Date: 18.03.2021
Author: Clara
Position: Horta, Azores
Nautical Position: 38°31,8 N 028°37,5 W
Etmal: 0NM (12525 NM in total)

Today was another nice day here in the Azores. After our daily procedures in the morning, which are normaly breakfast, staff meeting and voyage crew meeting followed by measuring of temperatures, we had a mini happy hour to keep the ship clean.

At 10:00, we went with the whole group to a shop which is called “the Naturalist”. There we met two Portuguese men, who studied biology and are now having a project here on the Azores. They try to get rid of plants, which should not grow here and are “imported”. At the same time they reimplant plants which are typical for the Azores. For example we took some kind of Bamboo out and planted four young trees which are typical for the Azores.

Afterwards we went back to the Pelican for lunch, which was salad. I always really enjoy the times when we are in port and we have fresh vegetabels. Of course, Abbie also tries to offer us as much fresh food as possible also when we are at sea, but the storage is simply much more difficult.
After lunch we split up into three groups. One group did the mural drawing on the jetty, another group went for a little hike and the third group visited a museum about whaling. I heard that all activities were very nice.

In our group, the mural drawers, we had a really nice afternoon. We started with finding the right spot because we have the honor to draw actually three murals. One for our year, one for last year’s Ocean College and one drawing only for the Pelican. On this one, every time when the Pelican is in Horta the crew can write the year on the drawing. So after a couple of years, we hopefully have the pretty pretty Pelican with many years on the jetty of Horta’s marina. The ships from KUS and HSHS also have the same system, this might have inspired us. 😉

In general this marina here in Horta is really special, because here are thousands of mural drawings on the jetty. Every sailor is allowed to draw something. There are actually that many drawings that it might get difficult to find a spot for a new drawing. I personally think that that is a really cool thing because it gives the whole place a very special atmosphere.

The drawing itself actually worked better than I expected. From my point of view it really looks cool and also very pretty! We had a lot of fun during drawing. We listened to nice music, had good conversations and one of the highlights was ice cream and pizza during the breaks. What a nice day again!

At one point of the day, I realized that these are actually the last days of Ocean College ashore. Our last program with the whole group happened this morning with the gardening project. For me it’s absolutely crazy how fast the time went by during the last weeks.
I remember the time where I had a lot of ‘last times’ at home. Last time doing your hobby, seeing your friends, visiting your grandparents or also taking a long shower.
Then when we joined the Pelican, everything was new of course. New people, new rountine, new everything.

And now, nearly half a year later, we start having again ‘last times’. The group activity we did today was the last activity with the whole group. When we leave Horta, this will be the last time for us departing from a place as crew of the Pelican. But also everyday life things are coming to their last times, for example changing your bedsheets or cutting your fingernails, as stupid as it might sound. 😉

This is also my last daily report, that’s why I want to do a very small conclusion of my experience on Ocean College. I’ve never had such an intense time in life before. Intense – that word fits well for me, although it’s really hard to find a summary for this.

There were hard times, especially in the beginning when the weather was rough and we were seasick. Sometimes you just need your own space but you cannot find it. We didn’t have one single day during the voyage where we could sleep in. Sometimes you don’t want to continue the voyage, but you can not quit because we are in the middle of nothing.
And then, hopefully only some hours later, your mind changes because you might see dolphins while you are climbing and packing sails. Maybe you also see a wonderful sunrise or you discover new stars while sitting outside. Or you come after a long and cold watch in the messroom where you make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy the evening with your friends. Your friends know you as good as or maybe even better than your own mother. They feel when you’re not in the best mood and give the last piece of chocolate up for you to make you feel better. And this would count for everyone, it doesn’t really matter, how close you are. Because we are always there for each other. Because we are a family!