Sail to Lisbon, Portugal – hello Atlantic!

October 11, 2012 – October 23, 2012

Seasickness strikes again! We had to put up safety lines across the deck so that people could walk around the deck! It was much rougher than last time and people were really starting to feel the motion of the ocean. It’s nice how even the smallest things can make a rough day so much better though. I was down in the banjer finishing up supper when someone called out about dolphins so we rushed up onto the foc’scle (short for fore castle, the deck that is the furthest forward) to see dolphins swimming and playing by the bow with a beautiful sunset behind them. Two of the dolphins were even doing some synchro and one did a sort of back dive! 

The banjer

 Things calmed down a lot after the first couple of days, and we were able to begin RIG TRAINING!!!! Finally! We learnt how to put on the safety harnesses and how to climb (technically called “laying aloft”) and we got to go up to the lowest platform on the main mast. I was pretty nervous to go up, but I took is slowly and it was incredible! Most of the time you aren’t actually clipped into anything, but the only sketchy part is when you have to lean back to get over the platform, and you have to clip in for that part. Once up there I could look out over the entire he ship, feeling the sun and the wind, and it surprisingly relaxing! It was an experience that all of us students had been waiting for, and it was amazing!!

Rig training!

Since the rig was set up, we finally got to set some sails! I was sitting in class one day when the ship suddenly got quiet; the engine was off and we were sailing! We didn’t get going too fast so had to go under power again a short while later, but I got to go onto the lower topsail (on the masts there are the arms that are perpendicular to the mast, called yards, and the lower topsail is the 2^nd to the bottom) to furl a sail! It was a little bit scary, especially when you have to step onto the yard because you need to step across quite a gap (you are of course clipped in at this point) but it was still a great experience working aloft, the first of many!

The following day we had yet another experience in the rigging! We practiced furling and unfurling sails, and I was once again on the lower topsail. We didn’t have any classes that morning because of rig training, but it was back to life as usual for the afternoon. Nothing much happened until that night; it was just after lights out and I was on the foc’sle before bed when we saw dolphins swimming in phosphorescents (I’m not exactly sure how to spell it). They’re basically tiny organisms in the water that glow when they’re disturbed, so the dolphins swimming through were outlined with sparkling light and you can see them so well in the darkness; I have never seen anything like it! We saw dolphins twice more the next morning during night watch (my watch is on the 6am-8am now) and each time was as incredible as the first.

Later on during watch, the sun rose and the huge rock of Gibraltar was visible, looming close by. We went alongside in Gibraltar to Bunker (get fuel) before continuing on through the Strait of Gibraltar. The strait is really narrow, the narrowest point only just over 7 miles across, so on the right we could see Europe and on the right was Africa! I have never been to or seen Africa before, and I can’t wait to go in a couple of ports!

Once we went passed through the strait we said hello to the Atlantic Ocean! The weather, as expected, was rougher to go with it. I was on helm and the wheel was jerking and the ship was going up and down so it was like one of those rides at amusement parks where you sit in a pirate ship that swings back and forth! It was actually so much fun, but my hands were so cold/stiff from grasping the wheel so tightly since it was moving around so much. The big rolling waves (and rain!) continued on through the next day too. The waves look almost like small hills; if the water were snow we would have been tobogganing! The rain finally stopped the next day and I was on lookout where I could see a beautiful, perfect rainbow stretching in a complete arc across the sky!

Helm and Standby!

Sorlandet at sunrise

Another interesting thing that happened during the sail: I found the astronaut that you’re supposed to find on your safety round! Turned out it was in the pump room, where students aren’t allowed to go without permission. I had heard that the engineer was the last to see the astronaut though, so I asked him about it and a friend and I got to go down to look for it! Once we found it, it was our turn to hide it. But when I went back to the hiding place later it was gone! The search continues.

October 20^th – arrival day – came sooner than expected. Ten days at sea seemed to go by so quickly. Lisbon is a parent port, one of two ports of the year where parents can meet up with us and visit, and the big arrival day wasn’t scheduled until three days later. We had classes for the next two days, as if we were still at sea, until our “Grand Arrival” on the 23^rd!

Corsica, France

October 04, 2012 – October 11, 2012

The trip to Ajaccio, Corsica took only 4 days. They were just typical days of classes and day watch at sea. One of the physical watch positions is Safety, and you have to do a round of the ship twice every hour to look for fires. There are specific places you have to check every time and the Officer on watch will tell you if you have to do anything else (clean up something, check portholes for leaks, etc.). While I was on Safety I learnt that there is apparently an astronaut figurine hidden somewhere on the ship that you are supposed to be able to find while on your safety round. I have been looking and looking though and haven’t seen it yet!

