The First Wednesday on the Johann Schmidt

Ship: Johnny
Date: 22.10.2025
Position: Scheveningen, harbour
Geographical position: 52°06.0’N, 004°15.8’E
Etmal: 0 NM

Lack of Sleep on the Johann Schmidt

The day started with lots of coffee and some bad news. The weather had changed, and we needed to stay in Scheveningen for probably another three days.

After breakfast, we had explanations about different navigation lights and sound signals, but everybody was tired and some even slept through the lesson because the night watches were so long and tiring.

Most of us are not used to getting out of bed in the middle of the night and working actively at that time.

Still Getting to Know the Johann Schmidt

After eating pumpkin pasta for lunch, Norbert started to explain how to set the mainsail. We were assigned places to prepare the sail, while Ruby and Sophia worked on the sheets and Amalia laid out the downhaul.

Sheets are ropes that help hold the boom in place and the downhaul is a rope that pulls the sail down when we lower it.

After setting the mainsail, we practiced changing the sides of the backstay. This was really important to learn because we need to do this quickly and without any mistakes at sea. If you do make a mistake or aren’t careful while doing this, you could get injured.

Learning About Each Other

In the afternoon, we played a few games outside to learn more about one another. We did games about where we live, where we have traveled and how many siblings we have.

Then we went inside and did a round of speed dating. You get paired with somebody and talk about a question for one minute and when the time is over, you switch partners and do it again.

At the end, we split up the duties that need to be done on the ship, like taking out the trash, helping the machinist and working on deck. In the evening, we played charades with the whole group.

We are having more fun than you 😃

Byeeee!

Greetings:

Nepomuk: Liebe Cäcilie, ich hoffe, Du hattest einen sehr guten 12. Geburtstag. Hab‘ an Dich gedacht! Geniess‘ die Filme, die Du jetzt schauen darfst. Viele Grüsse

Mathilda: Hola an meine Family und Friends, ich hoffe es geht euch allen gut und ihr habt schöne Ferien!!! Hab‘ euch alle lieb ciao ciao!

Sophie: Liebe Grüsse an meine Familie:) Ich hoffe es geht euch gut. Aan mijn vrienden, ik hoop dat jullie een fijne vakantie hebben!