Aurora Explorer – Adventure Sailing

We create adventurous sailing experiences for youth.

We believe that sailing is an opportunity to learn new skills, challenge yourself, and explore nature while having fun and building confidence and independence.

We are sailing at Port Melbourne Yacht Club and with the Sea Scouts in Australia.

We do this because it is fun.

You can’t book us – but we love to connect with like-minded individuals who share our interests, and to support causes that are important to us.

Get in touch to exchange ideas and experiences, make plans for the next adventures or simply to make connections.

Recent Posts from The Quest Blog

Dry bags…
While on the topic of packing: there is nowhere on board that will not get wet – including inside the foredeck. Dry bags and double-dry bagging was essential. Here’s a collection of what we took – and one day we hope to harmonise to one or two types. Aldi 50L Good size – great design – max size for under rear seats of the Quest; too long for under front seat storage; too big for under seat storage on a Savage Dolphin; 50L capacity; stayed completely dry despite being submerged and/or getting very wet constantly; well designed closing/strapping system; The …
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Packing the Quest for a multi-day expedition
Planning for a multi day trip we were looking into if and how we could store all the gear at least for the crew of Aurora on board, including tent, sleeping gear, some water and food, all dry/onshore clothes, some basic office gear (notebook, charts, batteries) boating and safety equipment. It’s a lot of gear even when minimising everything. All the bags we stored on-board Aurora We experimented with a few ways on how to add storage and store our gear – here’s what we tested / did: Foredeck – turned out to be great. Under-seat storage: the seats have …
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The Quest Foredeck – Installation
As we planned a longer cruise along the bay, we started considering how to prepare the boat for such a trip. The foredeck had always been on our minds, as it could provide some potential storage solutions in a secure and potentially waterproof way. So far we used an old HH duffel bag as on-board storage in the front for some smaller items, including the anchor, some ropes and paddles. The bag was completely corroded and not great to deal with during capsizes either – especially after the zippers had dissolved. Also, the free space in the front, which is nice …
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A sailing adventure for young cancer survivors in Australia?
“Project Hope” is a program that aims to provide a unique sailing adventure for young cancer survivors, which has been clinically proven to have a significant impact on their confidence and outlook. By going on this adventure, they will have the opportunity to restart their lives, build their confidence, make friends with others who have had similar experiences, rediscover their independence, and learn new skills. This was the idea we had in 2023. It’s a bit of a longer story. On a trip to Europe we read about Leman Hope in the Swiss “Skippers” magazine. Leman Hope is an organization in Switzerland …
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Travelling with the RS Quest: The two parts you should always have spares for…
We don’t travel much with our boats, and I assume nearly all yacht clubs would have more experience packing, trailering, and moving a whole fleet of them. But we found there are two parts you should never travel without: When we went sailing with the Sea Scouts a few years ago, we spent a week camping on remote locations, which required us to get the boat to the Gippsland Lakes first. We don’t have a road trailer, the original dolly is no longer available, and we needed to figure out how to do it. But Albert Park Yacht Club lent …
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RS Quest on the Beach – The Quest for the right Trailer (Dolly)
Solution Just get this one. The Dynamic Dolly PART #:14113 with the large wheels. There does still not seem to be a distributor in Australia (while you can get it in NZ). But Dynamic is shipping them if you ask them – and it just solves the problem. The long story… In Port Melbourne, we sail off a beach. It’s soft sand – about 200m of it that you need to conquer if you have to go the long way. Often I sail by myself – and no one else is around (to help pushing & pulling). The RS supplied dolly, even with …
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Sailing and Camping at Government House in Canberra?
Sure thing. Thanks to The Scout Association of Australia (Scouts Australia), who organised last week’s Governor General Camp, we had an opportunity to join Sea Scouts from all over Australia at the Sailing Base at the YMCA Sailing Club in Canberra and take youth sailing on Lake Burley Griffin. For many, it was their first time experiencing being on a small sailing boat; for some, it’s been a challenge and a journey of personal growth and adventure. As one Scout put it, even after capsizing three times in cold water: “Dude, this was the best thing I’ve done in my …
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After years.. why start a blog?
Why start a blog at all – and of all things at peak TikTok in the end of 2024? The original idea to start this blog is mainly based on the wish to share some of our experiences with our boat, an RS Quest, for which we found it sometimes quite hard to find reports, reviews, or technical info. Time will tell if we actually get to do it, but maybe we can save someone else the time we spent researching a particular question. We may also share a story on the occasional sailing adventure, but, well, we may not – …
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