Freshmen’s perspective

It turned out that among the voyage crew, we are a small minority. On Bark Europa we are not passive passengers. We are members of the voyage crew that has some duties with helping the permanent crew with the tasks that do not require that much skill and experience. Most of the voyage crew have sailing experience; quite a lot have travelled on Bark Europa already. I was worried that we would not fit into this crowd to whom I will be a complete freshman desperately trying to catch up and falling behind. We all had an orientation on the first day with learning all the basics but obviously one cannot learn it all in one day. But it turns that everybody is super patient for such a newbie as myself. If I occasionally confuse port side with starboard or 12 o’clock location with a 6 o’clock one, or fast the line the wrong way, I will not get a terrified look but I get corrected with no judging. And slowly but steadily the knowledge and skills get better.

The daily routine is organized by 4 hour long shifts with 8 hour breaks between them. On each shift, each of the voyage crew members has two or three duty posts of half an hour each, on lookout and at helm. On lookout, we report sighting other ships, or anything else to the bridge. Usually nothing happens, there are only occasional cargo ships or yachts crossing at a distance. The ship has a radar but we are a backup and we also watch out for men over board that could have been missed from the bridge which is super rare, but when it happens every second counts. On the helm, we are steering the ship and there is a lot of fun in making sure the ship follow’s the captain’s course and turning the big steering wheel (the ship has a mechanical steering system but where would be a fun in that?). And between the lookout and helm duties we are on standby when we are needed to adjust the sails or anything else. I am still a bit overwhelmed with the hundreds of lines that each has a different purpose and I am relieved that I don’t yet have to know how to lower the ship’s Royal Sail but I am simply told to “pull this line” but with lectures and seeing it in action it gets less and less confusing.

Before taking this trip, I was worrying about two things: seasickness and boredom. The first hit me and Urszula hard on the first day and we felt miserable. I was cursing myself how I could think it was a good idea to take this trip but slowly we got better and yesterday I finally stopped taking seasickness medication and we both feel pretty fine. And the boredom part never arrived. I took a lot of books on my e-reader and after the shifts, the meals, the talks, the naps, and just simply looking at the ocean, I have no time to even start the first of the books. Yesterday, was the most exciting day so far. In our evening shift, the wind changed dramatically and we had to quickly lower fours sails and adjust all of the others. There was a lot of pulling the ropes and after with two other voyage crew members, we adjusted a particularly heavy one that we had to pull together as a team, we spontaneously high fived each other for the job well done. If somebody told me last year that I would enjoy pulling some ropes in the darkness, in the drizzle, and on a shaky and wet surface, I would think I must gone crazy but here I am enjoying it fully. I am looking forward to this ever changing Atlantic. I am also enjoying Internet detox and even if the excitement lowers to the level I finally start reading the books, it will all add up to the experience.