School at Sea explores Caribbean and sets course back home

With the School at Sea project, high school students sail across the ocean and back again. The EOC newsletter Varende Vreinden follows them, via their own blogs, through the Caribbean and back home again.

Lotus de Jong kicks off: “In Dominica, we took a beautiful hike to the Boiling Lake, a boiling hot lake among the mountains in the rainforest. Dominica is very beautiful and there are many waterfalls. We also got drumming lessons from some Dominicans and swam in a gorge between the rocks. […]
In Dominica, we did a cabin swap, where everyone gets a new watch, cabin and kitchen duty. I started the voyage with the eight-to-twelve watch, which became the 12-to-four after Dominica. I have that until Cuba, where a new cabin change will assign me to the four-to-eight watch, so I experienced all three watches once. After Dominica, we sailed on to Curaçao, which was very quiet and relaxed.

Halfway dip

Sailing took some getting used to again for everyone, after eight days idle. […] The current two months are the months when we sail the least and visit the most destinations. After just a few days, we arrived in Curaçao. I personally liked that very much because I have family living there that I hadn’t seen for a while. My uncle welcomed the Thalassa with a drone to take beautiful photos and videos. We visited the slavery museum in Curaçao and had a tour of the Rotterdam, a large cruise ship where a former SS man works. Both experiences were impressive. […]

We then left for the San Blas archipelago. That was five days of sailing, during which we could again practise with the sails and learn even more about the ship. Every watch always needs a watch leader, someone who keeps an overview for four hours, directs the others and makes sure tasks like filling in the logbook and checking the watermaker are done properly. This time, the honour was mine. I had not often been watch leader before, as I find it difficult to do. So this allowed me to practise more, and despite the challenge, I am getting better at it.

Meanwhile, it became clear that many people were going through a ‘halfway dip’. When you have been on board for three months, everything, no matter how special and impressive, starts to feel a bit normal. Then it is sometimes quite tricky to find the motivation to still put your best foot forward and get everything out of the trip. Fortunately, there is no lack of challenge aboard the Thalassa, as long as you know where you can do your best! A midway dip is therefore seen as the most normal thing in the world, almost everyone gets out of it, as long as you are willing to talk about it and be honest with yourself.

Negotiate for more survival

In the San Blas, we arrived on the island of Porvenir. Then a survival adventure began, in which we had to survive on an uninhabited island for three days. It was a half-day sail. During the survival, we had so much fun that we made a deal: if we got one extra day of survival, we promised to take 72 tests before we left in Panama on our ‘own journey’, i.e. within the time frame of about six days. The coaching staff agreed to this. We thus got our extension to four days. Making those tests then worked out fine, by day four we were already at 73 tests and by day six we were even at 93. […]

Travelling by yourself

In Panama, preparations began for our own trip. During that trip, you will spend a week on the road with a group. After the division was announced, everyone immediately started making plans and coming up with a packing list. The craziest things were thought of to do, but less was possible than we thought because of the available budget.

Our budget was $35 per person per day. Each group had six students and one guide. It felt quite crazy to pack your things and say goodbye to everyone for those eight days, having seen and talked to each other every day since the start of the trip. Yet joy prevailed: we were finally going into Panama!

The trip was special. My group and I had several great meals, we had two beach days and saw a lot of the region. During visits to Panama City, El Valle de Antón and San Carlos, we saw plenty and bought as many souvenirs. Almost every night we slept in a new hostel, where we sometimes met other groups. I did keep in touch with fellow SaS’ers who were not in my group, because it was more difficult to miss each other than I thought.

Upended plans…

After these wanderings in Panama, we set sail for Cuba. Or so we thought. Because of the uncertain situation in the region, it was decided that it was safer to look for an alternative destination. Unfortunately, that also meant the second trip on our own was cancelled. A disappointment, but the destination that took its place was at least as exciting: Mexico! Along the way, we sailed downwind a lot: that’s pretty tough. After 11 days of sailing, we arrived at the island of Cozumel on my watch. Although not Cuba, the atmosphere was still good. Arriving at a new destination is always fun. I’m very curious about the activities here in Mexico, I’m really looking forward to it!”

