Sunday, June 30, 2013

First Night

Back on board after two weeks "shore leave"! It was nice to be welcomed back by lots of familiar faces. And nice to show Sorlandet off to friends and family who came down to the Tall Ships Festival. She really is beautiful and it was fun for people to see where I will be living for a while. 

Then, because this is a working ship I was put on galley duty a couple hours after arriving. Tonight it meant squeezing extra moisture and blood from hamburgers so they'd stay together! On my last journey I spent my first night sorting garbage so I think it's a step up? 

It's not all bad of course! I got to play my music in the galley and thanks to my musical director I have some good stuff on my phone. Even able to sound semi knowledgeable when asked about the artists! (Thanks Denise for all your training!). And looking around to see a sunset like this isn't bad either. 

 
Bedtime now. We leave for Cleveland tomorrow!

The Beginning - or how I ended up sailing for the summer


Short answer: Google
Long answer: It started in February (or maybe March?) with some Google searching, something like "tall ships festival Toronto 2013".  Just to see if there was one. I had meant to go the last time there was a tall ships festival but ended up being busy that weekend, maybe there'd be one this year.  There was!  And by clicking a bunch more links I ended up at the Class Afloat website where I found they were running 1-2 week summer programs for sailors (or want to be sailors) of all ages!  Going on a tall ships trip was something on my bucket list, as was traveling on the St. Lawrence river.  I was able to check both those off after my first voyage on the Sorlandet from Lunenburg to Brockville.  It was great! I loved everything about being part of a crew of a tall ship. Yes, even the odd sleeping hours and long work days.  So at the end of the trip when I was given the opportunity to stay on the rest of the summer as a volunteer I was 80% sure I'd be back. 

Of course once I got home and felt how nice it was to sleep regular hours, in a regular bed and go to the grocery store and pick out my own food (for the record the food on board was great!) and see people I love it wasn't quite as easy of a decision but after three days of going back and forth I handed in my resignation at work and started planning what to pack. 

So here I am, about to set off for a 7.5 week sail around the Great Lakes - it should be a blast!