Recently I have returned from a trip of a lifetime, on Voyage 719 aboard Spirit of Adventure, which took place over 10 days departing from the Auckland Harbour. Spirit of Adventure is an exciting journey where you and 35 other people you’ve never met before, aged 15-18, get to jump on board a 35-million-dollar ship for 10 days to learn how to run it and venture through a series of different places.

I departed on a Thursday morning to catch my flight up to Auckland. Needless to say I was feeling fairly nervous about not only flying by myself but making my way to a ship where I won’t know anyone. I had my eyes peeled for anyone who looked like they might be heading on board and managed to find myself a travelling buddy to help me out.

When we made it to the ship at around 5pm, everything was in full swing; people were hauling food and setting up to be ready to get out of the harbour the next day. I was sent into the female accommodation where I was assigned a drawer and a bunk which would be my space for the 10 days. There were 19 girls on the ship, squeezed into one room sleeping on bunks piled three people high.

Next I set out to meet everyone on board so I wandered to the “aft cabin” where we ate and due to weather, spent a lot of our time. Everyone was sent to the “aft deck”, which was on deck above the aft cabin, to introduce ourselves and get to know each other.

On the first day we got split up into four “watches” which were called Port A, Port B, Starboard A and Starboard B, I was in Port B with 8 other people. These watches were put on four different stations and did different duties together throughout the day however there was a lot of down time in which you could spend with whoever you wanted. The four different stations were in charge of the four different sets of sails on the ship. Every day you would rotate through each different sail, I was firstly in charge of the foredeck which was at the very front of the ship and with this sail we would get the opportunity to climb all the way out to the net which sat above the water at the tip of the ship. The second station was the mid-ships which again had a perk of being able to climb up to the top of the 33-metre-high mast to undo the sails and then again to tie them up, I particularly enjoyed this aspect of it as the views were spectacular from this high. The next station was the main sails which were key to the boat and last but not least was the mizzen which was the sail at the very back of the boat. During our days we learnt how to put up each of these sails and the knot tying and leadership skills that came with it.

But of course with each station you were on there were boat duties you had to take part in. In the morning after we woke up at 6:30 and swam in the sea then had breakfast we would have essentially a boat meeting where you were told your station, the weather, where we were going and if you had anything to say. This was called “colours”. The duties that were required with foredeck was cleaning the accommodations, with mid-ships came scrubbing the deck, with main sails came preparing the vegetables for the chef and with mizzen came being the chef’s personal helpers which included serving the food and doing the dishes. Within your watch you would have one leader for the first half of the day and a leader for the second half which would basically be in charge of your watch but not fully in charge as you had watch leader which with you as well as the captain, first, second and third mate, as well as two leading hands who could help out at any point.

When you’re not putting up sails or doing your duties you are generally free to do whatever you want. Mainly, because our voyage didn’t have the best weather we mostly all hung out together in the aft cabin and got to know each other. When the weather was good we would row ashore to play games or set up the yardie which was a giant rope that you could use to jump in the water and swim. As night time came we would settle in the aft cabin after dinner and desert to play a night game which was run by a member of the crew, these activities included a version of sing star, mini Olympics, charades, a bonfire and many more. On my voyage we sailed to great barrier island and Kawau bay and throughout the Auckland islands, all building up to the last day “Trainee Day”. This is a day where essentially the boat is turned over to the trainees on the boat, the crew step back and we take over. We are able to select a Captain, first and second mates, two cooks, two engineers, two navigators and four watch leaders. Our day went very successfully topped off with sunshine and a swim in the sea.

The time on board flies by and you don’t realise how it has affected you until you get off. The last night was emotional leading onto the last morning when we all had to part ways. On the ship you learn how to understand a range of people and you become so close with everyone on board that when it comes time to leave, you feel like family. I still stay in touch with the friends I’ve made on this life changing journey, looking back on my experience the fond memories never fail to leave me with a smile on my face.