Eco Youth Challenge & Adventure

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She didn’t did seem that big, at first sight, and I had the impression that we’d be cramped up throughout the voyage. We were soon separated into four watches; Red, Blue, Green and White. I was in Blue watch and our leader was Jo, a jovial young woman. To me, she was the best watch leader, as she did her best to make sure all was right.

We then boarded the ship, put our stuff into our respective bunks and got back out on deck. We played some games to break the ice. Surprisingly, it melted much faster than I thought it would. And that was a good sign. I loved my watch. We grew from being strangers to family in just five days. /P>

After that we gathered in the main saloon, we were introduced to the watch officer and first mate, Dave. He was like our big chief. We also got to meet everyone else; Peter, our Captain, Maurice the Bosun and Brad his Mate, Andreas the Chef and his assistant, Tracy as well as the Engineer and the rest of the crew. They were all special in their own way.

We went up on deck and were given a basic lesson on how to run the ship. It was very interesting, and every watch went through the basics with the ropes, the lines, the sails and the climbing. Then it was time for lunch. Andreas turned out to be the best chef that I had ever met. The food was magnificent.

At two o’clock, we started our voyage. I knew that this was going to be the beginning of something special and important, and something that I would cherish for the rest of my life. We motored out of the harbour and headed for the open sea.  

The ship was wobbly but Alhamdulillah, I was alright. I thank God for that. In fact, I was to be sick only once during the entire voyage, but I won’t go into details. 

We were all over the ship; pulling lines and belaying them, releasing the sails and heaving and hauling. We had great fun! 

That evening, I watched the sunset. It was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen. They say that if you are lucky and if the sky is clear, when the last bit of the sun is about to sink, there will be a green flash. I didn’t get a chance to see it, but the sunset was good enough. I was awed and amazed by the sight of it. 

After dinner, we did some evaluation. ‘Biasa-lah’, first day, not many voices were heard. We were given a large piece of paper and were told to write about what we wanted from the trip. Next, we had to sign it. It was our contract.

That night, I was on watch with Colin from three to four o’clock in the morning. It was to be the only anchor watch that I did. I spent a lot of time thinking; there was a lot on my mind.

Day Two- 11 January 2000
“Getting used to this stuff”

I can’t remember what time I woke up, all I know is that it was early, really early. On board, waking up that early is the normal routine. (Normal? I’m really not a morning person).

The next thing I knew was that I was swinging from the fore course like Tarzan and splashing into the sea. What a way to freshen up! 

Today was spent mostly on deck. We sailed for the whole day. It was hard work, but really worth the effort. I was all over the ship, pulling lines, belaying them and coiling them up. Basically, that was all that I did. It didn’t seem like much, but it was. And soon, I got the hang of it!

By the end of the day, I had started to get the picture. But not all of it, though. I had figured out how the sails worked, and a little bit about navigation and the knots that we used. All of this was really interesting and kept my mind full with questions…

Day Three-12 January 2000
“Garden Island” 

It began with the Tarzan rope again in the morning. This time, I decided not to have a go. Once was enough. By the way, it was freezing cold. 

After breakfast, we were packed up and ready to go. It was raining on deck, and both White and Red watch were on their way to the island, rowing on the dories. Blue and Green watch would be motored in. Lucky us, we thought! I felt insecure on the boat as it wasn’t a very big one and twelve people plus twelve packs were on board. And the boat was going up and down, water was splashing all over us. 

What a relief it was to finally arrive at the island! The beaches were covered with seaweed and the island was an untouched paradise. And we saw a dolphin close up, by the reef! It was the first time I had seen one out of captivity.  

Then we met up with three other Leeuwin volunteer crew members, Aunty Catrina and Dr Boyd Wykes. Dr Boyd told us about the wildlife on the island; he talked to us about the Tamar, a little kangaroo native to the island, and tiger snakes and pythons at their research facility. The pythons there are unlike the ones found in Malaysia as they measure up to only four metres in length. 

Near the facility, Shaharil and I found some skeletal remains of a whale. We took a few shots. Then, Blue and Green watch went separate ways; we were going to the beach to have a swim and a short break for lunch, before continuing our walk across the island. Once the other side, we would go snorkling. On the way, we saw the only physical remains of settlers of the island; an eight foot wall. We also visited a memorial of the captain of a ship, who was one of the settlers. 

Along the way, we would stumble upon huge spiders in their huge webs, dead snakes and dead tamars. We had turns taking photos while posing with them.

We had lunch by a this huge “coral stone structure”. Harry, the Green watch leader, who was a geologist, explained to us how these fantastic structures were formed.

Moving on, we walked for almost two hours. And then we got lost. We had to send someone out for reconnaissance, and all of us were exhausted. He came back, but still no sign of the way. We had to walk all the way back!  

When we arrived, all of Green watch was already there. But never mind that; even though we only had 30 minutes to snorkle, we made use of every single minute.

I was rather disappointed because I thought that there would some beautiful coral reefs, but there was only sea grass. But what the heck, it’s not like I would get to see that kind of sea grass in Malaysia! 

As we had motored to the island, we had to row back to the ship. Rowing as a team, as I was to find out, is not easy. It required a lot of teamwork, strength, stamina and good leadership. We beat Green watch to the ship and they were way behind us when we got there.

