School at Sea 2025-2026: Deel 1 – Let’s go!

With the School at Sea project, a class of students sails across the ocean and back on the three-masted Thalassa for six months.

In this blog series on Varende Vrienden, we travel with them to the Caribbean and beyond on their adventure.

Fundraising

There it was, the day School at Sea really began. On October 19, 2025, thirty-six other young people and I boarded the Thalassa, the ship we would call home for the next six months. We are participating in School at Sea, a six-month trip to the Caribbean and back on a sailing ship for young people in the upper years of secondary education. During these six months, we learn everything about sailing, discover new cultures, and don’t miss a single test. We simply take them on board. But perhaps the most important thing about School at Sea is all the personal development that comes with this trip.
Some of us have been working towards this for months or even years. We did this by raising money through fundraising. We received training from School at Sea and enthusiastically organized campaigns to raise the necessary amount.

Sharing cabins

Back to October 19. For me, this was the first time I was on board the Thalassa. The impressive ship with its three masts towered above us and after an emotional farewell, we were told what we would be doing in the coming days. These were dominated by safety and sailing training. We had to know what to do in case of an alarm and how to swim through the water like a big snake, for example, if we needed to abandon ship. It was also time to set up our cabins. You share your cabin with one, two, or four other young people. In Dominica, the layout will change again, but until then, you are literally and figuratively stuck with them. Fortunately, I get along well with my roommates.

Benjamin speeds up the plans

We spent the first few days in Harlingen, but because storm Benjamin was coming, we couldn’t stay there. So we left sooner than expected. Off to Tenerife, we all thought! Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and we ended up in Den Helder for a few days first. Oh well, at least we had sailed a bit. In Den Helder, we received all the stores (provisions), and it was our job to make sure they were stowed away on board and that we made a note of how much of each item we had and where it was located. That makes it easier for the kitchen crew, otherwise you’d be searching all over such a big ship. Although I can already tell you that the supplies weren’t always kept track of properly, so we’ll have to do a recount in Tenerife. You can imagine how excited everyone is about that…

Finally on our way!

Saturday, October 25 was the day. At 12:48 p.m., we sailed out of the port of Den Helder. Full of enthusiasm for the Caribbean, that was the idea! But the weather had other plans. We left just after storm Benjamin and were still dealing with waves and swells. These were about four meters high, which didn’t help with seasickness and even affected the watch on the upper deck at times. We saw some kite surfers jumping past us, but for many, that was the last thing they remembered before seasickness struck. For two days, we sailed against the wind on the engine. There was no question of sailing, and almost everyone felt miserable. We couldn’t wait until land was in sight again. Fortunately, that didn’t take long. The captain decided to take a different route and we made a sharp turn towards northern France, Boulogne-sur-Mer to be precise. Here we would wait out the worst of the weather before continuing our journey.

Aquarium in Boulogne

But this literal headwind didn’t spoil the fun, because everyone had survived and we were at our first foreign destination (without parents). We also got our phones back for the first time since leaving the Netherlands and enthusiastically started calling home. Of course, everyone at home was eager to hear all our stories. In Boulogne, we visited an aquarium, which was surprisingly fun. Did you know, for example, that the sea level there rises and falls by as much as 9.4 meters at high and low tide? That’s a crazy amount! We also went to the beach with the whole group to stretch our legs for a bit before we’ll be at sea for who knows how long.

Straight to Tenerife

It was soon time to leave again, even if only for about 24 hours. We sailed out of the harbor on our way to Cherbourg, a city further along in France. Our watches resumed (they had been canceled on the previous trip due to seasickness and because we were sailing on the engine anyway) and in no time we were anchored at Cherbourg to wait out the worst headwind. This meant that we were stuck for two days, so it was time for everyone to do some schoolwork. We knew that as soon as we left Cherbourg, the plan was to sail straight to Tenerife, if we could manage it this time. It was a crazy idea, really, because we didn’t know how long we would be at sea or what lay ahead of us. But still, we were all eager to finally sail to warmer climes. Our anchor was raised. Off to Tenerife!!!

Challenging crossing with orcas

We have now been underway for almost two weeks without setting foot on land. The number of seasick people has dropped dramatically and the sails are hoisted more and more often. School at Sea has now really begun! However, we still had to contend with a lot of headwinds, because after Benjamin, storm Claudia also came to visit. The captain devised a creative route to sail through as much of it as possible: sailing far to the west, then slowly to the south and occasionally a day on the engine… In the end, we made it, but according to the crew, we had a really tough first crossing.

Still, there were many highlights, such as our first catch (a mahi mahi weighing over five kilos) and the days when we were able to sail beautifully (albeit close to the wind, but still). One moment stands out above the rest: the visit from a couple of orcas! We had already seen dolphins and we’re sure to spot a whale, but on the way to Tenerife we also encountered a group of orcas! It was amazing. They came to take a look and jumped beautifully out of the water. What a fantastic experience!

Shorts

Not only did we have a lot of headwinds, but getting started with the group didn’t always go smoothly, but we’re getting there. In these last two days before Tenerife, the weather has finally changed and we can do watch duty in T-shirts and shorts. Hopefully, the crossing to the Caribbean will be the same. In the coming months, we will continue to tell you about our adventure through these blogs, hoping to give you a glimpse into our life on board. See you next time!

In the next episode in the series, you can read whether the rest of the trip to the Caribbean is a little less turbulent…

Text and pictures: Varende Vrienden van EOC

Windassist sponsor