Swim Call! - October 2, 2011

Yesterday brought a fun surprise for the Sorlandet crew. As soon as we were dismissed from math class, the Captain came on the P.A. and announced our first official swim call! There were screams and cheers as we all ran to our bunks, quickly changed and mustered on deck in our suits. We were anchored right outside of Brittany, France and the water was C-O-L-D. We dove off of the boat deck (deck raised above the main deck) into the icy water. We continued to canon ball off the ship into the water for a little while and finished up with a nice hot shower. It was SO MUCH FUN! Thank you Captain.

Oh, Cornish Pasties!

Coming alongside the dock in Falmouth, I was lucky to be on lookout at the bow and so got to be involved in docking (sometimes you find yourself down below for classes and when you eventually surface on deck you find yourself in a different part of the world - it’s a weird feeling).

Falmouth is a seaside village much like Salcombe where we spent a vacation with friends from London. As I walked down the streets, I had flashbacks of visiting England - I wish you were here mum and dad!

The houses are painted pastel colours and the cobbled streets are cluttered with little shops and cafes. Our shore leave was spent wandering the streets eating Cornish pasties (delicious and mouth-watering pastries filled with soft potato, roast beef and caramelized onions) as well as having Cornish whippy (the most delicious and creamy soft ice cream in the world!).

We bussed to Penzance where we learned about a sustainable carbon footprint reduction project called Transition Penwith. It is an initiative whereby towns work towards being environmentally conscious and leave little impact on the planet. After an interesting lecture, we headed to the Bosavern Community farm for an amazing, organic meal that was one-hundred percent grown on their land. We ate thick slices of home-baked, whole-wheat bread, heaping bowls of to-die-for vegetarian chili, fresh green salad and tea. And, to top it off, we had massive slices of coffee cake for dessert.

The next day, we visited a local public high school. It was the craziest high school I’ve ever seen. They get tons of government funding and because of that everything about the place was really impressive. There were topnotch facilities for every subject area, professional sport fields, fancy uniforms and a prefect and school “houses” system just like in Harry Potter! My favorite part though was the rock wall that went up the side of the school’s main building - SO COOL! It was also really neat to have the chance to talk to students our age and learn about what life is like for teenagers in England. We ended off the day with a trip to the beach. White sand and bright blue water – paradise! We had so much fun!!

Back on the dock where our ship was moored, another tall ship arrived. It was another tall ship called the Frederic Chopin with a bunch of Polish high school students on board. We showed off our respective ships and had a tug-o-war, relay racing and rowing competition against their crew. Team Sorlandet won (of course) and to resolve any tall ship tensions we had a dance party on their main deck. Everyone had a good time. 

A Day in the Life

I really cannot believe that it’s October already. Our one month  anniversary aboard the Sorlandet has come and gone and time continues to fly by. In my blog posts so far I have described our adventures in port but I haven’t even begun to tell you about our time at sea. Although I must stay true to the rule of “what happens in international waters stays in international waters”, I will let you in on some of the ship's day-to-day news. However, firstly let me share what daily life aboard entails.

Every second day we wake up for P.E. class at 06:30 (on non-gym class days we get to sleep in until 07:15!) and head up to the boat deck for our daily physical activity. We do punching sequences, yoga and mini-dance parties during our allotted P.E. time. The best part is doing core workouts because if you time it with the waves, you can do a sit-up without expending any energy at all! On the other hand, the tree pose in yoga is quite entertaining especially considering that standing on both feet is challenging at the best of times.

After these intense workout sessions we head down for a 07:00 breakfast. Cold breakfast is served everyday with cereal, milk, apples, oranges and yogurt. It is survival of the fittest and our portions are closely monitored. If you happen to be last in line, none of the good stuff is left. Within seconds the peanut butter jar is empty ... we learn to be quick!

At 08:00 it’s time for colours. Colours is our morning assembly. The crew, faculty and students all muster on deck for ringing of the bell, daily notices and raising the flags. If you are late for colours, you are given two hours of early bird watch the next morning from 06:00-08:00. Ouch!

