Early morning swims in all seasons and temperatures are part of the day’s work for Spirit of New Zealand cadet Suzanne Trounson.

Suzanne, 19, of Greymouth has just completed a 13-month cadetship onboard the Spirit of New Zealand, a 37.8m long three-masted ship owned by the Spirit of Adventure Trust.

Suzanne completed a trip onboard the Spirit while she was still at school. She enjoyed it so much, she came back as a volunteer crew member before going on to complete the cadetship. As part of her cadetship training, she completed the Inshore Launchmaster qualification through NMIT’s NZ School of Fisheries. This involved learning about navigation, engineering and radar.

Thanks to a father who works as a harbour supervisor in Greymouth, Suzanne grew up around the sea and the maritime industry. One day, she would like to become a skipper.

“I enjoy the fact you get to do a bit of everything. You get to learn about engineering, First Aid through to advanced navigation. You gain skills from every trade, because when you’re out at sea, no-one else is able to help you,” she says.