Öckerö gymnasium

Cockroaches and radios

After a couple adventurous days at sea we've arrived to our second last port, Portimao. I was actually pretty dissapointed that we didn't get to sail for longer, 50 knots of wind and working 4 people on deck the entire night when the rest of the watch was seasick got me pretty hyped up. We've discovered after some time that chilling on the nightwatch is actually the worst thing you can do. You get cold, and 4 hours feels like forever. When the wind is blowing, we get to climb, set sails, brace and basically run around like cockroaches back and forward, up and down. I've always made fun of my brother for playing a sport where the entire game is based on chasing a ball, but I guess the kick I get from putting my entire soul into pulling a rope can be comepared to the adrenaling he gets playing football. I do still think no activity on land can compare to the work up in the mast. I wish we could sail for a few more days since we're approaching the end of our trip, but I guess it's nice to be able to walk in a straight line without constant tension in your body preparing for the next wave.

We arrived to port yesterday afternoon, and were pretty dissapointed since the only view from the boat was over a huge parking. But you should never judge a book by it's cover, and after walking for 10 minutes we found ourselves in a cozy town with small stores and cafes all around. We quickly found a huge store with everything you could ever dream of. All sorts of things from chargers, to dog candy and clothes. Imagine ullared but in small format. Suddenly, an older man came up to us and asked if we were the ones sailing with the ship in the port. At first we were intimidated, a sign of the swedish culture of never initiating a conersion if not necessary, but we forgot all doubts of the stranger as soon as he started telling his story. He was a sailer aswell, and he had been living on his boat since 2007! He was here with his wife and they had been sailing all the way from New Zeeland. Imagine constantly being on the move for 13 years, I have to say I was pretty impressed. I can understand that if you like that lifestyle it truly gives experiences for a lifetime, and it's a pretty perfect activity during the covid pandemic. The man left us, and we continued our shopping trip. We ended up buying two mini radios that we hoped would catch a signal and play us some portugiese music. We succeded and laughed while walking back to the boat, listening to arabic music drowned in noises from the horrible connection the radio provided to us.

The boat was still floating when we got back (you never know when starbord is on watch), and we enjoyed dinner all together. Enchiladas was deeply appreciated after a long day, and after filling up with energy we decided to head right back out. My friend Ivar found a spotify playlist with swedish danceband-classics and we danced on the streets to “Jag vill vara din, Margareta” and “Bra vibraioner”. It felt good to praise some Swedish music after repressing the fact that we live in that cold dark place for two montchs. We ended up on a street full of christmas decorations with amazing light loops, and filled our camera rolls to the top.

When we came back to the quay we turned the radio back on, and like a sign from above, the first channel we found played us “we are the champions”. We gathered on foredeck and spent the rest of the night studying the stars and making up new starsigns. We actually managed to find a pattern that resembled a boat, so everyone born in december from now on is no longer a Sagittarius, but a Gunilla.

Caroline Jendeby NAS2023

Publicerad:

Öckerö seglande gymnasieskola
Björnhuvudsvägen 45
475 31 Öckerö

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