The first day on Regina Maris

Date: 22 October 2023
Authors: Andrea, Aurelius
Position: Amsterdam, Harbour
Geographical Position: Harbour, Amsterdam
Etmal: 0

The first morning

The first night and watches are over. Some slept very well, but those who slept under the windows got wet because of the condensation water. Welcome on a sailing boat! 🙂 You even get wet in your own bed.

We were having breakfast when suddenly the alarm started. We left our stuff where it was and went outside, but we all stayed calm because we guessed it was just for training (the teachers and the crew stayed calm too and thus gave it all away). We gathered in front of the ship and checked if everyone from the student crew is there. We counted from 1 to 36. And yes, this took a while. We needed about 4 tries until we got it in order and everyone had a number. We will keep the number we got for the rest of our journey.

Sails – the sausages of the mast

Because we are on a sailing ship, we need the sails. There were none on the mast, but where were they? They were stored in rolls in the front and back of the Regina Maris. To label them, we carried the sails to the port and unfolded them. It looked quite funny with all the triangles of sails on the floor. When we or the sailing crew knew which sails are which, we rolled them back up into “sausages.” The sausages were carried back on the ship because we need them for leaving Amsterdam and hopefully coming back too. 🙂

Special guests

From 10 a.m., the gangway was open for the crew of the Pelican of London. The Pelican couldn’t make it to Amsterdam due to an engine problem. We welcomed the excited students and their families. We gave them room tours through the Regina Maris. Because we were busy with seamanship, the crew and even the captain gave some tours by himself.

Seamanship and training

The sausages now wanted to be put up and not just left on the floor. Once the sails were put into the right places, we needed to attach them so they wouldn’t be blown away by the wind. We were almost finished when we realized that our rope was too short. But what could we do? We couldn’t just leave it unfinished. Our lovely tutor gave us the simple answer: open it again and redo it. We exchanged the ropes, and now, like a wonder, it worked out perfectly, and we had enough rope for the whole attachment. But we had a lot of fun and even heard Christmas songs already.

When the bus for the Pelican left at 4 p.m., it wasn’t free time. We trained our numbers, and again, it took three tries. But in a few days, we will know all our numbers by heart. Because our departure from Amsterdam is in the next days, we need to practice our roping skills.

After a successful first day, we are all tired but happy and looking forward to what the next days might bring.

P.S.

Julius: Happy Birthday Mama.