Cape Verde and Cabin Change

Date: 05.12.2023
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde
Etmal: 211 nm
Total: 2689 nm
Ship: Regina Maris

Goodbye Bravo Watch

Tonight was the last time our Bravo watch was in action. Today, sadly, we changed the watches completely. Some people in my watch baked cake, we brought snacks and we wrote a card for our watch officer Mathieu to thank him for all the beautiful watches. It was a lovely little goodbye party. Now I am no longer in the Bravo watch. I won’t be woken up at 1:00 am; instead, I am part of the Alpha watch now, which stays awake until 1:00 am. It’s sad that I am not anymore in Bravo watch but I think being sorted into new watches is going to be a new experience and a lot of fun.

Arrival in Cape Verde & Flying Fish

Land ho! After four days at sea, finally, we spotted the Cape Verden Islands on the horizon. We did not only spot the islands but also some flying fish. Some of them landed on deck and some even slapped people in the face. Every time we find fish lying dead on deck, we have to pack them into plastic bags and freeze them so we can use them for biology lessons. If they are still alive, we can just throw them back overboard. So when I stepped out of the messroom on deck, I saw Cape Verde the first time. The water was clear and light blue and we all wanted to go swimming. Later that day, we were allowed to do exactly that. At this time it was cloudy and for me, the water looked quite cool.

Cabin Change

Something else that happened today was the cabin change. So, after a pathway presentation, Johanna showed us the list of the new constellation for the cabins and then the chaos started: All of us had to put all our belongings (which includes clothes, shoes, school stuff and all the other things we brought on this ship) into the new cabins. You can imagine that with 35 people in a tiny hallway, it got very chaotic and messy. After two hours of packing and reorganizing, most of us went swimming.

On Shore

Later that day, some students, the captain, Thomas and I went on shore to purchase fuel for our dinghy. We put on our life vests and drove to the harbour. It was really nice to drive so fast that your eyes started tearing up and one felt the wind blow through your hair. We enjoyed the beautiful view and the fact that we were driving towards the African coast. In addition, it was nice to see how happy the others were. We enjoyed it very much. For some, it was also their first time stepping onto different continent than Europe. On the way back to the Regina Maris, Michael let us drive the dinghy, and it was more difficult than expected to move the wheel. But we all managed.

It was a great day, and we had a lot of fun. Now, I am very much looking forward to the next days in Cape Verde!

P.S.:

Luisa: Happy Birthday, Leah! I hope you have a nice German birthday and come visit us in the summer so I can see you again!

Isabel: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Jojo!!!! Ich hoffe du hast einen schönen Tag <3

Ben: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Satan! Hab dich lieb!