Exploring Bristol

Date: 25th of October 2023
Position: Sharpness Dry Docks
Nautical Position: 51°71.671 N, 2°47.314 W
Etmal: 0 nautical miles covered
Ship: Pelican of London

Nightly Harbor Watches

After getting to know the principles of the harbor watches in the last few days, we all realize the importance of sleep on board.
Harbor watches are required during the night when we are not at sea. Therefore, the night is split into six watches, each lasting two hours, starting from 8 pm and ending at 8 am. For example, the students are responsible for checking the gangway, the mooring lines and whether the rib is still alongside the vessel. As you may have realized, people feel quite tired after doing night watches.

Preparation for Our First Shore Leave

Nevertheless, everyone got ready and had breakfast with a lot of energy, and we assembled on the well deck for the trip planned today. Having already spent three days on the Pelican, everyone was eager to explore the region near the dry dock. Luckily, everyone was quite punctual, and we arrived in Bristol via bus at 10 am.

Trip to Bristol

To start off, our teachers organized a surprisingly funny boat trip on the River Savon, which divides the city into two parts. Especially our guide enjoyed our company. In addition to explaining the most important sights and the nightlife of Bristol, he allowed us to play some of our music, and we ended up dancing to the beats.

Two of the students were interested in the guide’s life. So we asked them some questions about him. The boat guide, called Archie, is 20 years old and one of the biggest Techno fans in Bristol. That’s why he gave us lots of advice on where to go to party, but, of course, only when we’re older. As far as we understood, his main job is to guide sightseeing tours on the river. Personally, we think he loves his job and tries his best every day. That’s why we enjoyed his relaxed vibe.

Banksy Rally

After having such a good time on the boat, everyone split up into groups of four people to search for some of Banksy’s most important art pieces in Bristol. Banksy is a street artist born in Bristol who is well known for his ability to criticize societal problems by expressing himself with minimalistic graffiti all over the world.

The fastest group to discover four of his art pieces in the city won a small prize in the form of some biscuits. Luckily, they were generous enough to share the biscuits with the whole group.

On our way back to the bus station, we were happy to see our boat guide again while crossing one of the many Bristolian bridges.

Relaxed Evening

Before dinner, our Captain Chris informed us that the start of our voyage has to be postponed for some days due to bad weather conditions. For better understanding, Gonzo, our second mate, showed us some weather graphics that illustrate the movement of the wind speed during the next week.

In the evening, the spirit stayed high, we had a lot of fun dancing on the poop deck, others were playing games in the mess room and getting to know each other. Michelle had a surprise for all of us: she made homemade cookies! We are all very grateful for her great cooking, and we are sure it is much more stressful work than any of us can imagine. Therefore, we gave her a big round of applause.
With the cookies, a great day ended for us.