Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

December 16, 2012 – December 20, 2012

We anchored in Fernando on the morning of December 16^th. The water was bright blue, the sun shone in the sky and the island was beautiful. Unfortunately, all we could do was look at it for two days as we had classes. We had a swim call our first night there; that’s a great thing about being at anchor rather than being docked in port! We watched the sun set from the water; it was amazing!

The next two mornings began with a 7am swim call! Every day, hundreds, even thousands of spinner dolphins circle the island so we could see them, as well as some sea turtles, from the deck, and when you swim with your head under water you can hear them, not too far away, squeaking to each other!

On the 18^th we had a full day of shore leave, but since we were at anchor we had to take the tenders, the small boats we have on board, into port. My group managed to sign up for the first tender so we were the first to leave. We had to climb down a ladder over the side of the ship and into the little boat. After our first Atlantic crossing we were finally heading towards land! The little boat motored through the waves, saltwater spraying in our faces. We could see dolphins jumping and spinning in the air ahead of us, and behind us, the Sørlandet rocking gently, standing proud and majestic.

We reached shore and hitchhiked into town; the island is very small and safe, with really only one main road. My group went for lunch – Brazilian barbeque and fresh kiwi juice – at a restaurant with an amazing view looking out over a beach.

After lunch we went scuba diving! We did two dives and saw an octopus, lobster, an eel, rays, and an absolutely massive grouper; the fish was the size of a small person! It was really cool and we all had a lot of fun! After a couple great dives we got ice cream before hitchhiking back to the marina on the back of a dune buggy!

Once we got back to the ship on the last tender, my friend and I got permission from the Captain to go aloft. The highest I had ever gone was the t’gallant, the second yard from the top, and though I wanted to go to the royal, which is the highest yard, I’m a little scared of heights so I didn’t want to go up when the ship was rocking. I decided that since we were at anchor, it was the perfect time to make my long anticipated climb to the top. We went up together to the royal yard on the fore mast where we watched the sun set. It was amazing! The ladder gets a little narrow and shaky when you get up that high, but finally reaching the yard was an incredible feeling! It was a fantastic to end to what was possible the best shore leave day I have had!

The Sorlandet

The view where we ate lunch

Scuba Diving!

Dune Buggy!

The next day was another wonderful shore leave day. The morning started off with a swim call once again. Less and less people have been showing up for the swim calls, choosing to sleep instead, and there were hardly any people at this one; it’s fun being in a big group, but this swim was really nice and quiet, and possibly the best one we had in Fernando! After breakfast, followed by colours and cleaning stations we loaded up the tenders and left on shore leave. My group took a taxi (almost all the taxis in Fernando are dune buggies!) to an info centre, riding on the back of the buggy with the blowing our hair; it was so much fun! Once at the centre we walked along a boardwalk through the trees until we reached Baia dos Golfinos , also known as dolphin bay. It is from there that you can see lots of dolphins in the morning, but since we were there later in the day it was just a nice lookout point. We had a picnic lunch there, then followed a trail along the top of the cliffs to Baia do Sancho . Fernando is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and Baia do Sancho is apparently one of the best. When we got there a tunnel led down through the cliff with a ladder reaching into the shadows. We had to climb down the ladder to reach the beach, and emerged at the top of steep stairs carved into the rock. We hurried down the steps towards the beach and ran out onto the sand. The cliff reached above us covered in vines and greenery that made it look like a scene from Jurassic Park! The waves crashed onto the beach and the rocks that bordered the cove, and we went swimming, getting thrown around a bit by the water. The beach was fantastic! Hours later we climbed back up the ladder and followed the trail to the information centre where we caught a dune buggy taxi back to the marina. We boarded the tenders for the last time in Fernando, motoring away from shore and towards the ship, our home. Once on the ship I made my second trip up to the royal, this time on the main mast, which is slightly higher than the fore royal. I was up on the highest yard of the ship, watching the sun set for the last time over the beautiful, amazing island of Fernando. 

Baia do Sancho

Our home :)

Atlantic Crossing - the Equator!

December 04, 2012 – December 16, 2012

My watch began the 12am-2am watch when we left Senegal. Hands down, it is the toughest watch; it goes by quick enough when you’re actually on watch, but it’s getting up for watch that’s the problem. Be woken up every night just after you finally get into a deep sleep is not easy, and most of the time no one even remembers being woken up! Can’t wait until the 2-4!

The days were really nice though for the entire sail. One day I was sitting on deck with a friend and looking out at sea when we saw something move; dolphins! Then we saw what I can only describe as a wave of dolphins! A wave! There were so many jumping together; it was incredible!

Though we spent 12 days at sea, our longest sail yet, there was so much going on that the days all sort of blended into one. One day we had maritime studies class where we had an emergency drill. Then, surprise: swim call!!! We had a swim call in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by nothing by open water! It was amazing, and something I know that few people will ever be able to say they have done!

