Thursday, October 17, 2013

Sailing with S.A.L.T.S. - Adventures on the Sea


 Just under two weeks ago we had the amazing opportunity to head out to sea with the Sail and Life Training Society, an organization that takes groups like ours on these amazing ‘trips of a life time’ aboard beautiful tall ships.
This is a shot of the Pacific Grace on a different sailing trip, but showing the enormity of this boat. 
Our voyage took us in and around the stunning Gulf Islands that are located in between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia. This trip is the largest trip we have gone on so far, and we had an amazing time. 

Skipper John Andrachuk giving us an orientation before we left port.
 An incredible new way of life took form the minute we stepped aboard. Things got underway before we knew it and one of the students even steered the boat out of Victoria’s inner harbor. The immediacy of everything is slightly intimidating at first as we are thrown into this whole new world, but it wasn't long under the careful instruction of the crew that we started to get the hang of things. Most of the students have never stepped foot aboard a sail boat before, let alone a 138 foot gaff rigged schooner. This unique bonding starts to happen between the students because they are all starting at the same stage, learning and growing together. The students encouraged each other and shared their new found knowledge, opening up through shared experiences and growing closer as a community.

A few students and the female intern Ashley Haarms handling some sails under the carful leadership of Aron Koen
Sarah passes through a sail tie on the main boom getting it ready to be taken down. 

These boats take enormous team work to set and manage the sails. We where split into different watch teams and there is always a group overseeing the running of the boat. Duties include taking the wheel of the ship, watching the bow, sail handling, anchor watch, navigation, radio monitoring, or cleaning up the dishes from our meals. Everyone needs to be taking part and doing their share, otherwise the sailing just wouldn't be possible. It was cool to step back sometimes and see everyone working in unison to work on a single task. An awesome hands on experience of what it's like to work together as the body of christ. 

Working together to haul in the main sail sheet. 

Although it was raining frequently on the trip, students had a positive attitude and there were plenty of smiles going around.
An amazing Humpback whale followed beside our boat for over an hour, here is a shot of it framed under the
beautiful snow caped Mount Baker.

Here is a quick video showing a few moments that we were graced to see this magnificent creature.

Working together to launch the Dories, small row boats that we would take ashore together. 
Stephanie Pauls sharing a smile as she handles a line. 
The food on this trip was incredible. 

A shot of the stars as we spent time together in pairs on anchor watch. 
A personal favourite about our time aboard is the nights spent together as a community. We would gather together and play a few games and then all meet in the hold (a room in the center of the ship) to sing worship songs together. It was close quarters for sure, but being able to hear all the beautiful voices singing together in unison praising God was an amazing. 

Life aboard a sail boat is truly a incredible experience. 
Throughout our time on board Skipper John Andrachuk and the program leader Andrew MacDonald would share leadership principals and how to be intentional with growing in these areas. The whole crew was an awesome model of how to live out your faith and were great examples of humble and confident leaders. Showing as well that leadership is not just in a position but in all areas of your life and glorifying God amongst the people he places around you.
Here is the students of 2014 with the crew of the Pacific Grace!
I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our time aboard the Pacific Grace. The students are currently finishing readings for the upcoming Old Testament Literature course, and we also recently got back from a surfing trip! There is a new blog post coming thursday next week and in the meantime there are plenty of other great photos from our adventures that didn't make it into this blog post available in a gallery linked to bellow.

Until next time,
Levi

or click this link http://bit.ly/Kaleo2014photos

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing Levi, the trip looked amazing! I want to go on a sailing trip!

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