Dandenong Polish-Australian Seventh-day Adventist Church

Volunteer Missionaries

BK: Andrew, you are known for your love of sailing in open waters. We heard that you took part in delivering a mission yacht, a sailing catamaran from West Australia to the Torres Strait Islands. How did this come about?

AW: I came across James Ward whilst trying to organise another sailing trip in the Whitsundays for my friends.

Having owned and lived on board a sailing yacht in Sydney Harbour, I always enjoy an opportunity to get together with friends who would like to experience a few days living aboard and sailing in some of the most beautiful places imaginable. It was a tough year to find sufficient people to make the trip viable and as I chased up various contacts I was losing hope that my plans would be realised. Eventually someone mentioned that George Rafanowicz (from Queensland) enjoys the odd sail and I decided to contact him in the thought of inviting he and his wife to cruise with me this year.

Unfortunately for me, October is a busy time of the year for George and his wife (who run a business together) and they could not come. As we caught up over the telephone, George mentioned that he had been involved with Pacific Yacht Ministries and was aware of James Ward and his efforts to deliver a yacht to the islands of the Torres Straits. George suggested that if my plans for the sailing trip did not eventuate this year, I might consider helping James for at least part of the voyage. Suddenly I was excited by the prospect of sailing in a remote part of the country where I would not normally expect to find myself. The other exciting thing for me was that the yacht James was sailing was a catamaran - and I had no experience sailing cats but wanted to learn.

Within a few days I was in touch with James and made plans to join him for part of the journey. I can now say that I would be confident in hiring a catamaran for my next trip to the Whitsundays. Although I enjoy sailing monohull yachts more, the catamarans offer much more space on board and do not heel over the way that monohulls do. For that reason, most people who are not keen sailors would find sailing a catamaran a much more pleasant and relaxed experience.

BK: Can you briefly share with us your experience of the seven days aboard this catamaran - what sort of impression did this ‘mission' trip leave you with?

AW: Recently I had the pleasure of accompanying James Ward aboard ‘Inflight' (a 42 foot catamaran sailing yacht), which was being delivered to the Torres Strait Islands where it would be based as part of the work of this organisation.
‘Inflight' was donated to Pacific Yacht Ministries by a retired Pastor in Busselton Western Australia and needed to be sailed up the West Coast and around the top end. I was able to join James on the leg from Broome to Darwin.
Pacific Yacht Ministries is a non profit organisation which provides transport and accommodation for medical staff engaged in running health clinics throughout the islands of the South Pacific. As the name implies, this transport and accommodation is by way of sailing yachts.
Once a team is assembled and the necessary supplies sourced, the yachts and their crews set out to the designated locations where they may spend anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months providing various health services, health lectures and clinics.
The organisation relies on financial support from private benefactors, volunteers and friends. Each member of PYM (Pacific Yacht Ministries) knows what it is to step out in faith. During my week aboard I heard and saw for myself how God is providing for this form of mission work.
James is a qualified paramedic and apart from being the Skipper of ‘Inflight' has the job of maintaining the vessel and ensuring she is ‘ship shape' and capable of safely transporting her crew and cargo. James sees himself as a missionary taking the good news of a loving saviour to those who do not know him and whose health is suffering as a result.
James is fully dedicated to this work and even though he is still grieving the death of his wife (who died tragically in a head on with a B-Double some eleven months ago), is really looking forward to working the Torres Strait Islands and the possibility of developing work amongst the various isolated communities along the Fly River in conjunction with the government of New Guinea.

AW: During my time aboard I also marvelled at the various sea creatures we encountered along the way. The many huge whales breaching, surprising us with their sudden explosive exhalation as they surfaced near us, the large turtles lifting their heads on long necks like periscopes, the hovering sea birds with their colourful and striking markings, the dolphins that followed in our wake and appeared to be very shy and reserved (I was expecting them to be surfing our bow waves).
For three of the seven days of our voyage, we were approximately 80 nautical miles out to sea (to avoid the strong tidal currents between the many coastal islands). At that time of the year the tides were running at just over seven meters! Even that far out to sea we were still experiencing ocean currents of approximately 1.5 knots.
The night sky was absolutely magnificent. One night before the moonrise I saw a meteorite burning up as it entered our atmosphere. It burned with such an intense bright green burst of flame which lasted for some three seconds. Then it broke up into three pieces as it disappeared into the ocean over the horizon - still burning.
Following my time on board I developed a real respect for the early explorers who sailed into these waters. They were sailing unchartered waters, in cumbersome square riggers. They had no depth sounders, no satellite navigation, no GPS's, no marine charts, no VHF radio, no coastguard to rescue them, no safety or survival gear to speak of and the belief that the earth was flat and that if you went far enough you would fall off the edge! Yet they sailed over the horizon and continued to explore the oceans - that took courage!
Aboard the vessels of the Pacific Yacht Ministries fleet, a sense of urgency in taking the good news of God's salvation to a people in need is motivating these sailors, these nurses, these doctors and dentists to step out in faith and rely on Him for their daily needs. Look them up on the internet, you may be able to play a part in this type of missionary work! That takes the love of God and a brotherly love for your fellow man.

Andrew Wawrzyniak was interviewed by Boguslaw Kot.