Land ahoy for local lass

BY REBECCA HENGGELER

STS Leeuwin II - providing young people with a magnificent experience.

'STS Leeuwin II' is Australia's largest ocean-going tall ship.

She sails the coast of WA throughout the year with a range of different voyages including 'weekenders' and longer educational tours.

Recently I participated in a weeklong voyage onboard Leeuwin II and it was fantastic.

Our group consisted of 20 trainees and a 15-member crew; however the ship can hold 55 people.

For the voyage we were supposed to sail from Fremantle to Busselton and back again.

However, because of generator problems, we left the harbour two days late.

That was no problem though, as we still 'lived' on the ship and kept busy with activities onboard, like climbing the rigging, which was great fun.

We also visited the Maritime Museum and went racing on the Swan River with small sailing boats.

After setting sail from Fremantle we learnt to handle the sails, steer the ship and keep watch.

We sailed on through the night taking turns to keep watch.

The group I was in kept watch from midnight to 4am.

It was freezing cold, very hard to stay awake and nobody issued us with rum, but it was a good experience.

The following day we learnt more about all the 16 sails and various other activities whilst sailing on.

That afternoon we hit stormy weather.

As time wore on the storm got more intense.

Gusting winds of more than 40 knots whipped up waves the height of approximately six metres.

Two sails were ripped apart.

We maintained a speed of about 11 knots, with the ship tilting at an angle of about 45 degrees.

It was too dangerous for us to be on deck so we had to go below and write our wills.

It was decided that we would head for Garden Island where we would anchor.

It took most of the night as we were headed into the wind, making slow headway. It must have been the most unusual night of my life as I 'slept' on one of the benches and had to hold on to the table or I would have been rolled around the room and would now probably be covered in plaster.

There were five of us sleeping on the benches in the 'main saloon' area, as there was no way we were going to go to the front of the ship where the bunks were, as it was even worse there.

Even though the storm sounds a little scary, most of us found it a lot of fun.

I can assure you though that it doesn't happen often, as the crew said we were some of the very few who had experienced one of these storms.

The following day, we anchored near Garden Island and spent the morning fixing things up and cleaning the ship.

In the afternoon we went swimming and caught up on sleep.

The next day we visited Garden Island where shore-duties included the picking up of littler washed ashore followed by cricket on the beach and a barbecue lunch; then it was back onboard the Leeuwin.

That afternoon we took turns climbing to the top of the main mast - 33 metres above sea level makes the ship look very small.

The following day we sailed back to a heroes' welcome at Fremantle Harbour.

Although this voyage had not gone to plan, the crew handled everything very well and professionally; I can't praise them highly enough.

This voyage on the Leeuwin II was one of the best things I have ever done and I recommend it to anyone who would like to try something new or is looking for adventure.

For more information about the Leeuwin and the types of voyages available visit www.leeuwin.com or call 9430 4105.