Pete Chambers will never forget the moment he swam above the deepest oceanic trench on earth. The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean near Guam and the Mariana Islands and reaches a maximum depth of roughly 11,034 metres. “It’s deeper than Everest is high,” Pete says. “The weather was calm and the sea was flat so we stopped the boat and swam. I remember diving under the boat and just thinking, ‘this is ridiculously deep.'”
Looking down into the immense blue void beneath him, Pete experienced something difficult to describe. It was awe-inspiring and humbling. “It’s a very different reality to life on land,” he says. “Once you’re out at sea there’s a greater sense of self-reliance.”
Nights out at sea were particularly profound. “The sky looks like it’s been painted by the most amazing artist you’ve ever seen.”
The first boat Pete sailed wasn’t bought from a marina. It was built in the family’s backyard.
When his father, Ted Chambers, wasn’t working as a rocket engineer at Woomera, he was also a fanatic sailor. Ted built a vessel piece by piece while the rest of the family looked on with varying levels of enthusiasm. Pete was captivated and as the youngest of four children, was swept up in his father’s passion. While his siblings pursued other interests, Pete was hooked.
“I was six when the boat was finished in 1973,” Pete recalls. “Helping Dad build it and then sailing it became my entire world.”
Pete’s grandfather, William ‘Bill’ Chambers was also addicted to yachts and sailed the famous 18-foot skiffs of Sydney Harbour (a photograph of Bill racing featured in a famous beer advertisement and to this day, Pete treasures the poster).
Some of Pete’s fondest memories are the many times he and his father sailed to Kangaroo Island. Visits to the Small Boat Club at Garden Island (tucked among the mangroves behind a power station) were also precious times. “There’d be all these incredible characters sitting around tables telling stories,” he says. “As a kid, I found it completely enchanting.”
The motley crew of skippers and their stories stoked a curiosity that eventually carried him far beyond South Australian waters.
Pete studied teaching at university and when he finished, left for adventures in Australia and overseas, including working on a Cairns tourist sail boat, and captaining a converted pearl lugger.
He spent six months sailing from Brisbane to Japan (a 36-day non-stop passage from Brisbane to Osaka) and has travelled through remote parts of the Pacific that few tourists ever see. He crossed the Atlantic, sailed through the Caribbean and experienced long stretches of open ocean where the nearest land was thousands of kilometres away. Sailing from Vanuatu to Australia? No problem, me-hearties.
He even spent time living on a yacht on the Isle of Wight and when his son Tom was born, the address on his birth certificate was a yacht. The water-bug bit Tom too; he now works on a luxury super yacht in the Caribbean.
“Once you’re offshore, life becomes very simple,” he says. “You look after the boat, look after the crew, eat, sleep and keep moving forward. There’s a lovely rhythm to it.”
Chasing the horizon is a lifestyle people seem increasingly eager to embrace. Now, as an instructor, Pete helps others write their next chapter at the Cruising Yacht Club of SA Sail Training Academy.
The marine academy is the only place in SA where you can gain registered sailing qualifications and is the only accredited Australian Sailing and Royal Yachting Association in the state. Pete and his team offer a variety of courses, from an afternoon Discover Sailing to five-day live-aboard courses and skipper accreditation. Everyone is welcome and the clubrooms at North Haven recently opened to the public so anyone can experience the buzz over a drink and a meal at the bistro and restaurant.
“Sailing often suffers from that ‘hoity toity’ stereotype but it couldn’t be further from the truth here.”
The learning happens on the Cruising Yacht Club of SA’s training vessel, a Beneteau Cyclades 43-foot called the Southern Investigator. “It’s like the Toyota or Holden of the sea.”
Some people arrive curious. Some arrive nervous. Many arrive carrying dreams they have postponed for decades and most leave wondering why they didn’t start sooner.
“People start watching YouTube channels about ordinary people learning to sail and travelling the world,” Pete says. “Then they think, maybe I could do that too.”
Pete says a growing number of his students arrive with a similar story. Their children have grown up, retirement is approaching, and for the first time in decades they have space to think about adventure.
He is committed to breaking down misconceptions about sailing.
“There can be this perception that it’s a sport for rich people, but it really doesn’t have to be.”
A seaworthy boat can often be purchased for less than the price of a second-hand car.
“When I was a kid, houses were cheap and boats were expensive. Now, houses are expensive and boats are affordable.”
Most importantly, owning a boat isn’t necessary. Many people begin by simply joining a course, spending time on the water and discovering whether sailing suits them.
The students who come through the academy are as varied as the boats themselves.
There was Ramona, who completed her qualifications before buying a yacht with her partner and setting off around Australia. Then there was Roger who was in his mid-70s when he completed his day skipper course before heading to Europe to charter a yacht in the Mediterranean.
“Age is no barrier,” Pete says. “In some ways, I think people over 50 can actually be better sailors.”
He believes patience, judgement and life experience count for a lot when conditions at sea are challenging.
The ocean, after all, has a way of keeping egos in check. Out there, success isn’t measured by income, status or possessions. It comes down to simpler things like good decisions and trusted companions.
That philosophy extends beyond the water. Together with creative educator and partner Jillian Smith, Pete combines his love of maritime history and storytelling through their performance project, Waterway Tales. The show explores South Australia’s rich sail trading heritage through stories and music. “Sailing and stories seem to go together,” he says.
When he’s not teaching others against a backdrop of H2O, Pete still occasionally teaches on land at Willunga High School. He also loves getting out in his Duncanson 34-foot cruising yacht, designed in South Australia, and his “lovely little” sailing (7.5 foot) dinghy.
“Sailing a smallish-yacht is a humbling experience,” he says. “The further out to sea I get, the better I feel.”
CYCSA
Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven
cycsa.com.au
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