KIND CLIMBING

This week we celebrated World Kindness Day, which provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on many beautiful moments we have witnessed here on Leeuwin over the years.

One of the many that came to mind was that of a young visually impaired trainee who had set a personal goal to climb up to the first platform of our foremast by the end of her voyage. Climbing our masts can be quite daunting and sometimes difficult at the best of times, let alone attempting to climb without the advantage of seeing what you are climbing and where to place your hands and feet. However, this did not seem to discourage the girl who was determined on reaching that first platform. 

When climbing our foremast, there is a section right before you reach the first platform that leans outwards, requiring the trainees to climb, leaning back and supporting their own body weight. Although the young trainee was accompanied and supported she experienced quite a lot of difficulty navigating this section. After witnessing the young girl try without success on multiple occasions, her Watch Leader took the initiative to attempt to understand her challenge by climbing that section again whilst not relying on visual dependency in order to find a way to better instruct the young girl to climb. After the Watch Leader successfully climbed the section, she found herself needing to shift her thinking as to how her years of experience could be conveyed differently to provide supportive instruction. So with a new frame of mind, she climbed the mast again, taking note of everything she could use to provide a more tactile description to support the trainee’s goal to climb the mast.

After climbing back down, she accompanied the young trainee back up the mast with specific instructions as to what to feel for, and where to place her hands and feet. This time with success, the young girl made it all the way up to the first platform and achieved her goal. As the Watch Leader and trainee made their way slowly back down the mast to the deck, with the Watch Leader helping place the young girl’s feet into the right rungs, the ship had entered Fremantle Port and was almost alongside. As the ship slowed in front of B Berth, there was now a crowd of parents, and onlookers awaiting the return of the voyage and their children. This young trainee’s amazing achievement was witnessed by all alongside the wharf and celebrated with loud cheers and a few tears.

We have an amazing crew and volunteers here at Leeuwin and every voyage and sail we are lucky enough to witness moments like these where we have made a difference in young people’s lives. Thank you to our many kind hearted crew and volunteers that embrace the principles of World Kindness Day - EVERYDAY!