Lachie Donners sailed the high seas from Monkey Mia to Geraldton earlier this year in what he described as the trip of a lifetime.
The Kelmscott Senior High student jumped on board with about 30 other people to take part in the week-long Leeuwin Ocean Adventure voyage off Western Australia’s stunning coast.
The trip on the working ship enabled Lachie to experience what life would be like on the water as he learnt how to climb the masts, set and furl the sails and also stand watch while sailing through the night.
“It was a character defining experience and the best week I have had in a long time,” he said.
“On the trip I told myself ‘this doesn’t scare me’ but I had some friends on the boat that were overcoming fears every day including climbing the main mast.
“It was lots of fun, the food was great and it was an all round good time.”
Since returning back to the mainland Lachie said he would soon be volunteering time to refit the boat including replacing ropes and hopes to one day take part in the voyage again.
The trip went towards his West Australian Certificate of Education.
