Twenty-six youngsters from JG Zuma and Sithengile high schools attended a six-day Basic Sailing Course for Grade 10 nautical science learners in Durban in July. The course was sponsored by Grindrod Shipping through Sail Africa’s Youth Development Organisation.
The learning experience included 15 hours of sailing during which time the participants learned about the parts of boats, nautical terminology, tacking, gybing, setting sails, docking, rope work, sailing a windward-leeward course and of course about water safety. The group also visited, for example, the National Sea Rescue Institute’s station in Durban harbour, the Sharks Board, the port control tower on the Bluff, and the Maritime Museum. The final activity was a harbour clean-up, enabling the learners to witness the destructive role played by plastics in the sea.
The programme not only teaches seamanship, but it also teaches invaluable life skills and motivates the participants to pursue their dreams.
Congratulations also to Owami Zulu who has been accepted on a General Botha Old Boys Association bursary to attend Grade 10 next year at the Lawhill Maritime Centre in Simon’s Town. Her participation in Sail Africa’s seamanship programme contributed to her success in obtaining the bursary.