Forward Port Watch

Afternoon from Forward Port! We have the afternoon watch – the perfect time for a bit of blog writing!

Since joining the ship on Saturday lots has happened on the ship. We’ve had all the briefings and trainings, explored some of Bergen, set and handed sails, been on watches and had Happy Hour.

The weather has been mostly kind to us so far – lots of sunshine and high temperatures, a bit of rain and a little wind. Unfortunately, the wind levels are still low which means sail power is also low.

Yesterday almost all the sails were set, but due to the little wind, progress was slow, very slow. Around midnight, the Captain decided the sails needed to be handed as we were drifting in an unfavourable direction due to little wind. This was done by the off going watch (Forward Port) and the oncoming watch (Forward Starboard) and took almost an hour! This has meant that we have unfortunately had to retire from the race and continue the voyage at a more leisurely pace. Our current speed is 3.9 knots.

This morning we reset the sails and the engines were turned off. Today we’re going sailing! After the sails were set, a number of us went aloft to overhaul the buntlines. The view from the yards was brilliant – sun, sea and sky with a few ships on the horizon.

Everyone loved Happy Hour as usual – Port watches were below deck and starboard watches were on deck. Because everyone was enjoying their hour of happiness so much, we were racing through the jobs, which meant all the extra occasional jobs got done today – yay for extra happiness!

The afternoon watch continues with little traffic, helming and lookouts.

Over and out!

Forward Port – Naomi