Year 12 Marine and Maritime Studies Seatrek Expedition

This year's Seatrek Expedition took place out of Denham on the North West Coast from 14 June through to 10 June.

The Seatrek Expedition is held every second year and is an initiative of Scotch College and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure Marine Education. This initiative provides Year 12 Marine and Maritime Studies with the opportunity to take on an expedition where they are required to put their acquired knowledge into practice on the open water.

The day prior to setting off on the Seatrek Expedition the students arrived at Denham and stayed overnight in the Denham Seaside Caravan Park. Denham is located roughly 830km north of Perth on the Peron Peninsula, and is the main settlement of the Shark Bay area on Western Australia's Coral Coast. Situated next to Dirk Hartog Island, Denham is Australia's most westerly town and provided the perfect starting point for this year's expedition.

Denham is the Gateway to the spectacular Indian Ocean coastline, where the Seatrek students manned five metre sailing boats to begin their adventure.

The students were charged with transporting all equipment and supplies onboard enabling the sailing boats to explore amazing remote locations such as Tetradon Loop, Quoin Bluff, Ant Island, Big Lagoon and Boat Haven Inlet where no facilities exist. Each afternoon on this voyage along the West Australian coast saw the students land their sailing boats at these beautiful locations and set up camp for the night.

To prepare for this adventure to the remote West Australian coast students were required to undertake extensive trip planning exercises which put their acquired knowledge to the test. This preparation involved in-class activities such as:

• Developing essential group and individual equipment check-lists,
• Setting personal and group goals,
• Planning daily menus and monitoring food supplies,
• Developing and Monitoring a First Aid checklist,
• Planning a boating route,
• Learning tent work,
• Conducting reconnaissance and sourcing information on campsites,
• Adhering to a night watch timetable,
• Learning the importance of an Emergency Action Plan and
• Assisting in minimal impact consideration exercises

The Seatrek Expedition provides students with a unique opportunity to challenge themselves and importantly a chance to apply the marine skills that they have acquired through the Scotch College Marine and Maritime programme in a real world environment. At the end of the expedition each student is instilled with a sense of achievement as a result of the extended practical usage of marine skills, which are now re-enforced and enhanced for life.

Next year's Seatrek Expedition will be through the amazing Abrolhos Islands

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