Coming home after six months at sea

School at Sea director Monique Touw talks to former participant Fien van den Berg. Coming home after such a long trip, the emotions, the impressions, the knowledge and skills gained: how do you deal with it in your daily life?

It all sounds like a fairy tale, six months sailing in the Caribbean with peers. Sun, sea, beach and relaxing. But make no mistake! There is hard work to be done and school lessons to be attended as well. In the end, School at Sea is all about experiential learning: learning with a direct link to practice, thus contributing to pupils’ personal development.

What were you most looking forward to beforehand?

‘Especially the way of life on board. Through the information meetings, I already had a good idea of what life on board is like. Also the degree of independence expected of you. I thought it would be great fun to be at the helm myself, to put it in shipping terms. And of course also very much towards the beautiful destinations!’

Did those expectations come true?

‘I was very much looking forward to the destinations, but afterwards I loved living and working on board! I actually enjoyed that the most. And the people on board. The way we interacted with each other that really made me very happy.’

When did you feel at home?

‘That was just before Tenerife after our middle deck. We had gotten a booth upside down about cleaning and I remember everyone reacting so maturely to that. I could say in that moment how I felt and there was a very normal and nice response from the other students. Then I really thought, with these people I feel at home. In the beginning, you are still searching for your place and you have to get to know everyone and that is really exciting when you get on board. I was lucky that I already knew a few girls with whom it clicked right away, but after this particular moment I really felt the group feeling and how good that was. We all thought: we can do this! And I thought that was a really cool moment.’

What did you miss at sea from home?

‘My family the most. Of course, sometimes I would lie in bed thinking about how things would go at home. For example, when it was my sister’s birthday. Then you would have liked to be there and give her a hug. But then you were also taken back by the group and everything was cake again. I never felt like I wanted to go home. And eventually the people on board started to feel like family too.’

And what did you miss when you came home?

‘Everything! As soon as I got home, I was really happy to see everyone again and vice versa. And for the first few weeks it felt super nice to have so many people around me although it was a bit overwhelming at times. There was so much going on. At one point I also had to go back to school, which I did not look forward to. Everything suddenly became like before I left and that’s when the homesickness set in. I just wanted to go back on board and school felt very oppressive. On board everyone is there for you and people noticed when you weren’t doing so well, but in daily life it felt like ‘every man for himself’ again and I really regretted that. Furthermore, I missed travelling, being outside constantly, actually just everything.’

Which experience did you remember the most?

‘I was in the four-to-eight watch and we were about to have dinner together, but I had to go into the net first to pack the outside jib. And then there was such a beautiful sunset to see anyway that I asked if I could stay and enjoy it for a while. So I sat at the very tip of the ship and saw nothing but the sea and the sun setting in it and I just thought: wow! It is all so beautiful and unreal what you are doing that sometimes you don’t realise how cool it actually is what you are seeing and experiencing. Just in that place and in that moment I had such a moment of realisation and that was so impressive.’
‘And on Dominica where the atmosphere with the group was so nice. We had just had a month at sea and were so happy to be on land. During school lessons, we had already put on our swimwear so we could spend every free minute in between diving into the water.’

What do you think – a year later – you learned about everything?

‘Anyway, I was very much thrown into the deep end with myself which made me run into things quite a bit. When I got feedback that didn’t go well for a while, I got a bit tired of myself. Then I really thought: what are you doing now? At moments like that, it really bothered me. And unfortunately I had also received bad news from the home front while I was on board, which really affected me.
‘My parents say they have seen a completely different child come back than when I left. I make my choices differently and was always a bit more on my own before. An example: I used to dance very fanatically but now I don’t feel the need to do that anymore and so I put that on the back burner. I also talk much more about the things that concern me and I can say that I am much closer to myself. For a very long time, I didn’t really know what I wanted and was curious about who I was without my familiar surroundings. That influences you so much and School at Sea really allowed me to let go of that for a while. Now I know better what I want and which friends and things suit me. I am really much more comfortable and confident now.’

Source: Newsletter Varende Vrienden (sailing friends) by EOC (dutch).

Windassist sponsor