While most 16 year olds are surfing the internet over the weekends, Mittagong’s own Lucinda “Lulu” Wertheimer recently sailed the seas.
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She was a crew member who completed a voyage on the STS Young Endeavour.
Lucinda Sailed from Brisbane to Newcastle with 21 other young Australians, from six states and territories. She is one of 13,300 sailors, past and present, who have benefited from the youth development program delivered by Navy crew over 30 years.
The Young Endeavour completes around 20 voyages each year.
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Lucinda’s passion for sailing has been with her for as long as she can remember.
“I have always loved sailing, however, I had never sailed a tall ship before and I had always loved the idea of being a part of a crew on a boat such as the Young Endeavour,” she said.
“It looked like so much fun, along with challenges and new experiences.”
Long lasting friendships were made through the adventure on the highseas.
“My favourite part of the voyage was meeting so many different people from all over Australia,” Lucinda said.
“I made such close friends over the 10 days I was on the Young Endeavour and I hope to keep in touch with them all for years to come.”
It wasn’t always smooth sailing though.
“A low point for many people on the voyage would have been the seasickness, however, a low point for me was probably the lack of sleep,” Lucinda said.
“We did four hour watches with six other crew members each night with rotating times of; 8pm-12am, 12am-4am and 4am-8am.
“Once I got into a routine of getting roughly six hours of sleep, I was able to enjoy the hours spent with the crew members.
“We also got to see amazing sunrises if we were on the 4am-8am watch and would sometimes get the opportunity to climb the mast to watch the sun rise.”
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During each voyage, participants were encouraged to create and pursue personal and team goals.
“My goal for the voyage was to extend my knowledge in sailing, push my boundaries and make great friends,” Lucinda said.
“All of these were achieved and definitely succeeded.”
The sailing bug has burrowed deep into Lucinda and she can’t wait for her next adventure.
“I absolutely want to keep sailing, especially on tall ships,” she said.
“I would love to do a voyage in Tasmania or even overseas. Another voyage I would like to do someday is the Sydney to Hobart, I think that would be amazing.”
