Andrea

Date: 28.03.2024
Position: Horta, Azores
Etmal: 0 nm
Total: 10496 nm
Ship: Regina Maris
 
A few days ago, we had a creative morning with various creative activities such as board book planning, hoodies, baking, “Treffen der geheimen Waschmaschinen” (a secret matter for us students). Among other things, one group was also responsible for planning an evening program for the coming days. Jule and Onno then came up with something really cool: Watch Olympics.

What exactly are Watch Olympics?

The Watch Olympics are similar to any other Olympics. We pupils were divided into our nautical Watches. The first task was, for each of the six Watches and the team of the teachers, to come up with a team name.

The team names were:

Alpha 1 = Das A in Alpha steht für Autisten
Alpha 2 = Schnapsidee
Bravo 1 = Die sechs beschränkten Werwölfe
Bravo 2 = Die Zöpflinge
Charlie 1 = Charlie Chipmens
Charlie 2 = Einsatzkommando Jägermeister
Teacher = Die Oberlarrys

Next, everyone had to get a pad and pencil to write down the tasks themselves. Onno then told us the names of the individual mini-games and how many people were allowed to compete per team. The joke behind it was that we had to decide, before the games, who would play without knowing what the game was about. Then it was „Let’s get ready to rumble.“
 
Heave away (4 persons)
When we saw the rope, we knew what it was all about: rope pulling. Four people from each team, including the teachers, competed against another team. We were able to put our strong sailing arms cough cough to the test.
 
Team Charlie 1 with Jakob had everyone holding their breath. The opposing team was also a little worried. How could they win against this team when they had a real sailor?  But it was exciting! First they were in the lead. But then, with the trick of a figure-of-eight knot at the end to prevent the rope from slipping through, the Alpha 2 team joined forces and went for the jugular. The Oberlarrys pulled their opponents over the line in one go. Was that fair? 4 adults against four teenagers? But they were also able to analyse the previous rounds, where to stand and how to pull.

Drehwurm (3 persons)

Those who don’t get dizzy quickly are best at the mini-game „Drehwurm“! The aim of the spinning worm was, to spin around a bottle ten times and then run a distance of around 10 metres, where Johanna stood, and back again. The time was stopped to see which team with all three candidates was the fastest.
The first team was the poorest. They didn’t know what tactics to use and the call „Make a protective wall so that no one falls into the water or the pier wall“ was also encouraging🤨 But it looked funny how everyone had a bit of trouble running straight without falling down. With loud shouting, the „victims“ of the respective teams got better and better. Tactics such as a quick counter turn before running or concentrating on one point like the dancers of ballets were worth gold.

Breitmaulfrosch (1 person)

The aim of this game was to see how many marshmallows you could get into your mouth. Criteria: No chewing, no swallowing and you still have to be able to close your lips.

One person from each team was asked to step forward. Thomas was the first to go. When he took the first marshmallow in his hand and started to crush it, we all thought „Oh God, is this going to be good?“. Yes, it was good. Thomas set the bar at 15 marshmallows. The next team, „Die 6 beschränkten Werwölfe“, set the record at 16. But the record of 22 marshmallows was broken by one at the very end of the evening by Tobi.
 
Unfortunately, we couldn’t play all the mini-games and challenges due to the weather. The games „Hoppel Hase Hans“, „Zielwasser“ and „Back to Costa Rica“ were then postponed to another day.

About today

The day started shortly after breakfast with a happy hour. So this time it was really only 1 to a maximum of 2 hours of cleaning. As there were still job interviews, as in the previous days, we had a program for the day in split groups. One group stayed on board and prepared nervously for their interviews, the other went to the museum. In the afternoon there was another Workshop on Communication and gender sensitive language.
 
P.S.: Luis: Nachträglich alles Gute zum Geburtstag Phoebe! 🙂

Datum: 26.02.2024
Geographische Position: 23°26.2′ N 082°34.9′ W
Etmal: 44 nm
Total: 7426 nm
Schiff: Regina Maris

Leute kommen und gehen in Deinem Leben. Manche bleiben nur für kurze Zeit, andere bleiben Dein ganzes Leben. Freunde sind wichtig. Sie sind unsere wichtigsten Personen neben unseren Familien. Manchmal sind sie sogar noch wichtiger als die Familie.

Sie tragen zu unserer Entwicklung bei, unterstützen uns und nehmen einfach eine enorm wichtige Rolle in unserem Leben ein. Kurz zusammengefasst: Auch wenn Du denkst, Du brauchst keine Freunde, sind sie wichtig.

