.Day 9 arrived and the wind started to blow,so we sailed down to Tamaki Strait wherewe spent a long night dragging anchor offMotuihe Island.Day 10 followed with strong winds as wemade our way to DNB to pick up our guestsfrom the Australian High Commission andpersonnel from the NPRC for a half-day sail.THE GRACEFULESMERALDABY AC GRANT ARMISHAW RNZAF& LT IAIN PHILIPS RNZNFROM 30 May until 7 June, Wellington wastreated with a stop-over visit by the majesticChilean Navy Ship ESMERALDA. Alsoknown as “Data Blanca” (White Lady), thefour masted barquentine has sailed theworld’s oceans during its fifty years as atraining cruiser for midshipmen recentlygraduated from the Chilean Naval Academyand the Seaman Training School. Theyfinish off their training with a voyage thatlasts several months, putting them in closecontact with the sea, and thus complementingthe academic requirements of aNavy career. The training cruise also allowsthem to acquire first-hand experienceYOUNG ENDEAVOUR anchored off Waipiro BayOnce all guests were onboard we sailedunder the Harbour Bridge then out towardsAlpha Buoy before proceeding back to DNB.That afternoon we came alongside at PrincessWharf in the city due to the impendingbad weather, and our voyage was over.At the end of the voyage all the traineeshad learnt something about themselves.OH 07-0388-06of different countries and cultures.ESMERALDA has a crew of 300, with 90Midshipman on board under training. Theyconducted a service and wreath-laying atthe National War Memorial, and marchedback through the streets to the ship. CAPTRoss Smith RNZN was our senior navalrepresentative, alongside the ChileanAmbassador.The ship hosted an excellent eveningreception on Friday (complete with band,dancing, and disco) and entered a soccerteam in a tournament with NZDF and Wellingtonteams. The Commanding Officerhosted an official luncheon for the city’sINTERNATIONALANZAC DAYSome had achieved things that they hadnever expected to, while others fell shortof achieving their goals.Nevertheless they all walked away fromthe YOUNG ENDEAVOUR having donesomething that most people would neverget to do, and in the process have madesome really great mates.Mayor and CN, and held another functionhosted by the Chilean Ambassador’s wife.Many of the Midshipmen were taken on avisit to NIWA, while the ship was open tovisitors during the weekend. ESMERALDAdrew large crowds (several thousandvisitors) while she was berthed at QueensWharf. The crew gave many tours of theupper two decks of the big sailing ship.At night with the rig outlined in lights,she was a spectacular sight. AC Armishwawwas ‘drawn to the ship shortly beforemidnight on the Saturday evening, by thebright lights. A friendly crew was on thegangway, at hand to speak with sightsee-ers and to guard their ship, and somewere kind enough to stand in for a photoor two. Their English was reasonably good- I expect there is quite some importancein speaking more than just their nativelanguage, Spanish.’Bad weather delayed the ship’s departureby a day, but the extra time alongsidewas welcomed by many Wellingtonians.ESMERALDA is now en-route to Sydney,Guam, Shanghai, Tokyo and S Korea,among other destinations, to arrive backin Chile at the end of the year. MidshipmanBen Birch RNZN is now embarked as faras Pusan, S Korea, and Navy Today willpublish his report in a future issue.20 NT123JULY07WWW.NAVY.MIL.NZWWW.NAVY.MIL.NZNT123JULY0721