I would say that I’m pretty naïve. What I know about Senegal is limited to my perceptions of them during the 2002 world cup soccer tournament. I remember in 2002, during the tournament, I’d sneak over to my neighbour’s house to watch a match at 4 o’clock in the morning. The team I would find myself backing and rallying for was Senegal. I wouldn’t miss one game. While everyone else cheered for Spain, Germany, England or Korea, there I was, stating proudly “My favourite team is Senegal”. So, I ask myself: why Senegal? I remember watching them play. They were serious, they played with their hearts and they played for honour and respect. I knew that their tactics were legitimate, they played hard, and they worked together as a team. When they stumbled, they’d always get back up. They were graceful, and motivated. Their story, in my head, was that strength by working together would ultimately ensure a goal. They were genuine. They have a story. And to me, they deserved to win. All of that from a game of soccer?! I hope to find that my understanding of their representation of their country in the world cup is true. My goal is to identify those things I saw of them while they played. I plan to find it within the villages we visit, in the people we meet, and in the hearts of the individuals who are considered leaders. By hearing their stories and involving myself in their projects, I hope to have my expectations first satisfied, and secondly exceeded. No pressure, of course…
At this moment, and all of the moments in the 24 hour period, there are four students doing physical watch. That means 4 stations: fire watch, lookout, helm and standby.
Fire watch:
oEvery half an hour, this student does a walk-through of the ship to see, smell, or feel a fire. They need to pay close attention to the engine room, the paint lockers and the warming closet.
oThey also check in with the lookout person and those who are in the galley to see that those people are safe and not wounded
oThey are also in charge of keeping ship time. Every half hour during the sail, day and night, there is a bell that tells everyone onboard the time. Starting at 0800 there are 8 bells. At 0830 there is 1. At 0900 – 2, 0930 -3, 1000 – 4, all the way up to noon where there is 8 again. And the cycle repeats…
Lookout:
oAs the title implies, they lookout.
oThey are stationed at the bow of the ship (unless the weather is so bad that being at the bow endangers them (which happens more often than not)).
oThey look out for buoys, boats, land, debris and if they see anything they ring the bow bell:
1.One ring for starboard
2.Two for port
3.Three for straight ahead (ice berg straight ahead) – how many people heard that in their head when they read that?)
oThen, the fire watch, who is standing on the quarter deck (aka Aft deck) replies by ringing the same number of rings on the aft bell. This notifies that the firewatch sees what the lookout sees. Then they fire watch notifies the Officer on watch of the object, and the Officer decides to alter course or not. Then the Officer notifies the helm of the new course, if there is one.
Helm
oThis student steers the ship
oSorlandet is a manual rudder with a large wheel.
oThe student on this job is given a course on a 360 degree range and they ensure that we stay on it:
1.Turn to Port the degrees go smaller
2.Turn to Starboard the degrees go bigger
Standby
oThis person is the Helm’s ‘right hand man’
oThey are also the lookout for the back of the ship – in case of a Man Overboard situation
oThis is very important in rough weather
There’s the quick and dirty of how this ship works on a daily basis…
It’s a crazy life!!
On this big, blue, watery road we have about 200 feet of space, shared by over 70 people. Every morning at 0800 we have what we call “Colours” – we all muster on deck, do a watch count (to make sure that no one fell overboard overnight), we raise the flags (Norwegian and Canadian) and give daily announcements like the weather forecast, how far we’ve traveled in the last 24 hours, what the plan for the day is, what clubs are meeting tonight… etc. So, this morning, we’re in “Colours” and someone interrupts and says “WHALES!” Other time’s it’s been “DOLPHINS!” or “FLYING FISH” or “SUNFISH”… We’ll be eating breakfast and someone will say “WHALES!”. Classes will be on the go and suddenly we’ll be interrupted with “We’re sailing past the cliffs of Dover, COME SEE!” or “I can see AFRICA AND SPAIN!! Come see!!”… Can you imagine?? And then everyone buckles down again to their math lesson.
