Back at sea!

I woke up before we were supposed to be roused, the clock was about 10 am. Last time I was on deck the color of the sea was brown, the smell of Paramaribo had not left the boat yet and we still were in the canal leaving Suriname.

As I laid in my cabin I was hoping that the sea would be clearer, that the only scent I could smell was the tar from some kind of maintenance work and that we would be surrounded by an open horizon.

My imagination was more than fulfilled, when I opened the door to main deck I saw that not only my wishes was satisfied but also that almost every sail was set, this will be a good day I thought to myself. I walked from main deck to the stem were I met some of my classmates who were sunbathing. I decided to join them until lunch. While sunbathing I reflected on my existens here on the boat and reminded myself of how thankful I should be for getting the opportunity to sail in the Caribbean ocean during two months as a part of my education. Moments like that, when you are able to reflect, occur often here on Gunilla. The night watches are full of such moments. That is actually one of the best things about being on a boat without any contact with the outside world. Instead of using your phone the second you are not stimulated, you can reflect and really appreciate what you are doing.

The watch started at 12 am, when the sun was as strong as it can be. I was a part of the working force which on this watch meant a lot of work with the sails and a lecture with our bås Jens. We started off with a climb in the rigging just to warm up and make ourself more comfortable while climbing. On my way up I heard that the captain told the second mate that a squal is on its way but we did not get any command so we continued up. When we had reached the top g our watchleader Magnus screamed to us that they should dowse the royal and that we should get ready to furl. With only three persons on deck they dowsed both the fore royal and the main royal. Me and Carl went up to the royal and furled it, it was not the finest furl we have done but it worked. Then they dowsed the top g´s so we furled them as well. What I thought would be a calm start of the watch became a stressful maneuver to avoid the potential consequences of a windy squal. The rest of the watch was calm, we sat the sails again and we had a lecture with Jens about force vectors and sail-theory.

The day ended just as good as the day started. The sun was setting, the sea was clear blue and we had all 18 sails set. Me, one friend and our watchleader Magnus climbed up the rigging to just look at the beautiful view and enjoy the boat life at its best.

Erik Axelsson Larsholt