Stepping Stone House Update
3-May-2019 shared by Stepping Stone House
By Lenor, Oct 2018 recipient of the Trevor Haworth Memorial Scholarship - Young Endeavour
The STS Young Endeavour
Voyage 19/18 Newcastle to Sydney
On the 19th of October, I stepped upon the deck of the beloved ship the STS Young Endeavour. I was very nervous, not only was this the first time I would be away from my loved ones for a prolonged period of time with no way of contacting them or the world beyond the the crew and radio transmissions but i was also introduced to the many strangers I’d be sharing my life with for the next 10 days. As we set sail the breeze and smell of the ocean was refreshing and calming... That was until the sea sickness set in and i had the saddening realization that i had forgotten my travel sickness tablets. The food on the first night looked amazing (as it did everyday) but due to the fact i was so ill i reluctantly had to pass, we spent the rest of the evening learning how to do basic knots then we headed for our surprisingly comfortable new beds.
Most of my days on the ship where filled with early mornings,brews,cleaning, eating the chef's delicious food, playing competitive games of Uno, working with my team and of course sailing. It wasn't all easy though waking up at 12am for a four hour watch was exhausting but even that had its upside, watching the moonlight shine on the pitch black waves was beautiful but also terrifying as i kept thinking there’s no way of knowing what was swimming below, the 12am to 4am shift was by far my favourite out of all the watches because i got to see the sky turn from percussion blue to the orange of the rising sun set which can only be defined as tranquil. As a person who is very passionate about animals it was amazing watching multiple pods of majestic dolphins jumping around the sides of the ship, we also got to see a seal, shark and an overly keen whale <which ive had multiple dreams about since.
The Young Endeavour came with its own set of challenges id never had to face before, for me the hardest thing to overcome was the daunting 32 meter mast that i was expected to climb, i tried a few times not being able to get past the second yard but eventually on 9th day i was finally at the very top. Even though it took a while in that moment i accomplished something i thought i had already given up on which is now knowledge about myself that i can no longer take away.
I remember reading in the booklet before the voyage it had the sentence “you’re only going to get out of this what you put in” and if i had to redo the 10 days over i would’ve participated more and tried harder to build stronger connections with the crew but in saying that i don’t regret anything about the experience because it was one that i needed. I am so thankful i was given the opportunity to participate as a member aboard this ship as the lessons I’ve learned and the people i met will stay with me for the rest of my life.
-lenor