We also had a couple of celebrations on board, the first being 12.12.12! At 12:12 on December 12^th, a couple of the teachers and I rang the bell in the Banjer 12 times, and announced 12 seconds of silence! Hahahaha it was just a silly little event, but fun nonetheless!

The day after that, December 13^th, was our 100^th day of Class Afloat, so a group of us sang a 100 days song at colours and we put up a whiteboard in the Banjer where 100 moments of awesome (we usually mention a couple awesome things at colours every day, or “moments of awesome”) were written by the end of the day!

The 13^th was an exciting day for another reason as well; just after supper, a muster was called on deck, and we all stood there in the dark and counted down as we crossed the equator! No, the water didn’t boil and we didn’t feel a bump, but we knew that we had entered King Neptune’s court and an initiation awaited us! We soon became true shellbacks (meaning we have sailed across the equator)!

A few days later, after a great first Atlantic crossing, we saw land and the Brazilian Island of Fernando de Noronha awaited us!

Dakar, Senegal

November 22, 2012 – December 04, 2012

We arrived in Dakar on the 22^nd, and on the 23^rd we had a port program followed by shore leave for all the watches who passed their line test (yay watch 5!). For the port program we took a short ferry ride to nearby Goree Island. It’s the westernmost point of Africa and is where slaves were taken before crossing the Atlantic during the slave trade. We visited the slave house on a tour of the island, and saw the “door of no return” where slaves were sent onto boats, never to see Africa again. It was horrible, but the rest of the island was much less gloomy; we visited a well-known all-girls school, which is one of the best in Senegal. The island itself had colourfully painted houses, palm trees, and a small beach; it looked like a picture perfect island and if you didn’t know better you would have trouble imagining its dark past.

There was lots of colourful art for sale that was on display all over the island. We walked to a sand art shop where they spread glue in the desired picture onto a board, sprinkled sand that was different colours from different regions, then shook of the excess sand, revealing the picture; it was so cool!

We had shore leave on Goree Island to walk around and explore. We saw baobab trees, just like in Le Petit Prince that we read in school! Their branches look like roots, so the myth is that they were put in the ground upside-down. The trees are found all over Senegal.

Goree Island

Art on the Island

Sand art

On November 24^th we met the SYTO (Senegalese Youth Travel Organization) students, most of which are in University and some have been meeting up with Class Afloat since they started doing the West Africa Initiative in Senegal years ago. To get to know the SYTO students a bit some we played icebreaker games and some of the SYTO students played drums and we all sang along; it was fun! We then had group discussions to compare Senegalese and Canadian lifestyle, education/jobs, and government/politics. It was really interesting to hear about the differences, and more importantly the similarities between two countries that we often perceive as being so far apart.

After a group lunch we got into groups of two Class Afloat students and we were paired with a SYTO student named Mariama whose home we would be going to for a homestay that night. Mariama had a father who worked for the police force, so their family lived on a police camp. We took a taxi to the dusty camp and pulled up in front of one of many small buildings. Mariama led us into their home, the open doorway revealing a big, concrete-floored room. A narrow hallway led to a kitchen where Mariama’s aunt kneeled in front of a pot simmering on a portable gas stove, preparing chicken couscous for supper. That night was the Muslim New Year, so couscous was the traditional meal for the celebration. We offered to help make supper, the everything was ready and their family and friends that had come in through the open door gathered around to eat. The food was brought out in an enormous bowl and we all sat around and ate. The meal was so good, and there was so much couscous that Mariama’s family kept offering us more and more, though we insisted we were too full to eat another bite! They were so generous and welcoming!

After supper, kids started to come by celebrating the New Year; it was sort of like Halloween and the girls dressed up as boys, and the boys as girls, and went door to door dancing to get treats like food and small coins. Mariama’s little sister went out; she was so cute! The two of us Class Afloat students stayed at the home, and Mariama’s Aunt, who was a hairdresser, offered to braid our hair.

The next morning we woke up feeling well rested for once! After a quick breakfast we headed out with Mariama to the local market; it was a busy street with dark, smelly, narrow side streets that formed the bustling market where you could buy anything from food to fabrics. I felt so out of place, and everyone seemed to stare at us as Mariama led us through the maze of small shops. It was so cool to see the market and really get a feel for her everyday life, something that we never would have gotten to experience on our own.

We bought food for the day and back at their home we began to prepare lunch; chicken yassa, one of Senegal’s national dishes. We helped as much as we could to get the yassa ready, and while we were doing so Mariama’s sister and aunt were frying up little dough rounds that we got to try, hot, crispy and delicious for snacking! When lunch was ready we all sat around and ate as we had the night before, and again it was delicious!

Not long after lunch it was time to say goodbye to Mariama’s family and we thanked them many, many times for the incredible kindness they showed us, welcoming us into their lives. We returned to their ship, our home, after an amazing experience.

Cute kids living at the camp

Local market

Homestay - braided hair!

