Four Busselton teenagers are about to experience an exciting and challenging week on board the Sail Training Ship Leeuwin II, with sponsorship support from the Rotary Club.
The four high school students will embark on 7-day Youth Explorer voyages which will expose them to a variety of sail training activities including setting and furling sails, climbing the masts, working aloft and keeping watch at night.
Sixteen-year-old Xavier Bain and 15-year-old Luke Reynolds, both students at St Mary MacKillop College, will sail from Bunbury on February 20, 2022 for a 7-day voyage to Fremantle.
Fifteen-year-old Mary MacKillop student Tiernan Bass and 15-year-old James Newton, a Georgiana Molloy Anglican School student, will sail from Fremantle to Monkey Mia in April.
Luke Reynolds said he was excited for the trip and could not wait to climb the 33-metre mast.
"It will be good fun, I have never done anything like this before," he said.
The ship is 55 metres long (180 feet) with a 9-metre beam. When fully rigged, the ship's sails measure 810 square metres.
James Newton said the STS Leeuwin II was huge in comparison to the yachts he normally sails.
"I will need to up size everything I do," he said.
Tiernan Bass said he was looking forward to taking on more responsibility when he was sailing.
"I am really looking forward to sailing to Monkey Mia," he said.
Xavier Bain said he was really excited about the voyage and could not wait to meet other people on board.
The ship can take up to 40 participants who are mentored by five permanent crew and 10 volunteers.
STS Leeuwin II captain Angela Lewis said the sail training program was to encourage youth development.
"We take a group of young people out to sea every week and show them how to sail the ship," she said.
"The objective is not to learn how to sail but team work, leadership and communication. We want to push them out of their comfort zone and challenge them.
"They certainly get challenged and it is an absolute fantastic experience."
Ms Lewis said on the first day they took the ship out to sea where they anchored for the first night before sailing the rest of the time the groups' were on board.
"At the end of the voyage we do a take over day where they elect a captain, mate and crew to try and sail the ship to its final destination, under heavy supervision of course," she said.
Captain Lewis took her first voyage on the Leeuwin when she was a teenager and never looked back.
"I absolutely loved it and drove my parents nuts talking about it, so I came back as a volunteer crew," she said.
After a few years volunteering she went to maritime college to get her professional qualifications and was fortunate to secure the second mate bosun job, before she became first mate then captain.
Rotary Club of Busselton Geographe youth services member Shelley O'Brien said they were fortunate and overwhelmed by the number of applicants they received.
"We were thrilled to be able to find the money to fund them during these COVID-19 times," she said.
"Rotary wants to continue to support these young people who want to have these amazing opportunities."
Rotary Club President Chris White said the Club was excited to be able to help the students obtain what was sure to be a character-building experience of a lifetime.
"Youth development is a key focus for Rotary, which provides support for numerous projects," he said.