Öckerö gymnasium

Sunday

Today it’s Sunday, which for everybody who’s ever been on the ship for more than a week knows, is a special day on board.

Except from the fact that it’s the only day of the week without any classes and the day which everybody on board gathers on deck for a big meeting, it’s also – and more importantly – the day which we get served bacon and eggs to breakfast. It therefore goes without saying, today was bound to be a good day.

The day started off as any normal day at sea usually does; too early and without enough coffee. At 3:30 am we (starboard) got waken up by the designated “waker”, to get ready to steer and sail the ship. To be the “waker”, as you can probably imagine, is not as appreciated as it is needed. They always try their best to be as nice and as pleasant as humanly possible, but more often than not, the response will be the same no matter the amount of effort put in; grumpy and unappreciative. I usually just put my thumb up behind the bed curtains, to give the appearance of waking up, only to fall asleep immediately after to spend five more precious minutes in bed. It might not be the best strategy, but it’s the only one I have that at least gives me the feeling of waking up all by myself.

Once you actually do manage to force yourself out of bed and into working clothes to go outside however, you are greeted by the beautiful night sky and warm Caribbean air, that quickly makes the tiredness disappear. During our shift (4-8), we also get to see the sun rise and set on the horizon every day, which I don’t think I ever will be tired of seeing. All this rising and setting quickly becomes quite confusing though and the days’ start to melt together.

Even though we normally don’t have classes on Sundays, we made an exception for today due to recent cancelations caused by the now well-known epidemic we had on board a couple of weeks ago. Normally this would probably cause an uproar, as I previously mentioned, the Sundays are about as holy for us as they are for the Catholics, if not more, but we just left what could only be described as heaven on earth, aka Tobacco Caye. To study on a Sunday therefore didn’t feel as harsh as it normally would. If they were to cancel bacon and eggs for breakfast on the other hand, let’s just say I’m not too sure a day in paradise would be enough of a compromise.

All in all, it was quite an ordinary Sunday, or as ordinary a day on board a three-masted tall ship full of eighteen-year old students travelling the Caribbean can be. In other words; a good day.

Gabriel Forsberg, Starboard.

Publicerad:

Öckerö seglande gymnasieskola
Björnhuvudsvägen 45
475 31 Öckerö

Telefon: 031-97 62 00
e-post: kommun@ockero.se