Freundschaften an Bord

Freundschaften an Bord sind genauso wichtig wie zu Hause. Wir konnten uns unsere Freunde in einem relativ kleinen Umfeld selbst aussuchen. Die grobe Auswahl wurde damals bereits für uns getätigt und wir mussten uns danach mit 35 weiteren Leuten auseinandersetzen.

Zum Glück ist die Sorge, dass Du unter diesen 35 jungen unterschiedlichen Menschen niemanden findest, der oder die Dein Freund oder Deine Freundin sein kann, definitiv unberechtigt. Du findest mit ziemlicher Sicherheit mindestens eine Person, wenn nicht sogar mehrere, mit denen Du richtig eng wirst und die am Ende wie Familie sein werden.

Die Bindung ist dennoch anders. Du lebst mit Deinen Freunden für sechs Monate auf engstem Raum zusammen und hast kaum Privatsphäre. Ich finde, es gibt kein passenderes Zitat als: Freunde sind die Familie, die Du Dir selbst aussuchst. Wie ich schon gesagt habe, wir haben nur einen bedingten Einfluss darauf gehabt, mit wem wir auf der Regina Maris gelandet sind, aber die Menschen wurden trotzdem zu unserer Familie.

Wir haben eine andere Bindung zueinander. Wir gehen anders miteinander um, überdenken vielleicht gewisse Handlungen und Taten mehrere Male. Wir können uns im Falle eines Streits nicht mehrere Tage aus dem Weg gehen. Spätestens bei der Essensausgabe oder beim Gang zur Toilette läuft man sich über den Weg. Vielleicht genau deshalb haben wir mehr als andere eine familiäre Bindung zueinander.

Freundschaften zu Hause

Freundschaften zu Hause sind anders als hier an Bord. Wir können uns unsere Freunde freier aussuchen. Wir lernen Freunde in der Schule, im Training oder bei einem Konzert kennen. Du hast auch zu Hause eine oder mehrere Personen, mit denen du richtig eng bist. Du lebst aber nicht mit ihnen auf einem so engen Raum für diese lange Zeit zusammen.

Ich will damit nicht sagen, dass die Freundschaften weniger eng sind, nur anders. Die Bindung zu Hause bietet mehr Raum für Privatsphäre. Wenn wir eine kleine Uneinigkeit oder sogar einen Streit haben, können wir uns für mehrere Tage aus dem Weg gehen.

Klar, wenn es die Freunde aus der Schulklasse sind, wird es schwierig. Trotzdem kann man sich besser aus dem Weg gehen und der Situation entfliehen. Wir wissen, wie die andere Person tickt, aber auch nur bis zu einem bestimmten Grad.

Das Zusammenleben ist nicht ganz so intensiv. Du lebst nicht mit deinen Freunden unter einem Dach, in einem Zimmer (ok, in unserem Fall unter einem Deck ;)). Du hast Deinen persönlichen Safe- Space, der nicht nur aus Deinem Bett besteht.

Der heutige Tag

Am Morgen saßen alle noch ziemlich verschlafen am Frühstückstisch und warteten auf das Announcement. Wir wussten nur zwei Programmpunkte: Deep clean und Losfahren, denn unser nächster Stopp Bermuda ruft nach uns.

Was wir nicht wussten, war, dass wir nochmals tanken und nochmals zur Migration mussten, um uns auszuklarieren. Während des Wartens, bis jede einzelne Person ihr Visum wieder abgegeben hatte, machten wir Speed-Run mit dem Deep Clean.

Als alle mit der Migration durch waren, waren auch alle mit ihrer Deep Clean Aufgabe fertig. Die Befürchtung wegen Seekrankheit und stärkerem Wellengang motivierte uns alle, die Zeit zu nutzen, solange einem noch nicht alles entgegenfliegt und man Angst hatte, gleich zur Reling sprinten zu müssen.

Als wir endlich alle To-Dos abgehakt hatten, konnten wir in See stechen. Am Nachmittag war es relativ ruhig auf dem Schiff. Viele schliefen, um der Seekrankheit zu entfliehen oder genossen noch die Sonne an Deck.

Date: 19.01.2024
Position: Jacó
Etmal: 0 nm
Total: 6325 nm
Ship: Regina Maris

Our Ocean College voyage started exactly 90 days ago. So halftime passed, halftime is still ahead of us.
Now we have less days at sea than we already had. Most of us don’t like this fact. But let’s see what we think about some situations:

Best experience:

Leni: My best experience so far is the sleep over on the island in the caribbean. That was just incredible.

Adrian, Lasse: It is hard to decide. There are many good experiences. So to sum up the last three months are the best.

Jule: To be honest: Everything. But when I have to chose one experience it would be the San Blas islands. This was a completly different experience. The people were so nice and open hearted. Just a magical experience.