During colours, our sleeping quarters are inspected. Every morning we have to dismantle our bunks as well as fold and put away all the bedding. If you're the last one to reach the bedding lockers, it takes some skill and patience to shove everything in. The bosun (foreman of a ship's crew) was not happy when we broke the door. Failing inspection (that is, if the area surrounding your bunk zone is left untidy) is the worst! If you fail twice in one sail, you receive port suspension and you are left behind onboard while everyone else gets to spend a couple of hours exploring a new city!

After colours we have cleaning stations until 09:00. That’s right, we clean the entire ship from top to bottom EVERY DAY. We are assigned to stations such as cleaning the heads (toilets and showers), scrubbing the decks or doing the ship’s laundry. There is always work to be done aboard a tall ship.

From 09:00 to 18:00 we have classes, day watch and free time. On average, we have four classes a day, two hours of watch and a couple of hours of free time (including a lunch break). In addition to P.E., I am taking Sociology of Community, Seamanship, English, Math and Political Science. I have never before been in a moving classroom where the white board is swinging, the teacher is sick and lying on the ground and students are occasionally running out of the room to throw-up. However strange this might sound, it has become normal to us floaties. Day watch is basically just working up on deck. We furl sails, clean, hold physical watch positions or… clean. Free time is not that free. We sleep, eat or do homework.

Dinner is at 18:30 until 19:00. Carlos our cook and Jill the cook’s mate are AMAZING! Despite rationing and limited fresh supplies the food is always absolutely delicious. After dinner, we have club meetings, social time (barely!) and more studying to do. Lights out is at 23:00 and night watch begins at 20:00. The secrets of night watch will be released later. After a long and busy day, we head to bed. Zzzz….

Belfast - City of History

The second we hit Belfast, Northern Ireland, the very dedicated Sorlandet workout club, Captained by Clio the Mighty, hit the gangway and went for an hour and a half run through the city. The feeling of freedom as we broke out of our 180-foot microcosm of a sailing ship was unbelievable. A good cardio workout on the ship is difficult to come by and we try to take advantage of the liberty of being on land. 

We soon discovered that Belfast closes at six. That’s right, just like Stornoway everyone likes to pack it in early and it was difficult to find food at dinnertime. Our solution? Sadly, McDonalds. Funnily enough, it turned out to be an interesting cultural experience. I sat down beside a girl around my age and we began chatting about Belfast. After a minute or so, her friends who were spread around the restaurant all congregated at my table and we talked about their lives in Belfast and mine on the ship. I ran into a couple of them later on in the week and it made me look quite popular in Northern Ireland!

September 18^th … Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you had a great day J

Like Stornoway, we were unlucky in terms of weather. It was quite rainy. Fortunately though, it cleared up for our lovely coastline bus tour. There is a beautiful winding road that hugs the coast of Northern Ireland. It passes by startling cliffs, long sandy beaches and a sea of turquoise blue water. On our bus tour day we visited two National Trust sites. The first was a suspension bridge to a small island that is surrounded by bluffs. The colour of the crashing waves is indescribable - the picture cannot even begin to capture it.

The second site that we visited is called Giant’s Causeway. It is an amazing rock formation site with some neat Northern Irish legends linked to its creation.

Our bus ride continued through miles of farmland and sheep until we arrived in the town of Coleraine. After high tea with the town's Mayor, we had our first Class Afloat Student Council meeting in the Mayor’s council hall.

 

Belfast city center itself is a blend of modern and Victorian style architecture. Many office and residential buildings are virtually empty with “To Let” signs hung all over the city. To this day, Belfast is not the safest city of all time. It has an ongoing bloody history over political differences between Catholics and Protestants. Kids are separated into Protestant and Catholic schools, the neighborhoods are divided by walls and some pubs do not allow Protestant or Catholic soccer jerseys for fear of stirring up unwanted political rifts. We had a very fascinating and enthusiastic university professor lecture us about Irish history. Driving through the city, there is so much evidence of the history and beliefs of the people. On every street corner there are representational flags and huge painted murals illustrating the different points of view. Every summer, riots break out in the street and flags are burned to illustrate that the conflicts are very real and still present.

All in all, Belfast was a fascinating and exciting city to visit. Next stop: Falmouth, England!

