A new destination - leaving Charleston

We’re leaving Charleston and soon we’ll be out on the open sea again, our harbor schedule is replaced with a sailing schedule. This means that the three groups (Babord, Styrbord and Midskepp) will take turns to control the boat in periods of 4 hour (8-12, 12-4 och 4-8) both night and day until we arrive in Bermuda.

Leaving the US and changing the course to Bermuda. With all the sails set and a plate of cold ice cram, this day can’t get any better. Today I woke up around 07:00 and begun my day as usual (eating breakfast). Because my group worked on the boat yesterday it was our turn to watch the boat through the night. As for me, my watch was 07:30 to 08:00 which ment I was asked to do a very special job, hoist the Swedish flag. When the flag was up I returned to my group (midskepp) who really wanted to sleep again after the morning shelf. Because today is the day we’re leaving Charleston and begin our sail towards Bermuda.

Bermuda I thought it would be a good idea to set up a camera in the mast to film our leaving. During my thoughts on where I should set up my camera the Captain said that we’re leaving 09:00, which was exactly 45 minutes from now. From old experiences (the time I come 10 minutes late to a watch shift) I knew it would take at least 15 minutes to set up the camera. As soon as the watch was over I rushed down to get all my equipment (camera and harness) and then I climbed up in a mast. This particular mast is laid at the far end of the boat. Because we’re leaving Charleston and soon we’ll be out on the open sea again our harbor schedule is replaced with a sailing schedule. This means that the three groups (Babord, Styrbord and Midskepp) will take turns to control the boat in periods of 4 hour (8-12, 12-4 och 4-8) both night and day until we arrive in Bermuda. Because Im in Midskepp my watch didn’t begun until 12:00 so I decides to sleep for a couple of hours. After a few hours or so I walked up on the maindeck and saw that we’d come a good bit away from the mainland. WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO BERMUDA!

During my watch we put up all the sails Gunilla is equipped with, which is rather unusual because the winds often isn’t reliable (they could easily change direction). Besides from putting up all the sails my group also enjoyed a plate of cold ice cream with small pieces of brownies in it. Just as I was eating I heard someone yell from the slope (the front part of the boat) that he saw a hammer shark. But that wasn’t the only animal that showed up. 2 hours later a flock of dolphins swam by the ship just as the sunset was about to begin.

Isac Jonsson, Nab1518