Carnival in Mexico

So much for Lotus de Jong’s report. Yinthe Buzink continues:
“The first day in Mexico started off right away with – after school work, because that’s just part of it too – free time. The timing of our stay in Mexico was perfect, because in February it is time for a fantastic carnival, just like in the south of our country. Here, too, they make beautiful floats, which are then driven down the boulevard in a festive parade in the evening. Besides huge vehicles with dancers, there were also smaller creations, especially for children. So time flew by and even after one day off the ship, I was super happy to get back home to our home-away-from-home.

Mayas and crocodiles

Soon it was time for excursions. We took off in a kind of safari bus. The first stop was a museum on Cozumel that reminded me a bit of the Dutch Archeon, but about the Maya. I found this very attuned to tourists, it didn’t feel particularly authentic. Nevertheless, we did learn something about how the Maya lived, their culture and rituals.

At the next stop, we spotted a crocodile, then drove to a beach club. There we went snorkelling and were treated to a delicious Mexican buffet. The last stop took us past a lighthouse where you were allowed to go up. Once at the top, you had to go through a small hatch next to the lamp to enjoy the view.

On excursion day two, we went kayaking in see-through kayaks. We also got a nice drink, but after that, unfortunately, the fun was over: once back on board, it was time to get to school. Fortunately, the third day finally took us to the mainland! First by ferry and then on a trip through a kind of cave system, also called underground rivers or cenotes. In these cenotes, we snorkelled with torches while getting more explanations about the Maya and their religion. […]

Ship takeover

While we were in Mexico, it was also time for job interviews for the second ship takeover. As explained earlier, at these times the experienced crew really does step back and we sail the ship for three days. This time, I had written an application letter for the position of PA, which stands for personal assistant and means that, together with a fellow SaS employee, I would look after the crew and organise drinks, snacks and entertainment. In addition, it gives me the chance to watch things happening in the wheelhouse. Excitement was high and final preparations were quickly made for all the talks. After the captains had also had their turn, the redeeming word came: I got the desired role!

Immediately the next morning, it was time for departure and we were now really going to Bermuda. Led by a fellow SS, we sailed out of the bay. So for me as PA, it was immediately time for cappuccinos and a joke hour in the wheelhouse. During this ship takeover, unfortunately, there was also some stormier weather. Whereas at first we had a nice southerly wind taking us north, it later turned against us, with showers of 30 to 40 knots from the north.

Fortunately, we were already so far north that we could sail nicely between America and Cuba, carried along by the Gulf Stream. The stormy weather caused some ship takeover plans to fall through, but nevertheless it was very successful.

Saltos overboard

During the takeover, we had another special moment. We all gathered on the middle deck, where we were told to put on our swimsuits. We were allowed to swim in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. It was windless and with up to a thousand metres below us, we enjoyed the delicious water. With somersaults off the tip of the jib boom or just off the edge of the ship, we dove into the sea. I thought it was so special. The water was clear and everything around us was blue. Truly magical!

MOTOR WATCHES UNTIL ARRIVAL
Now that we were sailing again and the cabin change in Mexico had been completed, we continued with the new watches. I was hoping for a lot of sailing and well-filled watches, but unfortunately the weather did not permit this and there was a lot of so-called ‘engine watches’.

However, this did give a lot of time to get to know our new watch better and learn extra things. We engaged in identifying ships and their direction. I also learned more about maps and the differences between them. An onion then is an excellent model of the world and thanks to the brilliant drawing skills (wink!) of our captain, we soon understood how it was put together.” […]

The Thalassa is expected back for a celebratory arrival in Den Helder on 19 April.

Source: Sailing Friends.