Darja

Date: 16.11.2023
Geographical Position: 47°39.639N 005°19.117W
Nautical Position: Bay of Biscay
Etmal: 71nm
Total: 534nm
Ship: ReginaMaris

Leaving personal routines behind

As you can imagine, life on a sailingship looks quite different compared to our daily routines we all had at home just a month ago. From one moment to another everything changed for us and we are still getting used to it.

Already after a few days we all quickly realised that we would have to leave a lot of our personal routines and habits behind. In general, that includes our whole lifestyle.

Since the start of our life on the Regina Maris, we are no longer waking up by our alarm clocks, getting ready for our way to school, following our hobbies in the afternoon and eating dinner with our family. The beautiful thing about that is that it is exactly why we are all here.

But beside the obvious changes, also little things changed. A lot of us had a bed time routine. For example, some of us did sports or read a book every evening. Now we are often too tired for that or there is no time left, but instead we often find some time during the day for it.

At least if we are in the harbour. When we are on the nautical watchsystem (you can read up how it works in an earlier daily report) that may also change. That is also a factor that makes an evening routine difficult, because it is not always evening when you go to bed.

Flexibility and compromises

Personally, I think, that being flexible is the key, because almost everything on a ship is planned, but nothing is guaranteed. “Plans are made to make Neptune smile“ is a real motto here. Weatherconditions, unexpected events and problems that must be solved are the planners of our day.

For example, when we left Îled’Ouessantto we wanted to pass south of the island which is normally a shortcut, but the current turned against us faster than expected, so we had to take the long way around which was 20miles (37km) longer. That happens and we are learning to accept that.

Another perfect example which shows that making compromises is unavoidable is everything that has to do with water consumption. Showering is just possible 3 minutes per day and when we really have to save water, like now, not even that is allowed. I think some of us are going to create new records for the longest no showerperiod or the greasiest hair.

Also, I believe that almost everyone has given up his or her skincare routine by now. You are happy when you get yourself up to brush your teeth. That all leads us to really appreciate water and by now we know that washing your hair when everything you want to do is laundry or have water to wash the dishes goes not without saying.

Creating new routines

Leaving routines behind also has a positive side. It gave us the ability to create new routines which helps especially those people who are missing something steady, like me. In my opinion a cool thing developed: Most of us started to keep diary in our daily book.

Everyone has its own way how to do it but often we are sitting together and all are busy with it. I would have never done that at home but here it helps me a lot. It is interesting to take some time to reflect the day and look at it from another perspective. Now I can also imagine continuing it after the journey.

Boardroutines

Now I wrote a lot about leaving routines behind and creating new ones, but we also have some board routines. There are a few things that are scheduled. Once we are in our nautical watchsystem and starting with our school lessons, we should have at least kind of a daily routine. Especially for me this is going to make it a lot easier, because I really miss to have a sort of planned day and to know what to expect.

Sunday routines

Further, every Sunday we have the so called happy hour which means deep clean as a weekly routine. We are still working on taking only a hour for cleaning, but we are getting there. Additionally, there is the auction of the lost&found box where you can buy back your lost stuff from the past week. It is always a lot of fun with Thomas, our projectleader, as moderator and we are really enjoying it.

The Sunday evening always ends with a silent hour. We are all gathering in the messroom and filling out the weekly reflection in our Ocean College daily books. Just as keeping diary this helps to think about the new things we learned, the problems we faced, the experiences we made and to get an idea about our feelings in this very special time.

Happy with our new lifestyle

All in all, I think that even though it is sometimes complicated and a bit messy, we are all trying our best to get along with the changes of our lifestyle. For every day passing by we are getting more and more used to
life on our ship and our new daily routines. Of course, to make those experiences even when they
make us struggle is sometimes interesting and fun! I am really proud of all of us enjoying this once in a lifetime experience.

Greetings:

Franka: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Opa!

Darja: Ich habe euch alle lieb und freu’mich, bald wieder mit euch zu sprechen! Passt auf euch auf und drückt Honey und Pluto ganz fest <3