Our Beamer

Ship: Regina Maris
Date: 21st of February 2025
Position: North Atlantic Ocean
Geographical Position: 24°11.539’N 080°02.712’W
Etmal: 119 nm
Total: 7,939 nm

A beamer is a technical device that produces light. But not just any light – it projects a picture or video onto a wall. A beamer can be used in different settings, for example, in a cinema.

Here on board, we use it as well, sometimes for a movie, a presentation, but mostly for school.

But how does that work? Well… let me introduce you to our beamer problem:

On a moving sailing vessel, using a TV or something similar is really difficult because the likelihood of it breaking is quite high. But no problem, we thought – we have a beamer!

However, there are certain challenges when you’re out on the ocean: the boat is constantly moving and nothing can stay in place, including the beamer. So, during school, it’s completely normal for the beamer to crash just as you’re about to check the topic. Or someone steps on the HDMI cable and suddenly, schoolwork becomes impossible because it was the last cable available.

BUT we have Hannes. Hannes discovered that we can connect via Wi-Fi. The problem? Half the time, the connection isn’t great – or mostly, it’s not even there.

Another big challenge is keeping the beamer stable. We’ve tried different solutions, and here’s the best one so far:

The beamer stands in the middle of the mess room, projecting onto an improvised screen made of A4 paper. It is placed on a cajón (a drum-like instrument). To adjust the angle of the projection, we use different-sized books between the cajón and the beamer. And to hold everything in place, some straps secure the entire setup.

Sometimes, when the sea is too rough and the beamer still moves, some of us dream of having a proper TV or a proper beamer mount.

But one thing we’ve learned on board Ocean College is that improvisation can be more fun, especially when it works!

And honestly, a TV or anything similar wouldn’t survive the rough conditions of the open sea anyway. (RIP to our TV that broke two days after our arrival in Amsterdam.)

Remarks:

Balthasar: Ich hoffe euch geht’s gut. 😘 Mir geht’s nämlich super. 😇 Vermisse euch ein bisschen. Happy Birthday an Aurelia!

Sophia: Kuss auf die Nuss. Hab‘ euch alle lieb❤️💕🫶🌎🗺️⛵️🏝️🐚