School at Sea – from Tenerife to Dominica

With the School at Sea project, pupils sail across the ocean and back again on a three-master for six months. EOC Sailing Friends chronicled the adventures of Jade and Marit.

Study and fun on Tenerife

The afternoon we arrived, we immediately went to a natural history museum. Super interesting to also find out something about the original population and the history that took place here. Everyone was incredibly excited and we all felt like talking on the phone with the home front. During free time, everyone caught up with family and, naturally in groups of three or more, we enjoyed the vibrant life in Santa Cruz.
The next day was mainly dedicated to school. Of course, we shouldn’t fall behind, so (almost) everyone tried their best. So much his best that we still earned a bit of free time. In the harbour was another German ship, the Thor Heyerdahl, which was also doing a kind of School at Sea. We also got in touch with this and found out that they are actually doing exactly the same route as us. Maybe we will run into them again?
Two days later it was finally time: the Teide (3715m high) just had to be climbed and everyone was eager. […] We walked on at a brisk pace and despite the steep climb (with a bit of chaos in the group) we reached the summit within six hours. […]
The next activity on the agenda was the exchange. In the morning, we went to a school in Tenerife. There, the students had tried hard by coming up with fun activities, making traditional snacks and throwing a party. In the afternoon, they came to Thalassa to have a look around. […]

The crossing begins

We are all secretly a bit tense for the crossing. That mysterious blue sea, where there seems to be no end… After a delicious breakfast, we left, but to where? There were a lot of rumours going around; some claimed we were going to Cape Verde first, others said we were leaving straight away for Dominica.
Where we were really going, we did not know for the time being, so it was better to just stick to school and watch. Unfortunately, we did not have much luck with the wind, so we just floated around for several days. Of course, we prefer not to switch on the engine for environmental reasons, so we had to wait until the wind came back.
Fortunately, it did not completely abandon us, and we were soon able to sail on towards… yes, towards where exactly? That day we were told what our destination was. Many had guessed correctly: we would make another stopover in Cape Verde. With that fun news in our minds, we continued with school, watch or stare at the endless sea around us.

Catching fish on the ocean

There was no lack of fish in that endless sea, so we even managed to catch some mahi mahi (gold mackerel), which were then processed by the kitchen team into delicious teriyaki and ceviche. Meanwhile, during the watch, it was laughter, banter and laughter; for we had, together with the captain, entered on the AIS that we were heading for the Western Sahara, instead of Cape Verde. Fortunately, our parents were not so gullible and no rescue helicopters were sent to come and get us.
Of course, there was also serious work to be done during the waits. Especially now that the arrival in Cape Verde was in sight, a lot had to be prepared: the anchor was prepared, all the sails had to be neatly packed, the ship was made spic and span, and a lot of other things were done to make sure the arrival in Mindelo would go smoothly. After a trip of just under a week, land came into sight and we were ready to explore the island.

Pit stop in Cape Verde

Cape Verde was great, you immediately noticed that we were no longer dealing with a western culture, which was still the case in Tenerife. Everywhere you saw mopeds speeding by, people selling their homegrown fruit and vegetables on the pavement and dogs munching on the leftovers of these. We learnt a lot about the island’s culture and history. […] For example, we learned about local singers and were taken to the top of the highest mountain. The next day there was some time to look around, then it was already time to start the ‘real’ crossing.

Wind and showers

The wind proved entirely in our favour. The boat cut through the water at a constant speed of about eight knots. The wind did not diminish, so we did get across quickly. Moreover, we saw beautiful animals. By now, it is becoming normal when we see a dolphin or a flying fish jumps on board. On St Nicholas, a pair of beautiful whales swam by. Those always remain special to me anyway.
We had a lot of Spanish and sailing lessons along the way. For instance, we can now calculate the variation and deviation of a course. We also learned about showers and high and low pressure areas. This was good to use during the watches. Especially the last part of the crossing, there were many showers to identify. For us, this was also exercise.
When showers come over us, we have to lower the sails very quickly. We figured that if we made it a competition, it would make it faster and more fun. The ironing competition consists of lowering the mizzen bram, main bram and topsail. With passion and spunk, everyone pulled the lines and every watch we tried to break our record time. The fastest time was 3 minutes and 18 seconds. However, they had help from our powerhouse captain Sam, who can take down the sails with one hand.
We often needed the ironing training at the end of the crossing. Wind gusts came along and bad weather anyway. So we bobbed and fled from the showers for a while. This was the perfect time to catch fish, though. Our biggest prize was tuna hanging on the hook. We enjoyed it and ate our bellies full.

Applying for the ship takeover

Then everyone started looking forward to the ship takeover, which is scheduled at the end of the crossing. We all then have to apply for a position on the boat. With a good application letter, everyone walked into the wheelhouse tense. You were properly interviewed and it certainly aroused a jet of anxiety. As the final 300 nautical miles drew near, the positions were divided. The future captain soon went to work and was still racking his brains until late to make the watch groups. When the ship takeover began, everyone was eager. The watches flew by smoothly and the helmsmen did a good job. The activities were also fun. For instance, we had movie nights, a pub quiz (with prize of course) and creabea morning. The kitchen service was all over the place, bringing delicious dishes to the middle deck. The captain was all about us and didn’t mind being woken up in the middle of the night either. The helmsmen took us perfectly past all the squalls around Dominica and of course we must not forget the sailors either, as they hoisted all the sails.

Arrival on beautiful Dominica

After three days of toil (and also some enjoyment), we finally arrived at beautiful Dominica. As the ship had already been cleaned by the hotel managers, we were immediately allowed to take a splash in the clear water. Now that was enjoyment! The next day, for some of the group it was already time for the moment of silence; a moment for yourself in a nature park where you could reflect on the trip so far. The following day, it was then up to the other part of the group. Everyone found it really great to be able to reflect for a while without being disturbed by anyone every time.
On Dominica, we also went to visit a rastafari family and did the Boiling Lake hike. Then it was time for the infamous hut change, which did go rather chaotically despite the fact that we had mapped out a whole plan. Then suddenly it was already Christmas! Christmas 2024 aboard the Thalassa is something we won’t soon forget, just like our stay in Dominica.

Source: the newsletter Varende Vrienden of the EOC.
Image: the students gathered for a briefing, at a previous edition.

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