A very fun day

We were swiftly woken at 3:30 am by Portside. Tired my friends and I dragged ourselves out of bed to get ready for four hours on deck in the darkness of the night. Ones we got on deck all we could see was the reflections of the lifejackets and all we could hear were the 8 meter waves smashing against the body of the boat. Holding on to the safety rope pulling myself toward half-deck with my boots being underwater I started to hear my classmates puking in between the guard rails.

On half-deck I thought I would be spending my next four hours singing to avoid having my head in between the guard rails like the rest of my classmates, but our guard leader had other plans for us. We needed to change the angle of the sails. So in complete darkness we found ourselves on deck tugging on ropes. Now done we could feel how our stomachs were growling for food. Now in the dining room hungrier then ever, all I could get in me was an apple slice and a glass of water before going back to half-deck to look out over the horizon for another couple of hours before going back to sleep again.

Again awoken by Portside now at 3:30 pm we got up, put on our clothes and went to half-deck. The waves still being 8 meters tall creating splashes that doused you from top to bottom. Being thankful from the gentle wake up call from the waves I stood next to the guard rail balancing and singing with my friends to avoid feeling like the rest of my classmates. The mission our guard leader gave us this time was to set a sail called “övre meshen”. So two of my friends climbed up and begun taking off the knots holding up the sail. Then we started tugging on more ropes until the sail was set. After that was done I did what I do best and stood and looked over the horizon whilst singing “row your boat” and felt how my eyelids began to close on their own. At 8:00 pm we handed over the guard duty too midship and headed down to our cabin. On our way there I would look left and right to see my classmates lying on their cabin floor with a bucket in their hands. I ended the day by falling asleep to the sound of the water and my classmates gagging ready to do the same thing tomorrow.

-Carl Appelqvist, starboard