An article provided by Paul Horton, Collingwood Rotary from a letter from a Challenge participant
Each year, a number of Rotary Clubs in District 9800 sponsor young people to take part in the Enterprize Youth Sailing Challenge on the Tall Ship, Enterprize. The following is a letter of thanks to Collingwood Rotary from one of this year's participants, Leni Edwards, on the experience of crewing a Tall Ship on Port Phillip Bay on 26 September, the day of the AFL Grand Final.
Dear Paul and members of the Rotary Club Collingwood,
I want to take the time to thank you for supporting me on the Enterprize Youth Sailing Challenge. The experiences, challenges and the memories I’ve made aboard the tall ship are unforgettable. I have learnt so much about myself and my capabilities, Without Rotary’s support I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.
On day one, we set sail from Williamstown in rain and wind, all strangers to each other and new to the world of sailing. A few hours later, I found myself laughing amongst new friends from all walks of life, feeling exhausted and proud of all the many things we learnt. My highlight that day was climing the rigging for the first time, all the way to the top yard and looking out at the endless ocean around.
Our second day aboard the ship provided us with warm weather, and a shining sun. After coming up with a course for the day, and shouting at nearby vessels to find out who had won the Grand Final, we were anchors away and began to set the sails. This day we were presented with many new challenges, learning to use the navigation systems, steering the ship, managing the directions of sails based on wind. The hardest challenge this day would have been tacking (turning the ship through oncoming wind). This takes Teamwork, good communication, and being quick on your feet. For a large part of the day, we sailed alongside a pod of dolphins, and a couple seals, all splashing and playing in the bow wake. That was my favourite moment of the voyage.
Day three presented many new challenges; with the trainee crew stepping up and taking charge, making all the big decisions for the day. I think this really shows the commitment of the Enterprize crew, and how intense the environment truly is, being able to learn a whole new skill, and apply it in just 3 days. We anchored off shore of St Kilda and jumped into the ocean for a swim.
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I had the privilege of taking the final anchor watch on the last night (the crew takes shifts each night keeping watch aboard the ship) experiencing the sunrise over the water and reflecting on the new experiences I had achieved over the past days. We had a difficult, sleep deprived sail back into port; fighting against strong northerlies. I was given the task of managing the helm into port. By this point in the voyage, we were like a team that had sailed together for years.
I could talk for days about all the things we did, the amazing food we ate, the feeling of freedom from leaving your phone behind, and all the things we learnt about sailing.
The Enterprize youth sailing challenge really is a life changing experience. I could not recommend it enough to anyone willing to give it a go. It has given me real world life skills, and helped me to understand who I want to be, and what I want to do in the future. I will be joining the crew again on an induction day in the near future to become a proper member of their crew!
Opportunities like this would not be possible without the incredible support from Rotary clubs, I am so lucky to have been given the help to be able to participate. I’d like to be able to give back to Rotary, and would be open to assisting in creating more connections with people of my age through schools.
Thank you very, very much.
Kind regards,
Leni Edwards