Sheila Budgen, of Motueka Parish, is a servant-hearted powerhouse.
Tasman District Council recognised her this year with an Outstanding Community Service Award for her voluntary work with Spirit of Adventure Trust. Since her first voyage in 1997, she’s spent over 1,000 days at sea, working with young people on the Spirit of New Zealand.
I had the privilege of asking her about her time on board.
Sheila: The Spirit of Adventure Trust was formed 50 years ago when the Spirit of Adventure ship started doing 10 day voyages for teenagers. In 1984 the ship Spirit of New Zealand was launched.
The ship takes 40 young people aged 16-19, called “trainees”, to sea for 10 days. The youngsters come from all over New Zealand and all different backgrounds. Only one person is taken from each school so everyone comes on board not knowing anyone else. All phones are locked away so they have no contact with the outside world and have to talk to each other!
The aim of the voyage is to teach them leadership skills, self confidence and the importance of teamwork through sailing the ship.
Sheila: Our daughter Nicola did a 10 day voyage on the Adventure and came home bubbling about all that she had been involved with. A while afterwards the ship visited Nelson and, encouraged by her, we did a public day sail. We got chatting to the crew on board.
My husband Chris was keen to sail, and we had run a church youth group in Upper Hutt. We were encouraged to sign up as volunteer watch assistants on the crew. I said I was not really a sailor, but would help out with shore-based needs when the ship visited Nelson.
Chris did several trips as a watch assistant and then booked me on a 5 day sail for adults from Dunedin to Bluff in 1996. It was a lot of fun and I seemed to cope, so thought I might get brave enough to do a 10 day voyage.
I did my first 10 day voyage as a watch assistant on Spirit of New Zealand in 1997. I haven’t added up how many trips I have done but have done several each year since then.
Sheila: There are six full time crew members: captain, engineer, cook and three mates. There are four volunteer watch assistants, and two leading hands – youngsters who have done a 10 day voyage and come back to help with deck work, assist the cook and act as liaison between the trainees and the crew.
A watch assistant works with a watch of 10 young people. Each day they are on a different sail station, which involves getting to know all the sails as well as doing jobs like cleaning the ship and vegetable preparation and washing up. They each take a turn in being leader for the day – easy for some and a real challenge for others.
Wake up is usually 6:30am, into togs and ready for the morning swim!
Before dinner in the evening there is a time for debriefs when you gather your group together to discuss the day – what worked or didn’t work well – and any other thoughts or comments that people want to make.
After dinner is cleared up there is a fun evening activity of some sort. The groups all take it in turns to be on night watch so five pairs of the watch are awake for a spell during the night to make sure the ship is safe.
Sheila: The trainees come from all sorts of backgrounds and have such different life experiences.
One told me his mother had taught him how to shoplift and said he’d never been with good people before.
One had no idea what a tea towel was – “we have staff at home”.
I, with the captain, had to take a trainee ashore to be collected by a relative when her mother had died – but we weren’t allowed to tell her what had happened. Hard not to shed tears when she talked about what she was going to tell her mum about the trip.
I seem to have done a few trips ashore to medical centres for various trainee injuries or ailments. I even managed to break my collarbone playing games on a beach with the trainees and had an early exit by ambulance!
Sheila: Winter trips when it’s cold and wet can be a challenge keeping spirits up and thinking positive.
I have always loved working with the young people, and I think being a grandma meant I could get away with things sometimes.
Sheila: I do believe God puts us where he wants us and I did seem to slot into the role without too much difficulty. For some of the trainees it was a life changing opportunity, and I wanted to make sure they had the chance to get the most out of it.
Religion and politics were two subjects not to be discussed on the ship, but when I heard some of the girls singing Shine, Jesus, Shine I couldn’t resist joining in. They were impressed and wanted to know how I knew the words.
I’ve just given up sailing, and when the ship was in Nelson last week, I was invited to a morning tea on board for the crew to say farewell to me.
Several people referred to me as a “legend” – I like to think I am a leg end. I am a toe, just one part of the body of the Spirit – in two senses of the word!
Sheila: Because I saw the benefits the trainees got from a voyage, I set up the Spirit of Tasman Bay Trust a few years ago and fundraise to help local young people get their voyage fees organised.
If anyone is interested in volunteering on the ship, they can have a look at the Spirit of Adventure Trust website.
There is a Spirit of Tasman Bay Trust page on Facebook that people can look at and I am happy to give talks to groups too. People can contact me by email or phone.
You can contact Sheila at budgen@outlook.co.nz or 03 528 8453.
Check out other articles in the
Lay Legends
series below.