October 8^th was arrival day – happy Thanksgiving everybody! I was on galley and we had Thanksgiving lunch with all the students, teachers, and maritime crew (we usually eat all the meals in two sittings, except for Sunday night suppers where we all eat together, maritime crew included). After a great lunch, we got into our number ones (Class Afloat uniforms for formal occasions) and walked from the ship to the house where Napoleon was born (he was from Corsica) where a mayor’s reception was hosted for us to welcome us to Ajaccio.

Following the reception (which involved a couple of speeches, and refreshments afterwards) we had shore leave for supper. 

Wearing our numbers 1's (uniform) at the Mayor's reception

 We didn’t have shore leave the next day though because it was port program day! It was our first overnight port program; we drove a few hours across Corsica to the Ecovillage of Fondale. It was smaller than expected, with only 6 people living there and their goal was to live peacefully and to be more environmentally sustainable. When we got there we ate pizza that was cooked on a wood oven, fresh picked fruit, and delicious fresh almonds. It was really good, but we could also tell that the Ecovillage had never had so many people there before. After lunch we helped with some work around the village. As we walked to the garden, the path led us through the forest and across a little stream with a tiny waterfall filling small rock pools. It was so pretty, and we scrambled up the side of the valley to get to the garden that lay beyond. Next to the garden (where they grew most of their fruit and vegetables) a bonfire had been started, and there were tents, tipis, tarps and cabins around for us to sleep in. I was in a tipi, along with 12 other girls, even though the tipis are really only supposed to fit 8 people! It was a little crowded, but it was fun, though I’m pretty sure I woke up in the middle of the night with a bug on my face. Yuck!

On the way to the Ecovillage

Walking around the Ecovillage

In the tipi

View from the Ecovillage

 The next morning we drove back to Ajaccio where we had shore leave. October 11^th was departure day, but we had shore leave again until early afternoon. A group of us went for a hike. Corsica is a lot more mountainous than I expected, and the hike took us up and up. It wound around the side of the mountains and in and out of the trees. The view was amazing and we looked out onto the bay and Ajaccio below. We only had shore leave until 3pm though, and as we hiked it kept getting later and later, and the trail seemed to keep going up! We were going as quickly as we could and we were so hungry, but we finally made it to the town at the end of the hike and reached the bus stop to catch the bus back to Ajaccio. The bus came only 10 minutes later and we went back to the city where we got gelato and bread from the bakery for lunch! It was so good, and we ate as we hurried back to the ship just in time for curfew! About an hour later I sat on the boat deck as we left France behind.

The hike

Awesome view from the hike!

Gelato! Yum!

Valletta, Malta

October 01, 2012 – October 04, 2012

We arrived on October first. It was the Captain’s birthday that day, and the tradition on board the ship is to dump buckets of water on people when it is their birthday. So Halvor, the Captain, showed up to colours in full on rain gear! It was so funny!

We docked a couple of hours later. I was in class when we came alongside, so when I came up on deck later we were in Malta! That’s one thing that I love about being on the ship; you never know what you are going to see when you step outside. Back at home I knew exactly what it looked like outside the school, but here I can go up after class and find myself in a different country! Once we arrived we still had classes and day watch until 4pm, and then stayed on the ship scrubbing the sides of ship and provisioning, which is where we bring all the food that we will need aboard. It took quite a while so we didn’t get shore leave until supper time.

The Sorlandet in Malta

We went into the city of Valletta for supper before going back to the ship for the night. The next day we had a full day of shore leave. We have to be in groups of four at all times (for some ports it can be groups of 6 or more) so my group walked around the city for a while then took a bus to a small bay in a place called St. Julian’s where we went swimming. We hadn’t started off the day with much of a plan as to what to do, but it’s lots of fun to just hop on a bus in a foreign country and see where you go!

Valletta

St. Julian's

Maltese boat in St. Julian's

 Our second day in Valletta there was a port program. We took a ferry to the nearby island of Gozo (Malta is an island as well) and went to a beautiful bay with natural stone archway called the Azure window. It was beautiful and the view was incredible! All the students and teachers climbed along the rocks and to the top of the archway where we looked out over the sea. We then left on a bus and went to a beach to go swimming. The waves were big and we spent the time diving in them and body surfing. It was a great port program!

Gozo

Class Afloat 2012-2013 above the Azure Window

The next day, October 4^th, was our last day in Malta. We had shore leave for the morning and got to explore more of the island. When we went back to the ship for curfew we had 2 new members to the maritime crew. They are helping to get the rig set up so we can hopefully set some sails soon! We left Valletta, eating Maltesers (haha they may be delicious, but not at all from Malta!) as the coast of Malta faded into the distance.