Sailing into skills and serenity
When it’s veterans training veterans in on-water skills, it’s more than just a boating course.
Rick Allen finds it difficult to move around these days. Severe back injuries and Charcot foot from his Navy days have slowed him down. But once on deck, the Captain of the MV Southern Explorer finds his sea legs and gets the old glint back in his eye.
‘They love it, they’re gob-smacked about how much they learn,’ he says of the trainees he welcomes aboard. ‘As a bonus, I teach everyone how to skin, bone and gut a flathead in one movement!’
Rick joined the RAN in 1972 at just 15 years of age. He departed as an Electronic Technical Weapons specialist after 16 years of service in the permanent Navy and Reserves.
Rick’s varied post-naval career has included work as a saddler, a ferry driver on Sydney Harbour, and Head Skipper for salmon industry giant Tassal, where the course originated. ‘I just wanted a deckhand, but the program I developed back then was so successful that a local Registered Training Organisation picked it up and I delivered it in collages around Tasmania,’ he says.
In 2018, Rick ‘found the right vessel’ and set up his own boat cruise business. Then he was struck down by Charcot arthropathy of the foot, the investment backer pulled out, Rick lost his deposit, and COVID-19 hit – ‘all within 3 weeks’.
Rick was eventually able to buy another boat – the MV Southern Explorer – but by this time his perspective had changed. ‘My new goal was to offer the vessel to veterans and first responders – to give something back,’ he says. And so the On Water Skills Course with Marine Radio – in 3-day and 9-day versions – was born.
It started with day trips and a crew of 3–4 fellow veterans Rick met through Mates4Mates. The course now teaches seamanship skills such as all manner of rope work, rigging gear and loads, securing anchors, operating winches, windlasses, hawser and moorings. It includes all aspects of safety at sea including “man overboard” drills, lashing and securing equipment, and towing and being towed.
Each Task Book Module course is free and takes only 2-3 participants to ensure their training is comprehensive, their supervision close, and the assessment worthy of its completion certificate and Marine Radio Ticket.
One satisfied graduate is Sister Heather Cowled, a former RAAF Chaplain who continues to serve in hospitals, aged care facilities and at disaster sites.
‘I was highly impressed with the ability of the course to be adapted to the needs of the participants and the teaching skills and patience of the instructors,’ says Heather. ‘I was also impressed with the variety of activities and the way the itinerary allowed time for relaxation and gave us the opportunity to chat informally – I found the one-on-one time with the crew highly valuable.’
Picking up on the last point, Rick says that the trainees have a wide range of reasons for coming on the boat, but it’s the lasting personal connections that often end up being the most important.
‘They might come for their wellbeing, or because they want to get into boating or yachting, or to work in the industry,’ he says. ‘Once the veterans get on board, I tell the crew – “It’s not about us, it’s about them”. ‘They might start off a bit quiet, but by the end of the 9 days they’ve told you their life story and they want to know ours. The more you deal with veterans the more you realise there are lots of people out there facing the same problems.
‘We’re all screwed up in one way or another – we’ve all faced the demons, PTSD, have been through Open Arms courses etc. You think they’re OK on the outside, but inside it’s a different story – and that’s what we’re here for – to help them through.’
Having run 8 courses in the first year, Rick is looking to do 10 during 2025, running the boat down the channel from Hobart and up to 20 miles into the Southern Ocean.
And while’s his physical health has suffered, Rick Allen’s mind is in no danger of slowing down. He is also a published author, with a memoir out on his time as a horseback tour guide. Rick is currently writing book 4 of 7 in a fictional series about the military exploits of a group of veterans following a nuclear apocalypse.
Meanwhile, the Southern Explorer continues its journeys of healing for veterans in the calming coastal waters of Tasmania.
Rick Allen’s Tasmanian Adventure Cruises, in consortium with RSL Tasmania, has been supported to deliver the on-water skills courses by 2 DVA Veteran Wellbeing Grants. For more on Rick’s literary endeavours, visit www.rickallenbooks.com. .
Images:
Navy veteran Rick Allen, Captain of the MV Southern Explorer, with Chief Petty Officer Jasper
Former Army Ordnance Sergeant Mel Triffett at the helm of the Southern Explorer
The MV Southern Explorer (aka The Classroom)
Sister Heather Cowled in on-water training with Coxswain Chris