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Sailing the Young Endeavour for charity

Feb 12, 2010 8:13:00 AM / by Vu Long Tran

Young Endeavour

I am sailing on the Young Endeavour sailing voyage on 11th -22nd February 2010 from Sydney to Williamstown which is a very unique opportunity that I will be privileged to be a part of, particularly given that selection onto this awesome voyage is ballot based.

This will not only will this be my first time on a sailing ship in the open ocean which will set itself to be the furthest I have been outside of Australia, but what will make it truly special and unique is that on this very voyage I will be celebrating my birthday! Perhaps while I am up high in the masts!
So on the 17th February, I’ll be celebrating my 23rd birthday with 23 other young unknown Aussies and the Royal Navy from around Australia.

Sharing this opportunity

Given that it is set to be a very exhilarating and exciting experience for me, I thought it would be my fitting that I share use the opportunity to help raise money for a charity that I know has been doing great work for communities around the world for some time now.

The great thing about this charity is that its aim is to ‘help people help themselves regardless of race, religion or political beliefs’ but what truly gets it for me is that it focuses on ‘supports long term-development programs in impoverished communities’.

It is their approach and focus on the long term rather than just the short term that is one of their greatest strengths. So think of coming into a community and helping them to have water by building a well for them. That’s great, but what Caritas does is that they focus on teaching the members of the community to make this well, so that when Caritas leaves, the community have the skills and knowledge to continue building wells as required.

The Chinese proverb goes along of the lines of, ‘Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life’.
To support this great charity, please visit: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/vu_longtran



The ship, experience and rewards

If you can picture the ships from the Pirates of the Caribbean and/or the One Piece anime then picture me onboard a 44 metre tall ship on the open sea. I will be involved in all aspects of sailing the square rigger vessel from climbing the mast, setting the sails, rope handling, working aloft, navigating, keeping watch, taking the helm and helping in the galley trained by a professional Navy crew who are there to ensure the highest standards of safety and care.

I can anticipate how much I will become more aware of myself and in their words, it will set to test my ‘sense of adventure and willingness to push myself to the limit...and discover new reserves of character, commitment, confidence, teamwork and leadership’.

You’ll be able to follow my progress during the voyage through the Caption’s Log at: http://www.youngendeavour.gov.au/whats_happening/captains_log.php
I see this, as they say and it’ll be not about the destination, but it’ll be about the journey. Well I sense that this journey is set to profoundly change my life forever...

Bonus

There will be instances where I should be given the opportunity to swim in the ocean (probably when there is no wind...haha) So seeing how I can only just swim 50 meters, I’d thought it would be fit to say that if I am able to raise over $250 then I’ll dive into the cold ocean and swim (50 metres? if that's allowed...)! Haha that should encourage me to practice swimming a bit more before the sailing voyage!

So if you’re interested in ensuring that I will have to do this then, please fell free to donate to the charity at: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/vu_longtran

Vu Long Tran

Written by Vu Long Tran

Solutions Engineer APAC. ex-@Forrester consultant. Writing on #cloud #howto guides and #tech tinkering!