Aurora brings young people to the water through hands-on expedition sailing, dinghy training, together with Port Melbourne Yacht Club and Sea Scouts — building confidence, resilience, and a lifelong connection to the sea.
What Aurora is
Aurora is a Melbourne youth sailing and outdoor education initiative based at Port Melbourne Yacht Club, working alongside Sea Scouts and the wider club community. We take young people out on Port Phillip Bay in small boats, teach them to sail and to plan a passage, and give them real responsibility on the water.
The Boat
The boat is where it happens. Aurora sails the RS Quest, a stable, forgiving dinghy built for training and small expeditions — room for a crew, simple enough to learn on, capable enough to go somewhere real.
More on the boat →Adventures & Projects
Aurora runs three kinds of thing on the water. Dinghy training for young people finding their feet. Expeditions — multi-day passages across the Bay where a young crew plans and runs the trip. And research, through Aurora Science, into what time on the water actually does for a young person’s wellbeing.
All adventures →The Aurora story
The (arguably) best part of the Aurora story is written by Captain Kitty. In January 2025, we promoted Kitty to Captain, and, by thunder, she’s got a yarn to tell — about our Sea Scout expedition across Port Phillip Bay, a real passage, planned and crewed by young people, with everything that entails.
Check out the full Aurora story and Captain Kitty’s adventure →The Log
The Log is the running record of Aurora on the water — expeditions, training days, the boat, the research, and the young people at the centre of all of it. Dip in anywhere.
Open the full log →Get in touch
Whether you sail, teach, run a club, or want your young people on the water — we’d like to hear from you.