My journey on the ship began in Bremerhaven, Germany. After returning home to Victoria from Argentina, I had 10 hours to re-pack, see my dog, and say goodbye to my family and friends for another 5 months. I hopped on my flight to Europe at 0630 on August 27th, and approximately 20 hours later, I landed in Germany.
Since then, I’ve had a traditional German bretzel and freshly brewed Becks beer while touring the tall ship festival in Bremerhaven;
I’ve eaten pain au chocolate while walking the perimeter of the walled city of St. Malo, I’ve sunk my feet deep into the beaches of Normandy (such an intense feeling), I’ve climbed to the top of Mount Saint Michel cathedral, I’ve lead a PE class with 55 kids on a run down the beach and eaten shark and enjoyed a McBeer in Portugal,
I’ve gotten driven back to my ship in the middle of a downpour by a police car (just because they were really nice and it was really wet out), eaten tapas and drunken sangria, seen Gaudi’s architecture
and seen a traditional flamenco show in Barcelona
I’ve enjoyed Italian gelato and the best pizza and pasta, I’ve toured the beaches and seen flamingos on the salt mines in Sardinia, Italy
I’ve seen what a force 9 storm feels like; I’ve endured seasickness on sailing days on a sea state of 7 and beau ford scale of 8 and weathered 30 foot swells. I’ve read Ernest Hemingway’s the old man and the sea while lying on the boat deck in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. I’ve witnessed dolphins and whales as they play at the bowsprit.
I’ve sailed (and survived) the infamous North Sea, I’ve sailed past the white cliffs of Dover, and through the strait of Gibraltar.
I’ve taken part in sailing duties such as bracing, look out, fire watch, and safety drills such as Man Overboard.
As I type this I am in the Atlantic, onboard the Sorlandet, sitting under a large square sail casting a shadow over the boat deck. We're on our way to Morocco to ride camels into the Sahara....
The past four months have been … what are the words? Different… adventurous… full of highs and lows, to say the least….
I’ve been to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Germany, Norway, France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. I’ve taught Spanish speaking orphan teens how to put on a condom, I’ve hiked over a 4700 meter high mountain in Peru on my way to Machu Picchu, I’ve walked by candle light through the amazon rainforest,
I’ve strolled through the witches market and I’ve ridden a bike straight down the side of a steep mountain for 5 hours on “death Road” in Bolivia,
I’ve paddled a reed boat in lake Titicaca,
slept in a hotel made fully out of salt, seen pink flamingos on the salt flats of Bolivia, I’ve sand boarded in San Pedro, Chile on the Atacama desert, and I’ve seen a traditional tango show in Argentina. I’ve endured night buses, winding roads, car sickness and altitude sickness.
And at the end of August I boarded a full rigged Norwegian ship named the SS Sorlandet to be the medical officer in a program called Class Afloat.
My home is now the ship, I share my home with 7 faculty members, 8 professional crew and 55 students coming from Canada, Columbia, Mexico, Barbados, Amsterdam, Germany, and Norway. Together we sail. Together we learn. And together we explore.
And these will be my stories about my travels around the world with Class Afloat. Welcome to my blog...
I would say that I’m pretty naïve. What I know about Senegal is limited to my perceptions of them during the 2002 world cup soccer tournament. I remember in 2002, during the tournament, I’d sneak over to my neighbour’s house to watch a match at 4 o’clock in the morning. The team I would find myself backing and rallying for was Senegal. I wouldn’t miss one game. While everyone else cheered for Spain, Germany, England or Korea, there I was, stating proudly “My favourite team is Senegal”.
I knew that their tactics were legitimate, they played hard, and they worked together as a team.
When they stumbled, they’d always get back up. They were graceful, and motivated. 
Their story, in my head, was that strength by working together would ultimately ensure a goal.
They were genuine. They have a story. And to me, they deserved to win.
I plan to find it within the villages we visit, in the people we meet, and in the hearts of the individuals who are considered leaders. By hearing their stories and involving myself in their projects, I hope to have my expectations first satisfied, and secondly exceeded.
