Different work duties on Gunilla

In order for everything to work on Gunilla, there is a sea schedule that tells each person what task the person has in the next day. You have the same duties through two guards in a row. Today I thought it would be fun for you to take part in our work duties.

Work force:

The first and most common “post” as we call it, is to be a part of the work force. When you are in this post your duties is to do the maintenance work on deck, climb the rig, set sails and take the sails up. If you have the 8-12 guard the whole work force also cleans under deck every day, such as the big mess, the little mess, the bathrooms and the corridors in the students and commander´s part of the boat. Two people from the work force in the 12-4 guard also have the duty to clean the laundry room and 4-8 scrubs one part of the deck every morning. Being work force is the most strenuous job duty, especially when the wind is happy to turn. If it is not so much to do with the sails at the night watch it could be the most chill post. Then we usually do various music competitions, yoga or you can find us in each other´s lap when we are enjoying Olle (our watchleader) when he reads a chapter of the one and only - Loranga.

Livbojsvakt:

As the post livbojsvakt your responsibility is to know where everyone is. It is important to know which ones are on deck, in the rig, on the for castle or halfdeck if something were to happen. In order to facilitate for the livbojsvakt, especially on the night you should always tell the person when you are going off deck, which rig you are climbing up in and when you are back at halfdeck. If it blows a lot and every strength is needed to pull the ropes the livbojsvakt can come down from halfdeck and give a helping hand to the work force.

Rorgängare:

The post that needs extra focus is rorgängare. The officer tells you which course to hold and you do your best to stay within the nearest five degrees. It varies greatly whether she is easily controlled or not. As the wind turns a lot you should also keep track so that the sails do not back. This trip we have learned tricks in order to feel the wind and how to manoeuvre along it.

Outlook:

When you are outlook, you are standing at for castle which is the front of the boat. The main responsibility is to keep an eye out for ships and boats that our officer cannot see on the radar. You should also make sure that we do not sail over hard objects that can destroy the hull. The best thing is to be outlook on the night watch because your creativity is increasing drastically when you are standing alone on the for castle. For example, I use to sing, create book ideas and enjoy my own company. Some really dark nights when the moon and all thousands of stars hide behind the clouds, it can actually get a little scary and you can start to see non-existent things… but it happens to me very rarely so I usually prefer to be outlook. For variation the livbojsvakt, rorgängare and outlook change duties every thirty minutes.

Backis:

If you are Backis you are the chef´s assistant. There are two backisar at sea and their main duties is to bring out “fika/mellanmål” at the right time and help the chef with breakfast, lunch and dinner depending on which guard the backis has. On the night the backisar fixes “gofika”, on this trip the most common “gofika” has been scones, banana cake, pancakes, chocolate balls and so on. Of course, regular fika is served as well.

Schappis:

Schappis is literally the same as the work force in addition to being given greater responsibility. This trip the schappis has started to select a tool and explain its features, pros, cons and how to avoid risks to the group. The schappis is also the cleaning boss and divides the support areas to the rest of the workforce.

Rondman:

Last but not least is Rondman, one of my all-time favourite posts. It is the rondman´s job to make sure that everything works on the boat. The person checks all the values in the engine room, changes towels, folds laundry, compress garbage, throw compost overboard, awakens the next guard and makes sure that the fridge and freezer are at the right temperature. The list can be made long with tasks. If you already have done everything and succeed to get a moment without any duties you come to halfdeck and join the work force. As a rondman you go around once every hour. During the first hour of each guard, all the values should be written down in a protocol so our machinist can double check that we have everything under control.

Stina G Starboard