Leaving Lisbon

Today was a good day. We left Lisbon and l looked forward to start our sailing. Even though I wanted to claim the rig at least one more time before we went toward La Palma. One part of me got a feeling that we only were in Lisbon for vacation and of course I did not complain about it. We were lucky with the weather, ate delicious food, good shopping and so on. Most people felt pretty good and I was very grateful, for everything. Mostly for being able to do all this, with the most supportive people ever.

Lisbon was great, I really loved the city and the nice Portuguese. But to be honest I was even more excited to commence our trip to La Palma. Finally, it was my turn to discover what everyone had been talking about.

We woke up at around seven o´clock as we usually do, just so we could eat breakfast before set up. In my cab we were pretty tired after yesterday’s Christmas celebrating. But we managed to get up after all.

When they started the engines a moment before departure it really hit me for the first time that we actually were about to head out the world, with our lovely ship Gunilla. I would lie if I said that it felt all natural, because it didn’t.

When we finally started sailing out from harbour everyone was asking each other if they felt seasick yet. For some people it came really quick and for others it took a while. But after a few hours the majority of my classmates felt seasick of any kind. But guess what, I did not!

I was a little bit of ashamed for living my best life when I saw my friends puke, like everywhere. But I guess the seasickness probably will reach me as well, so right now I am just trying to appreciate every moment, while I still can.

One hour before my watch started, I sat on deck in the sun with some others and enjoyed every second of it. When we thought it could not get better some dolphins showed up and went by our ship for a while. Believe me, that was a “wow” experience for every one of us.

In the middle of our watch the sun went down so we got to see a beautiful sunset while working. I do not think I can explain to you how much I love sunsets. Some of you will understand exactly what I mean and some will not. But let me tell you. I could live only to see those sunsets over and over again. I just cannot get enough, and I do not think I ever will.

At this point the engines were off and we sailed through the ocean in 9 knots.

The cosiest moment was definitely the early morning when we got to sit down on deck after 2,5 hours of work, while watching the sunrise. The sky was all blue and you could see the stars disappear one after one. It was magical, as we say in Starboard.

Stina Götsten