More articles in the
Lay Legends
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
Sheila Budgen, of Motueka Parish, is a servant-hearted powerhouse.
Tasman District Council recognised her this year with an Outstanding Community Service Award for her voluntary work with Spirit of Adventure Trust. Since her first voyage in 1997, she’s spent over 1,000 days at sea, working with young people on the Spirit of New Zealand.
I had the privilege of asking her about her time on board.
Sheila: The Spirit of Adventure Trust was formed 50 years ago when the Spirit of Adventure ship started doing 10 day voyages for teenagers. In 1984 the ship Spirit of New Zealand was launched.
The ship takes 40 young people aged 16-19, called “trainees”, to sea for 10 days. The youngsters come from all over New Zealand and all different backgrounds. Only one person is taken from each school so everyone comes on board not knowing anyone else. All phones are locked away so they have no contact with the outside world and have to talk to each other!
The aim of the voyage is to teach them leadership skills, self confidence and the importance of teamwork through sailing the ship.
Sheila: Our daughter Nicola did a 10 day voyage on the Adventure and came home bubbling about all that she had been involved with. A while afterwards the ship visited Nelson and, encouraged by her, we did a public day sail. We got chatting to the crew on board.
My husband Chris was keen to sail, and we had run a church youth group in Upper Hutt. We were encouraged to sign up as volunteer watch assistants on the crew. I said I was not really a sailor, but would help out with shore-based needs when the ship visited Nelson.
Chris did several trips as a watch assistant and then booked me on a 5 day sail for adults from Dunedin to Bluff in 1996. It was a lot of fun and I seemed to cope, so thought I might get brave enough to do a 10 day voyage.
I did my first 10 day voyage as a watch assistant on Spirit of New Zealand in 1997. I haven’t added up how many trips I have done but have done several each year since then.
Sheila: There are six full time crew members: captain, engineer, cook and three mates. There are four volunteer watch assistants, and two leading hands – youngsters who have done a 10 day voyage and come back to help with deck work, assist the cook and act as liaison between the trainees and the crew.
A watch assistant works with a watch of 10 young people. Each day they are on a different sail station, which involves getting to know all the sails as well as doing jobs like cleaning the ship and vegetable preparation and washing up. They each take a turn in being leader for the day – easy for some and a real challenge for others.
Wake up is usually 6:30am, into togs and ready for the morning swim!
Before dinner in the evening there is a time for debriefs when you gather your group together to discuss the day – what worked or didn’t work well – and any other thoughts or comments that people want to make.
After dinner is cleared up there is a fun evening activity of some sort. The groups all take it in turns to be on night watch so five pairs of the watch are awake for a spell during the night to make sure the ship is safe.
Sheila: The trainees come from all sorts of backgrounds and have such different life experiences.
One told me his mother had taught him how to shoplift and said he’d never been with good people before.
One had no idea what a tea towel was – “we have staff at home”.
I, with the captain, had to take a trainee ashore to be collected by a relative when her mother had died – but we weren’t allowed to tell her what had happened. Hard not to shed tears when she talked about what she was going to tell her mum about the trip.
I seem to have done a few trips ashore to medical centres for various trainee injuries or ailments. I even managed to break my collarbone playing games on a beach with the trainees and had an early exit by ambulance!
Sheila: Winter trips when it’s cold and wet can be a challenge keeping spirits up and thinking positive.
I have always loved working with the young people, and I think being a grandma meant I could get away with things sometimes.
Sheila: I do believe God puts us where he wants us and I did seem to slot into the role without too much difficulty. For some of the trainees it was a life changing opportunity, and I wanted to make sure they had the chance to get the most out of it.
Religion and politics were two subjects not to be discussed on the ship, but when I heard some of the girls singing Shine, Jesus, Shine I couldn’t resist joining in. They were impressed and wanted to know how I knew the words.
I’ve just given up sailing, and when the ship was in Nelson last week, I was invited to a morning tea on board for the crew to say farewell to me.
Several people referred to me as a “legend” – I like to think I am a leg end. I am a toe, just one part of the body of the Spirit – in two senses of the word!
Sheila: Because I saw the benefits the trainees got from a voyage, I set up the Spirit of Tasman Bay Trust a few years ago and fundraise to help local young people get their voyage fees organised.
If anyone is interested in volunteering on the ship, they can have a look at the Spirit of Adventure Trust website.
There is a Spirit of Tasman Bay Trust page on Facebook that people can look at and I am happy to give talks to groups too. People can contact me by email or phone.
Check out other articles in the
Lay Legends
series below.
More articles in the
Lay Legends
series are to come.
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