Lizzy: It is really difficult. For me the best experience was when we saw the dolphins in the northsea. Even though it was bloody cold, almost everyone was standing outside and was watching the dolphins jumping out of the water.

Jane: For me the best experience was the San Blas islands. These days were just different. And since we are in Jacó, the next best is surfing. Waking up in the morning and just putting on you’re swimsuit and walking to the beach. I love days like that.

Worst experience:

Adrian: There is no worse experience.

Lasse: The last three months…😂 No I’m just kidding. There is like Adrian said no bad experience.

Jule: When I was sick during the trip from Roscoff to Tenerife. Because I was just laying in my bed feverish all day. And I didn’t really get to know what was happening outside my cabin. That felt like shit…

Lizzy: It sounds not like a big deal, but my first and last time of puking due to seasickness. That was horrible for me.

Jane: The fight against the seasickness. It was just cold, cold, and cold. And to add it was just wet and you could barely move yourself.

What do you still want to experience:

Adrian: Oh, let me think for a second. I really want to see some whales. That would be nice and make this voyage even more to the best time of my life.

Lasse: I don’t want to decide. The next three months.

Jule: For me there is no „that experience I want“. I just want to experience the next stops and definitely more sailing. I already miss the waves and the Reggie.

Jane: Like some people already said, just the rest of the voyage.

How do you feel about 90 days on bord?

Adrian: There is just one word coming into my mind: nice!

Lasse: Mindblowing…

Jule: The Regina Maris is already like a home for me. I feel pretty good. I cannot believe it’s already been 90 days.

Lizzy: Mood swing do kick in at some time. But overall I’m at a constant high.

Jane: I’m just speechless…

What are your thoughts about being back home in more or less than 90 days?

Adrian: Okay, now I’m overwhelmed. But what I can say, it’s gonna be interesting. Let’s see what’s happening.

Lasse: I don’t want to think about it right now. Please just leave me in my peace and let me enjoy the time right now.

Jule: Just weird feelings and thoughts. On the one hand I’m excited to see all my friends and family again. But on the other hand I don’t want to leave the life I have at the moment.

Lizzy: These thoughts are f*ck*ng crazy. I don’t know what to think about… When I get home I will be thrown back into my daily life. I cannot imagine that in this moment.

Jane: I will be sad that the adventure is over. But happy to be home again and see all my friends and family in person and not just through the screen.

Date: 11th November 2023
Position: Roscoff, Harbour
Etmal: 0
Total: 463nm
Ship: Regina Maris

Three weeks ago we all came on board of the Regina Maris. We were quite nervous to finally meet each other in person. And now, three weeks later, almost everything is normal. At least for me. But I would lie if I say my life hasn’t changed. We have scheduled times to eat, to sleep and even to clean.

Where did the food go?

In three weeks, a lot of food was eaten. We already did an inventory one week ago. But no one cared to write down what was taken out. Because we chose the hard way and spread the food everywhere in the benches of the messroom, we needed volunteers to look through it. I was one of them and had the lovely work to correct the list of one of our benches. Also, our dry storage had to be updated. It sounds easier than it is. But if you are a small person, you can just crawl into the shelf. Just be careful that you manage to get out again!

Chaos on deck

When I made my way out of the dry storage, it looked like a hurricane swept over the deck. We were the hurricane. On the last three Sundays, we had missed cleaning the galley. So it was our job to clean it today. However, we can‘t just put things on the kitchen table like we’re used to at home. We put everything we had in the galley on deck. The deck was total chaos and it felt like you needed to go through a labyrinth. You can’t imagine how many things have a place in our tiny galley. I think we have more stuff in there than in my kitchen at home…

Free shore leave

All the good things are three. We have been on board for three weeks, so we had our third city to explore during free shore leave. In the afternoon, we had the chance to go on shore and explore the city of Roscoff. We were all bewildered my the fact that our cook has wanted to go to Roscoff all his life.

But now we know. Roscoff is a beautiful harbor city with charm. My group and I had some difficulties in the beginning because we just wanted to go to a grocery store. But we ended up in the shopping mile of Roscoff.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to visit all the beautiful small stores. So we just could browsed through the windows and made plans for the next holidays. I’m sorry for my family, but the next holiday destination is Roscoff.

P.S.:

Franka: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag an Elisa, meine Dancing Queen, Ben-and-Jerrys-Liebhaberin und einfach krasse beste Freundin <3

Isabel: Liebe Grüße an Miri, Lau, Marie, Mila und Jojo. Ich hoffe, ihr feiert bei den Winterbällen für mich mit:)

Andrea: a mini Familie: Ich ha kei Plan wenn d’Herbstmäss startet. Aber ässet bitte au für mi e paar Magebrot <3