Teen finds her calling
RECHQUAL Sibley grew up where the ocean washes over the fringing reef and to the mangrove-lined shoreline at Butler Bay on Palm Island.
Here, all through the year, she swam with her nine brothers and sisters, fished, hunted mud crabs and dived into the water clear as glass, from the overhanging mangrove branches.
As far as childhoods go it doesn’t get much more idyllic.
Rechqual is 15 now and in Year 10 at St Patrick’s College in Townsville.
On clear days she can look north out over The Strand, over the ocean and see silhouetted out there the mountainous mass that is Palm Island and right there on its eastern side, even though she can’t see it, she knows it is there, Butler Bay.
No wonder she joined the
Australian Navy Cadets TS Coral Sea in Townsville.
Here she is learning how to sail Corsair and Envy boats, use ropes, tie knots, work in a group and shoot at the range.
There are 25 navy cadets in Townsville. SBLT Carol Bocking is the training officer and says they would like to see more young people joining up.
“They learn a lot here and some of them go on to join the Royal Australian Navy,” SBLT Bocking said.
The cadets adhere to the RAN’S values of honour, loyalty, courage, and integrity. She is still only young, but Rechqual is adamant that when she leaves school she wants to join the navy.
In the meantime, when school holidays come around, you’ll find her at Butler Bay, swimming, catching fish and having a ton of fun.