On a moonlit night, almost as bright as day, when even scoundrels and vagabonds fear the dawn, from o’ the murk the bones of a beast of terrible size can be seen lurking next to the surf. But this is no mythical monster. This apparition; as old as time, as terrifying as the dark, is a ship from days long gone, slumbering where she fell in the waters of Mantanani Island!

“Ahoy m’hearties! Be you in need of shelter?” calls a voice from beyond the vessel.

A ghost? A Pirate survived from the heyday of buccaneers? A child who has watched too many Jonny Depp films?

No, it’s a member of the Camp Borneo staff (for that’s how they speak on Mantanani… honest.) And he’s beckoning you over to take a look at The Magellan, our very own Pirate Ship! (Or the remains thereof.) So, why on earth do we need a pirate ship? Well… we don’t and that’s just the point. When you’ve got community projects galore, marine conservation work, scuba diving and endless games of football with the local kids all nestled neatly onto one desert island, what else could you possibly need…?

Exactly! Your own Pirate Ship made out of driftwood and recycled rubbish that has collected on the beach of the otherwise pristine island. 

Now obviously it’s nowhere near finished yet, but our gappers have made a great start this year (those HUGE driftwood planks ain’t light y’know!) but we are looking forward to screaming “Pieces of Eight!” “Shiver me Timbers!” and generally going “Arrrrrh, Jim Lad!” by this time next year in a finished, if landlocked, boat… So if you’re up to the challenge…? And if you don’t mind, y’know… building a kindergarten, teaching English, measuring some turtles and learning to scuba dive when you have some spare time away from the Magellan. Why not give us a call?

On a serious note, apart from being tremendous fun, we are building the Magellan to act as a backdrop to our marine conservation and education programmes. Being built entirely of “stuff” that has washed ashore from the sea it will easily illustrate, not only to our volunteers but also the children at the local primary school, the need to be more aware of marine life, the dangers humans pose to it and how we can begin to help.

So, once finished the Magellan will act as a classroom, playground and general place to hang out and watch the sunset. Can’t wait!

To see more pictures of our slowly emerging Pirate Ship and from our other projects on Mantanani, click here.

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 8:48 am and is filed under Borneo, Gap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.