Two days later, after a full day of classes (we had to have one school day since we are in Dakar for so long) followed by the first coffee house of the year, we had another port program for the morning. We got to choose between visiting an orphanage and a street kids centre, and I went to the street kids centre. They knew we were coming, but when we got there I felt as though things were quite disorganized. We had fun nonetheless; it was an all-boys centre and we brought soccer balls with us to play games with the kids.

Another program was planned for the 29^th, another part of our West Africa Initiative. We took buses, this time with some of the SYTO students, and embarked on a 3-4 hour drive to the Diourbel region. There we met some locals who led a discussion about Senegalese women’s rights, as well as a few Peace Corps (an American volunteer program that sends volunteers to a country for a minimum of two years to integrate into the community and help out more effectively) volunteers. They showed us how they make briquettes, bricks of recycled paper, cardboard and peanut shells, which are used as an alternative fuel source for families to cook. The cardboard had to be collected, ripped up, and mixed with water and peanut shells (since there are so many peanuts in Senegal, one of the country’s biggest exports) to form a paste. We got to use a mold to form the paste into bricks and then they were set out to dry. It was neat, but the process was very time consuming.

Making briquettes!

December 1^st featured yet another port program – so many port programs in Senegal! We drove to Lycée Thiaroye, a high school where they had built a garden. We learnt a bit about urban gardening techniques, and about the different plants they had, some with medicinal purposes and some that were grown for food. There was lots of fresh basil, varieties of fresh mint, yummy papaya that we got to taste, as well as fresh radish that we tried straight from the ground! We then got to help out in the garden, transplanting cabbage and lettuce, placing each tiny plant next to a hole in the water hoses that ran the length of the garden; they had a drip irrigation system that conserves water while still providing the right amount of water for the plants! It was all really neat, and afterwards we got to sit and talk with some students from the high school; I’m so glad I speak French since I was able to use it a lot in Senegal!

Gardening at Lycée Thiaroye

The next day we had a reception on the ship to get a chance to show the SYTO students our home after we got the chance to experience theirs. Then, we had a Saint Nicholas day celebration (a Dutch holiday that is like Christmas) where we each person drew a name and had to write a poem for that person; it was a fun night!

Reception on the ship

December 3^rd was our last day in Dakar. We had shore leave for the afternoon and my group (we had to have groups of 6 with at least 2 boys, which is pretty hard to organize!) went for lunch and really tasty local fruit juice! We then walked around a market, and despite being quite touristy, it was fun to see all the busy shops and the beautiful fabrics and vibrant colours of the fabric stores.

Finally came departure day. Dakar was a really long port, and though it was an amazing experience, we were all feeling tired out by the end of it and ready for our first Atlantic crossing!

Sail to Dakar, Senegal - let's set some sails!

November 14, 2012 – November 22, 2012

I was pretty glad I tried going aloft at night while in Tenerife so I would know what to expect. On departure day from the island we changed watch times again, meaning my watch is now on the 10pm-12pm. It’s usually one of the better watches because you get a night of uninterrupted sleep. Our first night on the 10-12 was a challenging one though. We ended up setting sails, which is awesome, meaning I got to go aloft at night. It is actually surprisingly bright up there, though not as bright as it was in port of course. We unfurled four sails, and then had to set them. One watch cannot set them alone though; you need more people. This meant that we had to wait until the watch changeover at midnight to do it, and my watch ended up having to stay until 1:15 am finishing it. Needless to say we were absolutely exhausted by the end of it. I couldn’t even tell port from starboard by the time we finally got to bed!

As tough as that was though, it is all worth it for the incredible feeling of being under sail, the power of the wind pushing us forward to our destination. We turned the motor off and sailed almost the entire way to Dakar.

During the sail we all had to do a line test in order to be granted shore leave once we reached Senegal. For the test, an AB would ask you five different lines and you had to find them on the ship and point them out. There are a lot of lines, but once you get it figured out you realize that there’s a sort of system so it isn’t as hard as you think. I passed my test earlier on in the sail, so during night watch those of us who had done the test already took more physical positions (safety, helm, standby and lookout) so that the others could practice their lines with Jason, the AB on our watch, on deck. One night I had three physicals, which usually makes for a long watch, but it was a gorgeous night! I was helming when we suddenly startled by a loud splash. There were dolphins swimming in phosphorescents! I couldn’t go and look though since I had to steer the ship. Then, half an hour later when I had switched to standby, the dolphins came back again! I peered over the side of this ship as best as I could from my place at the helm because I again, disappointingly, couldn’t leave my place for long. Next I went to lookout. The stars were so bright and clear, and I even saw some shooting stars! As I was up there on the bow of the ship, I peered over the side and saw the dolphins, glowing, swimming along with the ship! At one point there were five on one side and they stayed with me for the entire time I was on lookout. So though sometimes night watch is hard, like the night we had to stay a afterwards for a long time, incredible nights like that one remind me why I want to do it and why I am here on Class Afloat.

Sunset

With Jason, the AB on my watch

Sailing!