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School aboard
In November 2008 the voluntary marine/
sailing organisation Cape windjammers
education trust (CWET) approached Mr.
Hilpert, the Coach of the dragon boating
team, to see if there were learners that would
be interested to take part in an educational
sailing programme. Wanted were 10 South
Africans from over Cape Town that would
build a diverse South African team to join
other students from all over the world for a
life changing and eye-opening experience.
We would be sailing across the Atlantic on a
tall ship, visiting other countries and getting
to know new cultures. This programme also
included the education about oceanography,
geography, sustainable development and the
understanding of other cultures. In January
2009, all three of us got the breathtaking news
that we had been accepted to this once-in a
lifetime opportunity…and what a trip!!
We got to know the 7 other team members
and spent many team building weekends
with them, with the occasional joke and
awkward silence, before finally boarding
the ship on the 4 April 2009 and leaving
Cape Town on the SV Concordia on the
7 April. This was a long-awaited day for all
110
of us and we were really excited for all the
wonderful experiences we were about to
have. The crew consisted of 35 students and
15 pro-crew and faculty, under which were
teachers, captain and professional crew with
which all of us made bonds and established
friendships which will last for a lifetime,
because being with someone for a solid 2 ½
months enables u to get to know just about
EVERYTHING about that person, even the
stuff you might not want to know.
We learned sailing rather fast and it was fun
working together in a team as especially
in sailing a Tall ship all hands are needed
and everyone has a place in the crew. We
all worked together and helped each other
improving our sailing skills and learning the
usage of all 150 lines aboard, with names
and uses that we had never heard of before
this.
We visited many places and all were amazing
and unique and we had a great experience in
every port and most of the times came away
with a great group joke…good times!
We went to Walvis Bay, Namibia, where we
had a project, working together with less
privileged schools, building a greenhouse
and cooking with them. We also went sand
boarding, visited dune 7 and spent a day
with an Ovambo and a Nama family to get
to know the different cultures and foods, like
worms…yummy!
Next, we went to St. Helena, an Island
between Africa and South America, where
we learnt about its history, went to the house
Napoleon lived in when he was exiled there
and a few of us went camping in the beautiful
nature.
After a very long sail, we got to Natal,