The first thing on board was to get organised. We had to get all the salt water off the deck and lines, haul in the dories and some other odd jobs. Later that night, we had presentations from all of the four watches about the trip on the island. Our watch did one about an Aboriginal myth on how the island was formed. We didn’t have much time for rehearsal, so our presentation was a complete disaster compared to Green watch’s effort. But it was fun. Always look at things on the bright side.

Day Four-13 January 2000
“The real challenge- a day of bad weather and sick people on deck”

We had a short meeting that morning, and it was decided that we would set sail till night. Big mistake!

At first the weather was fine and every watch was working well. Everything went smoothly until I saw a patch of grey clouds ahead of us. We were sailing right for it. Jo said that it would be fine, but I was thinking otherwise. Before the storm, my watch was assigned to fold the fore course sails. The wind was blowing real hard, and I was right at the tip. I was very, very nervous and the wind felt like it was going to blow me away. The watch was up there for more than 10 minutes (a very long time if you’re up there). It was no easy task; with the wind that hard, we could hardly hear a thing so Jo had to come over to us personally and tell us what to do.

What a relief to be back on deck! I was feeling very wobbly and couldn’t walk straight. There were butterflies in my stomach; throughout the whole trip I think that this was the only time I felt sick. Yet, I still tried my best to help out. I pulled, belayed and coiled lines, moving up and down the deck, making sure everyone was okay. I still remember going over to Sara every now and then just to check that she was okay (she was sick too), giving my balm to Aida, my blanket to Syukrina and tried my best to help all of those in need. Even comforting words can count in those situations; they count a lot.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I just sat down and was knocked out. I was really over my limits; I was sick and the situation was very demanding, physically and mentally. When I woke up, it was already dark. Harry had woken me, and told me that they needed all the help they could get. We stopped sailing. I was feeling much better.

I helped them take down the sails and folded the sails at the bow spirit (the front part of the ship). It was basically a long pole sticking out of the ship with sails from the fore mast attached to it. Under which was the netting, which we used to step on.  

That night, I saw a really beautiful sight; the sky was partially cloudy and the stars were not that bright. But the moon was really bright, and the moonlight sparkled on the sea, shimmering like nothing I had ever seen before. It was fantastic, absolutely fantastic and it was another one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. I spent most of the night reflecting on what I had done so far. I had been to the top of the main mast and read the plaque, out on the fore course when the wind was at its peak, folded the sails…there was a lot that I had been through. Each second was as invaluable as…life itself. Heck, this is life! 

Day Five-14 January 2000
“Bad weather strikes back” 

Usually, we would have a meeting on the starboard side of the poop deck every morning, but not this one. I didn’t think there was even enough time for warm-ups.

It was pouring so heavily that even if you wore two layers of wet weather gear, you’d still get soaked in a matter of minutes. It was freezing cold, and we had to keep on sailing…at least for a few minutes or so, then we were forced to stop (actually, I’m not sure whether we stopped or kept on sailing). To make things worse, our water supply was running low, so there were to be no showers at all. I was soaked and yet couldn’t get a hot shower. But I let none of this put me down, especially since dinner was roast lamb.

That night was to be our last night with the crew and the Aussies, my friends. First, we had presentations. White watch came up with an interesting musical mix, Red watch with two beautifully written songs, Green watch with a poem, Grey with an electrifying dance and us as usual, due to lack of rehearsal, a dumb but entertaining (to some) act. I didn’t care how it turned out, the important thing was that I had fun. 

Then, we gathered around, and a pin made out of hickory was passed around. Whoever held it had the right to say what he/she wanted to, and the others would respect that by remaining silent. It was a tradition. That night we shared our bittersweet moments and showed our gratitude and gratefulness to each other and basically reflected on what we did and how we felt. I said my thanks to the crew and told everyone about how great it was. It was really something. All of us shared our feelings and thoughts, and it was just beautiful.

Day Six- 15 January 2000
“Sad to say, but this is it, our journey’s over”

Yes, the last day on board the STS Leeuwin. We started off by making sure that the ship was spotless clean. I thought that it was rather unfair that my watch was to clean all the bunks, toilets and virtually everything. We were reluctant, very reluctant. We missed out on the photo sessions. 

There wasn’t enough water to mop and clean everything. It was not hard work, just too much work. It took a long time, but we managed to finish it. Then, it was up on deck.  

Thank God the weather was fine. We were to be out on the yard arms, and some out on the bow for the “going back to harbour” thing. It was something we did to impress the ones who were waiting for us at the harbour, to show them what we’d been through and that we’d done it all. 

When we were motoring in, there were many small yachts and other boats around. We were so excited that we just waved and waved to them like they were our long lost friends (I think I am exaggerating a bit here). As the ship docked we got down and there we were at last. I saw Achik and Hana waving and I waved back. I think the most rewarding thing is to see everyone’s faces, seeing that sense of achievement in them.

Hey, we went on this ship as strangers and now we were brothers and sisters, we had worked hard together. Teamwork and team spirit was what really got us through, and I am proud of myself for that. The Leeuwin has really taught me to be a better person, to be more responsible and learn to accept and appreciate things as they are, to learn to accept changes and to learn to look out for new things , to explore and discover. I think, and I know that I am not the same person who boarded the ship anymore, not the same person who came to Australia or the same person who left Kuala Lumpur for this trip. No, I’m a new man, and life for me is just beginning.