- Aurora Our Experiences with the RS Quest... still migrating. For the time being, you can find everything RS Quest related still here! 12 July 2026
- UNCHARTED Epilogue - “The Great Bay Hospitality Tour” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E07 Captain Kitty and a motley Scout crew wrap up a nine-day, eight-night “cruise” that costs just $112 per person, fuelled almost entirely by volunteer power and the kindness of strangers. Armed with borrowed gear and bottomless goodwill, they’re rescued from cold seas by an ultra-fancy yacht club that offers free mooring, warm showers, and shelter fit for royalty—if royalty wore… 09 April 2026
- UNCHARTED “Girl Power and Mouse Farts” or “Bring It On, Commander-in-Chief” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E06 In this swashbuckling three-day finale, Captain Kitty dives into her happy place—the ocean—before presiding over a Scout-led day of beach games, self-catered feasts, and a windswept pier-fishing session where her much-mocked, last-minute rod grab produces the night’s only fish, a smug little pink snapper. Reinforcements arrive in the form of partners and Captain J’s mum, injecting “girl power” into a… 01 April 2026
- UNCHARTED “Tow Me, Maybe” or “Life Jackets and Life Choices” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E05 In this episode of Captain Kitty’s Adventures, the Scout flotilla lucks into “six-star” luxury at the Extra Fancy Yacht Club, trading cat holes for hot showers while the captain quietly ignores a ban on member-only facilities in the name of crew morale. A weather-hobbled training day of drills, knot shows, and beach hijinks gives way to a big coastal push… 25 March 2026
- UNCHARTED “Captain Kitty vs. The Bay” or “F- Me, I’m the Captain” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E04 In this high-stakes, low-freeboard two‑parter, reluctant skipper “Captain Kitty” takes command of the notorious floating spa tub and a boatload of Scouts, parents, and SLF’s nearest and dearest, only to discover that fate, weather, and basic physics have not read the float plan. Day 1 is smooth sailing and sun‑drenched optimism, but Day 2 turns into a nautical chaos special:… 21 March 2026
- UNCHARTED “The Savage Dolphin Experiment” or “Winds, Waves, and WTFs” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E03 In this rollicking episode, our narrator signs up for what she assumes will be a chilled summer sailing jaunt with Scouts—sunshine, quick-dry undies, and minimal responsibility—only to discover she’s been secretly cast as Captain. After dutifully levelling up her skills on a tiny lake dinghy under her daughter L’s expert tutelage, she arrives at SLF’s ambitious Port Phillip Bay expedition… 18 March 2026
- UNCHARTED “Scouts, Capsizes, and Other Life Choices” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E02 In this episode, an untrained stand‑in leader is hurled into a remote sailing camp with a dozen kids, a four‑hour drive, a pit toilet, and a five‑page text of ambitious objectives, armed with only slightly more than zero knowledge of sailing and a willingness to wing it. Over a week of gleeful capsizes, getting mocked by the safety boat, flying… 15 March 2026
- UNCHARTED “Leadership by Four-Letter Word” - Captain Kitty’s Log - UNCHARTED - Special E01 In this irreverent, adventure-packed beginning, a fiercely loyal, foul-mouthed mum defends swearing as a health tonic while revealing how her torturous PT and quietly manipulative dad push her to do far more than she thinks she can. Just as she’s piecing together how challenge shapes her, a year of discovering that sailing is a brutal, no-mercy sport culminates in a… 14 March 2026
- UNCHARTED The Wayfinder for Youth Sailing in Victoria - UNCHARTED - Bonus Are you interested in sailing or know young people who might be? Check out our “Wayfinder.” There are many ways to sail in Australia—cost-effective, non-competitive, and diverse. We created the Wayfinder for a conference because we have a passionate group of young sailors that isn’t interested in traditional competitive racing. Each of them sails for personal reasons, such as action,… 11 March 2026
- UNCHARTED Field Study on the Horizon? - UNCHARTED S01E13 (Season Finale) We return to the central question: Can sailing positively impact health, mental health or well-being of youth and adults? The answer from Semester 1 is a tentative yes, based on existing evidence. The next step: design a real-world field project. The students sketch an outline for a small, feasible first study. Then they “pass the tiller extension” to a new… 06 March 2026
- UNCHARTED "Bring Your Own Boat” (Really? Our Boat?) - UNCHARTED - Special - SailGP 2025 Edition Here is a sentence that does not appear in any sensible sailing manual: "Bring your own boat to the SailGP." And yet. SailGP — the global racing series featuring the fastest sail-powered boats on the planet, the F50 catamarans that hit speeds of over 50 knots — offers exactly that. A "Bring Your Own Boat" flag. Buy one, attend an… 28 February 2026
- UNCHARTED "Shaping the Future of Sailing" - UNCHARTED S01E12 Part II This week, on 24 February 2026, Australian Sailing released the Participation Plan for Sailing in Australia—a national roadmap to grow participation across the sport through to 2032 and beyond. Gregor was part of the Working Group that helped shape it. Here's what's in it, and why Aurora's story is woven through almost every page. The Plan is structured around five… 24 February 2026
- UNCHARTED "A Seat at the Captain’s Table" - UNCHARTED S01E12 Part 1 There's a moment in every story where the scattered threads start pulling together. Aurora's threads have been scattered across a lot of places: a Sydney Harbour drinks, a Sea Scout Group, a kids sailing program at Port Melbourne Yacht Club, a Swiss magazine article about cancer survivors, a Swinburne University research project, an Outdoors Victoria conference presentation. Individually, each of… 24 February 2026
- UNCHARTED Finding Outdoors Victoria - UNCHARTED S01E11 With the student project wrapped and a punchy conclusion in hand, Gregor wonders: where on earth do you present something like this? He’s used to virology, immunology, biotech, pharma, and startup conferences. But this is… what exactly? • Youth health? Sort of. • Public health? Not in a classical epidemiology sense. • Education? He’s not technically a teacher. Eventually, he… 21 February 2026
- UNCHARTED Proof of Concept? - UNCHARTED S01E10 The students dive into the scientific literature. Surprisingly, they do find relevant research. Their key findings: • Self-esteem & self-efficacy 10-day sail-training voyages can boost adolescent self-esteem for months. Dinghy sailing for 9–13-year-olds is perceived to build confidence and competence. • Mental health & well-being Dinghy sailing is associated with better mood and well-being. Adventure-therapy sailing programs have improved quality… 19 February 2026
- UNCHARTED Aurora Meets Academia - UNCHARTED S01E09 Early 2025. Enter Jancy from Swinburne University by text message: “You always have great ideas. Would you have a good research question our Health Sciences students could work on?” Gregor, already in “academic supervisor mode” for his biotech startup SHRMP.bio, responds instinctively: “How many do you need?” “How many do you have?” Out of five real-world project ideas, one stands… 13 February 2026
- Field Notes From Brain Implants to Wilderness Trails: A Day at Outdoors Victoria 2025 "By 2050, there will be quite a few people with brain-computer interfaces out there. And I think this could be a problem - because we may not know what is uploaded into their brains anymore and how this could unconsciously change their behaviour." The most forward-looking strategic thinking I have seen in a long time around here. Not a biotech… 19 August 2025
- Field Notes Aurora Sailing... into the Unknown (following Curiosity) For now, this is just a teaser of a story that could not have been planned this way, and it is not entirely clear yet where it will take us. What started a few years back with the simple idea of “let’s buy a small boat so we can go sailing as a family” is turning into an adventure in… 13 August 2025