Graduation & Goodbyes - Valletta, Malta

The sail from the Azores to Malta was a quiet and solemn trip. Although it was our longest sail of the year, it passed by far too quickly. We worked our last galley shifts, did our last night watches, furled our last sails and made our bunks for the last times.

As we sailed into our last port in Valletta, I was standing in the salute line on the aft deck, next to the helm. Valletta is an old fortress city with beautiful stone walls and cobbled streets. Our parents, friends and relatives were standing along a wall in a fort high above the harbour. There were loads of people cheering and screaming as the ship came in. All of a sudden, the Captain shouted: “Prepare for the cannons!” There was a moment of confusion until we saw that below the fort where our parents stood, there were seven canons. They were set off one by one in honour of our ship. We later learned that this was an extreme rarity and they usually only strike one at noon for the tourists.

Our ship was decorated with flags from every nation represented onboard. We had spent the last week polishing every bit of brass and acid washing every patch of rust. In that moment, I was so proud of the Sorlandet, the ship’s crew and also so proud of what we had accomplished this past year.

We came alongside and our parents boarded the gangway – my mom at the front, as usual … we embraced. There was a moment, a sigh, that meant: “yes, it’s over, I’m coming home”. I introduced her to my friends, my teachers and my favourite crewmembers. I showed her where I slept, where I spent time and what I would miss the most. But I knew that she could never really understand, that no one could ever really understand how we had spent the last eight months. We then left the ship to wander around the city and didn’t return until curfew that evening.

PACKING DAY came next. It was quite extraordinary – the amount of stuff that forty teenagers managed to stow on a ship. There were mountains of unwanted garbage, bedding, work clothes, souvenirs, and schoolbooks. You couldn’t walk, you couldn’t move. The banjer (room where we all slept, ate and attended classes) was a DÉSASTRE TOTALE! It took us the whole day to clean, organize and pack. In the evening we spent time enjoying Malta with our families.

The following morning we had a crew brunch and bid farewell to our Captain, Boatswain and an AB (able bodied seaman) who were heading home.

I was really excited to be selected to honk the ships horn as Captain Gunar left the ship for the last time – he was retiring. We all busied ourselves with getting ready for the ceremony and right when we were about to leave, half a dozen people discovered that something in the brunch was not quite right – they were forced to hit the funnels once again. Food poisoning is never a friend, especially on graduation day.

We were led in pairs, divided by watch, along a procession through the town. At St. John’s Cathedral, we met our families who also joined the procession and we all walked to a smaller church for the ceremony.

Afterwards, we changed out of our number ones (uniforms), into party dresses and suits, and headed to a building next to the church for a cocktail party to celebrate. This was where we said a lot of our goodbyes and smudged our makeup with tears.

Sorlandet Pro Crew

The next morning, I officially moved off the ship and was no longer Sorlandet crew. There were only a handful of us still in Malta as most people had already gone home. Some of the crew stayed behind to take the ship to Turkey where it would undergo major renovations in a dry dock there.

Those of us who were heading home stood on the dock, the wrong side of the gangway, and watched as part of our crew prepared for departure.










There were a few last-minute hugs and many tears. I let go one of the aft mooring lines and watched my ship sailed away, disappearing over the horizon. At that moment, and only then, did I realize that this was the end. This amazing, life-changing, unbelievably incredible adventure was over …..

To my Floatie family,

Thank you for an amazing eight months! I will never forget those many sunrises, sunsets and starry nights we spent together.

“I am one with the family I have met; I am the crew of the Sorlandet. With sails filled by the stiffest breeze, let’s all set sail and conquer the seas.”

Fair winds & good luck. Love Naja xxx