Nightwatch and exploration.

My day started at 00:30 since I had duties to attend to. I got to sit on a chair and make sure that nobody got aboard the ship. A part of nightwatch was also to walk around the ship with a checklist to ensure that everything was in order. Since the time changed to summer time, I had to work until 03:30, although I was only up for two hours.

Whilst sitting down on watch essentially doing nothing realized what I had gotten myself into. It was cold, windy and the waves sprayed water onto the deck, and keep in mind we haven't even left the harbour yet. Surprisingly, I’m not in agony despite choosing this way of life over my comfy bed back home in Sweden. I’m rather looking forward to the duties required of me. It will be hard but I reckon it’s going to create a hell of a lot of stories and bonds with my classmates.

After breakfast and lineup we were free to leave the ship. All except the starboard gang who had duties to attend to. Most of us caught a bus to another city, where we ate pizzas and went for a swim in the ocean.

The evening was calm, with a really nice dinner consisting of rice, chicken and some veggies. This was followed by a trip to the local supermercado. On the way we met a Swede who had apparently sailed all the way from Africa to here. In the shop I managed to stock up on snacks for the trip. One thing I found was pineapple marmalade, which I had never heard of before.

The rest of the evening was spent doing absolutely nothing, which I haven't done for a long while so that was relaxing. So much time is spent doing stuff, either working or exploring so just doing nothing is a blessing. I’m gonna make an educated guess and say that the rest of the trip is going to be like this, so I better take every chance I get to just chill.

William Pedder, Midships