Land at Last! Stornoway, Scotland

After a long, rocky sail we finally reached solid ground – Stornoway, Scotland! The first morning at port, the Sōrlandet Workout Club woke up early and headed off for a 06:00 am run through rainy, misty Scottish streets. After a day of casual classes, we were granted our first official shore leave and we headed out into town to satisfy our intense cravings for chocolate cereal squares, raspberry cheesecake ice cream and peanut butter. Next thing on our list: Operation Contact Mom. We scrounged for Internet and found a small café. Skype, email and facebook - mission accomplished. When we got back to the ship emotions were running high: people were laughing, crying and holding each other after hearing from loved ones at home.

The streets of Stornoway are lined with small shops and modest homes with brightly coloured front doors. One particular shop sold nothing but tweed. The owner was an awesome Scottish man who lectured us about tourist sites and Canadian geography. We experienced sporadic weather of rain, sun, cold and more rain. One afternoon, we trekked up a hill to a dodgy old Scottish castle with huge grounds complete with hundreds of varieties of trees planted by aristocracy years ago. As far as we could see, these were the only trees in Stornoway!

The next day, we went for an out trip. On our bus ride, we drove through the countryside. A landscape of bare rolling hills scattered with sheep could be seen out the window for miles on end. A series of ancient, broken down stone cottages were set in the hills at random intervals. And a winding road led us to a heritage site called the Calanais Stones. These stones were very similar to Stone Henge, but much older. The Stones are quite the mystery – no one knows their exact purpose. It could be a spiritual Celtic site, a burial or an ancient astronomy observatory. We unintentionally slid down a hill through the mud and ended up at a teashop for a hot chocolate and cheese scones.

Next, we headed to a fortress called a Broch that used to belong to a Celtic clan leader. It was strategically built and positioned to protect the clan from attack. We finished up the day with an epic photo-shoot on the rocks.

On our full day of shore leave, a group of us headed out of town on foot around a beautiful sea wall. It seemed like a great idea until it started to rain. We scampered under the trees. Ten minutes later, we were slightly soaked but in good spirits and ready to carry on with our adventure. After a couple of paces we discovered a small stone hut - perfect shelter from the rain and right around the corner from where we had been huddling under the trees. Unfortunate timing!

We carried on up a mountain, and after an hour of bushwhacking, mud-sludging, walking on roads and hiking through trails, we arrived at a perfect spot at the very top. It was truly breathtaking – a panoramic view of all of Stornoway. Quite the adventure!

All in all, Scotland was fantastic! After stocking up at the local Tesco (our all-time favorite grocery store) we headed off. Can’t wait to arrive in Belfast!

Meet the Sorlandet - Photos



The S.T.S. Sōrlandet



Docked in Kristiansand, Norway



Built in 1927

     

3 sinks!!!





"Provisioning"



Seasick on the deck singing
"Bye Bye Miss American Pie" hoping this awfull feeling will soon pass!





At sea ...

Our Captain











The First Week …

On August 25^th, 2011 forty-two students and their families from the United States, Spain, Germany, Austria, and all over Canada gathered at the main dock in Kristiansand to board the S.T.S. Sōrlandet for the first time. Emotions were running high and excitement was in the air!

After a multiple-stage check-in, (including a tense moment where I dropped my passport and it nearly fell through a crack in the dock) we toured the ship, found our bunks and unpacked our things. I now understand why the sail bag was so small! Each person has half a locker, a cupboard and a small trunk for our clothes. Personal space is precious onboard and we are always required to be very neat with our things - I am learning a lot mom!

The ship itself is beautiful. She is a three-masted Norwegian tall ship built in 1927 with some really neat war history. More to follow…

Over the past few days we have experienced some intense sail training. We learned about lines, sails and the mechanics of the ship. Coiling ropes and tying knots is already second nature to some … I’m still working on it though! We have already begun climbing the rigging, furling the sails, and hoisting the yards. From the first time steering the ship on helm to the first time working in the galley - everything is new and exciting!

I would have to say that the best part about the first few days was meeting the crew. Everyone is really interesting to talk to and genuinely nice. And, although we have only been together for a short time, everybody is already like brothers, sisters and best friends. The coolest part about the crew though, is that everyone comes from different places, has different ideas and different lifestyles, but we all have this one crazy dream in common – to sail around the Atlantic Ocean on a tall ship. The atmosphere this creates on the Sōrlandet is indescribable. We are all enthusiastic, thrilled, scared, and ready for the adventure that lies ahead!

The crew ... also known as "Floaties"