Date: 23rd of November 2021
Author: May (Mathilde)
Position: Atlantic Ocean
Geographical Position: 17° 42. 6‘ N, 041° 54. 7‘ W
Etmal: 142NM (in total: 4407NM)

Hello there, this is May. This is the first daily report I‘m writing by myself and to be honest, I have no idea what to talk about. I‘ll just do some spontaneous writing and see how that goes, since I‘m trying not to cross the deadline of handing it in (which is today). Might be a bit boring compared to the ones of people actually making an effort in documenting their whole day, but I‘ll try making it as interesting as possible. After all, it was quite a good day and not even that uneventful.

Let‘s start with our 0-4 am watch, due to which I‘ve by the way lost the remaining sense of time I had left. I don‘t mind that watch though, especially now that the night watches are much more pleasant than the day ones day temperature-wise. Our duty officer at the moment is David and he‘s really nice and relaxed so we get to play chess, eat snacks and sit on the ground on the bridge. I remember we talked about which types of cars are best (1960‘s cadillacs for sure) and outstanding historic personalities from heads of states to William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. It certainly was a fun conversation. I‘ve honestly come to like my watch, Main B, and even our current watchleader Luca. Unfortunately they‘ll already rotate again next week, though I‘m looking forward to Paula as well. We went to bed as soon as we got relieved by Mizzen watch.

I only woke up again at 11.20 am for the daily ship‘s company meeting. It wasn‘t any different than usual at first, Chris didn‘t even bring the chart anymore because the progress we‘d made in the last 24 hours wasn‘t of significance, but then he announced that, as long as the swell wouldn‘t increase, there‘s a chance we can go swimming again. Although it wasn‘t confirmed until the late afternoon, everyone was really excited and in desperate need for a cool-down- despite the air conditioning it is incredibly hot and we aren‘t even in the carribbean yet!
After lunch, I had school. We had a pressure-related experiment in physics and a test about vulcanoes and plates tectonics, seperated into three parts. It went quite well for me and I actually enjoyed having a “longer“ test again.
After school, we got another safety briefing for the upcoming swimming event and were then told by Chris to “wait for his signal“- the signal being himself, jumping into the water first.

All of us followed shortly after, doing backflips, salti and spins from the capping rail. Lots of people, including me, also did some snorkeling, which was really nice with water that clear- nothing to see but the people around us, the ship and the endless depth of the sea. It would have been really cool if there had been anything to see – last time, there was at least a jellyfish – but it didn‘t take anything from the experience. It was a lot of fun and we seriously had an awesome time (exept for perhaps Victor, who tried for a double backflip and only managed one and a half).
Alone the thought of swimming in the middle of the literal Atlantic Ocean, five thousand meters of deep water below us, seems unreal. But for us, it‘s possible, and that‘s so cool. I really appreciate to be a part of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We only had dinner afterwards and for the first time in a while, we saw dolphins again. Lots of dolphins. Honestly, one of the best things about Ocean College is that we get to see wildlife animals we have never seen before, such as dolphins, whales and turtles. I can’t quite decide which ones are my favourite.

In the evening, some people watched the third ‚Hobbit‘ movie while others were either on watch, working out or having group conversations. All together a quiet and relaxed evening and generally overall a good day in my opinion.
At the moment, the main event I’m (and pretty much everyone else) is looking forward to, is the mid-atlantic ball. To be fair, we already have crossed more than half of the Atlantic, but I don’t think anybody here minds. It’s likely going to be a memorable event we’ll all enjoy. Hopefully, there will be cake.

What I’m also curious and excited for is Antigua and everything that follows. It’ll be my first time not only in America, but also on another continent and outside of Europe. I wonder how different from home it will be and whether those differences are positive or negative ones. However it wil turn out to be, I’m sure it’s going to leave some kind of mark on us, something we can benefit from in our future lives and careers. And we will enjoy it. At least I will try to get the most out of Ocean College and appreciate the amazing project it is.

Love to Sam, Ana, Mama (+ext. family), Eero and A. Greetings also to my tutor and everyone who wished me fun and a good time 🙂