Ambassador Story
3 March 2017

Hot Tips for Young Players

” Experience of a Lifetime
I was lucky enough to participate in the life changing experience, of being a member of the youth crew for The Young Endeavour. I went on voyage 01/17 which sailed from Adelaide to Stanley, Tasmania. The duration of the trip started on the 02th of January 2017, and came to a close on the 12th of January 2017. It was the most amazing experience of my life.

When I first heard about the Young Endeavour through school I was unsure as to what it was all about or what to expect if I applied. I had been out on small yachts before, but never really had in interest in sailing. Even so I entered into the ballot, certainly not expecting to win at all. In the past I had entered a lot of different things, but never got through so my hopes weren’t very high. The first ballot was drawn and they told me that I didn’t get a spot. At the time, I wasn’t really surprised as I haven’t ever been chosen for anything like this. The second ballot was drawn a week later and when I got the email to say that my name was drawn I was surprised, over the moon and in shock all at the same time, it was surreal. When I told my parents, they were eager for me to go and said it would be an amazing experience.

As the acceptance date got closer, my nerves grew and I started to have doubts as I had never been away from home for a long period of time with people I have never met. I had no experience of sailing in open sea before and I knew that when I did go out in smaller boats, I experienced sea sickness. However I put my nerves aside and accepted. Soon enough I found myself counting down the days until I would be on the plane flying down to Adelaide.

As my usual self, I turned up to the port late and found that everyone apart from 2 other people had turned up. Not long after I arrived we were taken to see the ship. I remember being very nervous as we walked over to it because I still had no idea what to expect. When we first seen the ship we were all in awe. I started talking to 2 people in the group and we soon become good friends. The night we spent alongside the wharf which I was very grateful for because I did not want to be getting sick on the first night. The first night we were given the challenge of climbing aloft and sitting out on the yards. We all achieved this, though it was absolutely freezing at the top.

For the next few days we sailed and we started the overnight watches. It was certainly interesting waking the next watch up. There was always different responses, sometimes they just didn’t wake up at all, sometimes they woke up with the first shake. I’m guilty of being hard to wake up, I once was literally pulled by my feet from my sleeping bag because I wasn’t waking up. Apparently I had been woken up 3 times before that which I certainly did not remember.

Thankfully on the first day out at sea I didn’t get sea sick. Some people were already starting to feel sick and I was glad that I hadn’t, yet. That soon changed as night time approached and for the next three days I was with one of the girls I had become friends with, along with a couple of the other youth crew up on top deck day and night hanging over the side of the ship or sleeping when we could. The sea was pretty rough the first few days and gradually more and more people were joining us up on the top deck. The wind made the ship rock, which in turn made the sea sickness worse and overnight, it was absolutely freezing. During the day time the sun was out and I made sure to sleep under it which I soon regretted doing because I ended up with some bad sunburn. The tan lines I ended up with didn’t disappear until after I returned home.

After three long days we arrived in Robe on the coast of South Australia and we were finally able to go onto dry land, which felt like such a relief. We got of the ship into a smaller boat which took us into the beach. As we arrived, we were still a couple of feet from the sand, so we had to get out in the water and walk in, I, being my clumsy self, fell out of the boat and everything was completely wet. I tried to run to shore and I tripped and I was back in the water again. Since I had already been in the water I decided to go for a swim. The ocean was flat, which I and the others were thankful for. There was a platform a little way out and a few of us swam out to it. After our swim we walked into town and bought ice-cream. That was the first thing I had eaten in 2 days! It felt so good to be able to keep food down for a change. After realising I could keep food down, I went a little bit over board on eating chocolate and lollies, which ended up giving me a stomach ache. After a few hours we made our way to the wharf which was where we were getting picked up from, which I was thankful for as I didn’t want a repeat of the morning. Once we were back on board Young Endeavour a long shower was badly needed. Once we had all showered and cleaned ourselves up, we went up on top deck and participated in a few activities and had a BBQ.

The next morning, we said goodbye to Robe and we set sail for King’s Island which was our next stop! I couldn’t wait! For the next few days we sailed, rotated watches, and enjoyed Martins lessons on sailing. The one that stuck with me was the rules of the ocean. What different buoys meant and the lights for the different ships and boats. I found that very interesting.”
Ameera Ismail