This port had a very special feeling about it from the day we first saw land.

The morning of the 28th, we reported to the bridge deck for the 4 to 6 am watch, just in time to see the sunrise behind the mountains of Tristan da Cunha.

NATAL

Ship Life: Fernando de Noronha to Natal

Just as it is on land, onboard the Gulden Leeuw some days go by quickly, while others seem as though they have lasted years. After our previous twelve-day voyage, this two-day passage from Fernando de Noronha to Natal has been a breeze. On departure day, after saying goodbye to the beloved archipelago that we thoroughly enjoyed, we sailed from anchor, with our engine turned off. While many of us were happy to have bathed in the beaming sun during our time spent on the island, the bright star betrayed many of us. Instead of the golden skin that many were hoping for, sunburns took over. As we heaved and hauled away at lines to set our sails, we no longer looked like a crew of sailing students, but instead, we resembled an impressive troupe of well-trained lobsters. “We are chasing the sun!” stated our engineer as we sailed away from the island, moving slowly towards a magnificent sunset, one complete with a gradient of orange, blue, pink and another infinite amount of ever-changing colours. Forget about that fairy tale ending where the heroes ride off into the sunset. On Class Afloat, we sail into it.

Fernando de Noronha

After 13 days at sea, the longest sail ‘til now, everybody was really happy to see land again. We saw the Brazilian flag on the mast and that was exciting, because a lot of people hadn’t been to Brazil before and it is far away for a lot of people. The first of December felt weird because for almost everybody this time of the year is usually cold. Even from the distance, Fernando seemed like it is one of the most beautiful islands ever, and it turned out that it was.

Fernando De Noronha

Our time in Fernando de Noronha began with an early morning and some very bleary-eyed students.  We were woken up and as we slowly shuffled our way upstairs we could hear calls from above about an island close by. As we made our way up into the mess, the students up front began to move faster and this time no one was walking towards the bar to get breakfast. Instead we all made our way as fast as we could to the starboard railings to get the first looks at our newly-found island paradise. As we spoke, the anchor was dropped and it appeared that we had found home for a little while. Fernando stood off the starboard beam, standing to full attention and showing off everything it had to offer. Beautiful white sand beaches with clear baby blue water, sprawling trees and jungles and a single, towering, jagged mountain towering above all.

Atlantic Crossing: Ship Life

As many of you know, the Gulden Leeuw has made it safely past the first of three trans-Atlantic crossings for the 2016/17 school year!  Class Afloat students were eager to set foot on the most breathtaking island of Brazil: Fernando de Noronha. This passage was incredibly busy, as students continued to work hard in both their academic studies and sail training.  Although these last two weeks were an unforgettable adventure for us all, filled with stress and excitement, there is no doubt that time off in Brazil is exactly what students, faculty and maritime crew needed.

Ship Life: Tenerife to Dakar

The departure from Tenerife left many with heavy hearts and many more with tear stained t-shirts. It was quite a sight to see all of our parents, Megan (Class Afloat’s head of school) included, standing on the quayside wishing us goodbye and a fair voyage. We were, however, quickly torn from this sentimental lull and thrown back into everyone’s favorite part of sailing, pulling on “ropeys”. That being said, it was good to be back at sea. The port began to fade behind us and the winds blew strong at our backs, stealing us away from that beautiful island paradise. As sad as it was to leave the parent port behind, the adventure was still ahead of us and plenty more was to be seen, done, tasted, and explored.

Tenerife: Full-Day Port Leave!

We woke up excited for a full day of exploring the island and everyone made sure to finish provisioning and cleaning stations as fast as possible.  As soon as we were finished some people got picked up by their parents and others went in groups of four together.  I made sure my parents got to the boat early so I could spend as much time with them as possible.