Over the span of these last 8 months at sea, I have come across an observation that I cannot shake anymore; if you aren’t at the right place at the right time - when it comes to sailing, you become somewhat expandable. It is not always the greatest feeling. Here is what I mean by expandable; you feel useless and replaceable. 

The boat was slowly making is way in the river, getting closer every minute to the mythical city of London. The dry cold of the English Channel and cloudy weather of the United Kingdom made us even more eager to arrive to destination. Different docks and even bridges opened up for us. We finally docked inside London. What could have been better?

On September 4^th, when students came to the wharf in Amsterdam and they could finally have their first glimpse at the tall ship they would be living on for the upcoming months, the three tall masts took the breath away from the future Floaties. When will the moment come for them to finally reach the top gallant, 40 meters above the deck? For some of us more adventurous students, this thrill was a story of the past only few days after the official departure; for others, the challenge is still alive today. Above all, reaching the summit is a special moment for anyone having the nerves to climb all the way up. For me, after few attempts to the course, then to the lower top sail - just half way to the top gallant - I strived for the peak of the Gulden Leeuw on a sunny day of the first Atlantic crossing.

The first thing most people think of when I tell them I’m sailing around the world on a tall ship is “Oh what a great adventure” or “you’re so brave to be doing this without knowing anyone beforehand”. Yes, this is all true, but no one really thinks about the bond or community that the whole crew shares; nobody would understand this except for the people who have been in the same situation.

As we left the beautiful islands of the Azores, we entered our second and last long sail of the year. We left behind us a picturesque painted dock filled with traces of Class Afloat’s early years and ours. With the help of many student and staff, Hanna, a very talented artist, designed and painted our Class Afloat mural. Our design, which blended in with the sea of other murals on the quay, is a symbol of our stay in the Azores. Then, as we left the dock, we got a grand goodbye from the surrounding training sailing vessels and tall ships of Horta. They honked and yelled goodbye as we sailed away into the sunset. One of them was a sail training vessel from Germany called Thor Heyerdahl. Many of the students got to meet them either by visiting their ship or when they visited ours.

Just as most people do chores at home, Class Afloat is no exception. Here on the boat there never ceases to be a shortage of cleaning that needs to get done. But just because there’s an endless supply of dirty undies and deck scrubbing doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

We successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the second time and arrived in London! We arrived two days early at Canary Wharf, so we had one school day with an evening of shore leave and a full day of shore leave extra. All of the students were very excited to have one more day of shore leave to explore the city.  

Hamilton, Bermuda was the port people were looking forward to most this second semester. Everyone was so excited to see his or her parents after sailing for one month. After ten days of sailing from Havana, we were finally entering Hamilton. Every single student had a position to make the entrance more exciting. As we entered, you could see the large group of parents waving and screaming at their children.

After a 14 day sail and 2 days of anchor, the small community of our magnificent vessel was impatient to discover the Azores. Many of the students went to the grocery store to replenish their empty snack bag. The nights on board are getting cooler, so I bought a cozy blanket. The second evening, I packed provisions for the expedition planned the next day. I woke up early and after a good breakfast with a glass of fresh creamy milk from a farm nearby, our group of 14 trainees made our way to the ferry.

After 18 days of school at sea, the students and crew needed a break. The patience of everybody was getting short and our full night watches were catching up to our tiredness. This sail was not our best one, but at least we tried to make the most out of it.