A MUSICAL VOYAGE - Royal Australian Navy

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The next day we played at Mithra School for disadvantaged and less fortunate children. The
day was a big success on the musical side.
Most of these kids have never seen a saxophone, trombone or trumpet in their life before.
Talk about having a completely captivated audience that was entranced by these
instruments. The ship’s company built the school a new playground while others painted a
mural including the talents of our newly promoted Petty Officer Kara Williams.
That night, the group rigged up again at the Park Hotel for a fundraiser for the Rugby Club
and the school we played for earlier that day. Most of the ship’s company turned up to the
function including Maritime Commander. The night turned out to be a mini ship’s ball and a
great time was had by all.
Friday morning we set sail again and sailed into heavy seas. Exercises were the order of the
day with an Indian ship. Late afternoon saw us all manning ship. The Indian ship sailed past
us and we “Cheered Ship” to each other. This is the first time I have seen a “Cheer Ship”
other than a commissioning.
We all had Damage Control walkthroughs and were confident on how to use a Bauer Air
Compressor. Damage Control Exercises happened and the band were manning the
compressors and recharging the bottles for the next exercise. This freed up the ship’s
company to do their jobs and everyone was happy again.
The ship’s next stop was Singapore as Phuket was cancelled because of high terrorism
threats. All the Able Seaman had a day each doing Force Protection in both Chennai and
Singapore. Not many gigs were scheduled whilst alongside. Our only gig whilst in Singapore
was a cocktail party onboard HMS Marlborough on the second night in. There was lots of
shopping to be had by all and people comparing prices on whom got a better bargain. All in
all, everyone picked up a great bargain and saved about 50% off prices compared to home.
Six days in Singapore was the duration of the stay. Once again, we weighed anchor and
were now involved in “Flying Fish 2003”. This exercise saw Malaysian, United Kingdom, New
Zealand and Singaporean ships. The band played for RAS’s, Steel Deck BBQ’s and also a
Sports Day. We are in middle of the exercise and won’t be back for another two weeks. We
will stop in Singapore for a snappy refuel and food before returning back to Perth on the
10 th July. The band is staying another day onboard Adelaide as she will be hosting a Family
Day on the 11 th July.
I would like to take this opportunity to thanks the members that were my sea buddies
onboard the mighty Adelaide. They are: Petty Officer Brad Scudds (Drums), Petty Officer
Kara Williams (Keyboard), Leading Seaman Aaron Geeves (Guitar), Able Seaman Tracy Burke
(Vocal), Able Seaman Kirstin Sampson (Trumpet), Able Seaman Shaun Tatnell (Trombone)
and Able Seaman Stuart Vandegraaff (Saxophone and Vocal).
A good time was had by all. We helped where we could to relieve the ships company’s
duties. We cooked, we washed, we repaired computer systems that backed up vital data
recordings (I did anyway) and did jobs that no one else wanted. Our Divisional Staff could
not thank us enough. In the end, it was a job well done and the ship does not want us to go.
Royal Australian Navy Band: A Musical Voyage