Fair Winds, Fair Planet

Gulden Leeuw, July 2023
Fredrikstad (NO) – Copenhagen (DK)

– by Trainees

Day 1 – 17^th of July

Today we arrived at the boat. There was a small festival with a market and music so that was a lot of fun. I came with a few Dutch people and had a great time walking around and talking. Then we went on the ship and met everyone. In the evening I went out with 2 French people, I forgot their names but they are really nice. We visited the Indonesian ship and when we returned it was time for bed.

– M.W.

Day 5 – 21^st of July

The sunbathing for 2 hours was really relaxing. So the vibe was great already.

– Kende

The morning was quite eventful, we started off by cleaning up (happy hour) then we departed from Langesund.

– Niels

Overall, the cleaning was fun for many, but quite messy for a few.

Other than that, the watch was amazing. We did learn a lot. I was at the helm a lot. Which I liked doing a lot. The rest of the navigation watch seemed to enjoy the tasks as well.

– Kyro

In the watch we learned how to prepare the ship for take-off. The evening shift, I learned how to steer and how to navigate by writing in the loogbook and plotting course on the map.

– Mike

I was on deck watch an I can easily sum it up with two words: hard but fun.

– Liza

Setting the sails was a lot of struggle but looking back from now it was more fun than hard. We got soaking wet because of the huge waves but we still continued our watch with no problem. I think everyone did great on our first proper watch, we can be proud of ourselves.

Day 6 – 22^nd of July

For the morning watch we were a bit late – around 15 minutes – because one of the trainees has trouble getting out of bed. It started really calm, there were few boats and we had good winds. We sailed until the end of our shift.

During this shift (04:00-08:00) we saw a beautiful sunrise, so that was amazing. We had a small sailing boat on engine get a bit too close for comfort even. After we used our horn so that was less nice but luckily it worked. We set three additional sails during our watch. That was a ton of work but many hands made it pretty doable.

We passed a field of fishing buoys. They have really small red flags and are white so really hard to spot, but we managed to evade them all.

What I have learned:
To better look out for ships and to recognise sail just under the horizon,
How to raise the sails,
The basics of navigation,
Better steering.

I think I rambled on long enough but I’m sure I’ll write more later.

– M.W.

PS: A lot of things went wrong but we easily overcame it as a team.

I learned to use the helm today. It was confusing at first, but everyone was so nice and patient that I quickly figured it out. I felt a little pride because it was something I was really looking forward to 😊

– Kiwi

Dear Trainee logbook!

This morning we woke alongside the sun. We had a beautiful sunrise and a great shift. We raised multiple sails and soared through the ocean.

During our first shift from 4 till 8 am we panicked as we saw an incoming boat, not once but two times. But we kept our cool, I promise (fingers crossed.) Besides boats, we barely missed two fishing nets.

Summary of 4-8 pm shift:
Climbing,
Raising sails, no climbing,
Happy hour.

Thank you for reading.

Love,
Sindre and Tirza

For this watch (20:00-00:00) we switched up the groups for bridge and deck watch. The bridge watch was a lot of fun, since Ron taught us many new things, such as recognizing boat lights, identifying land lights, and working with the GPS on the computer. It was a rather calm watch, and very relaxing with the sunset in the background.

The deck watch had a busier evening. They, as well, learned a lot. For example, to not power wash an electrical socket and to not suddenly let go of a rope that is responsible for carrying an entire sail. Despite that, the mood and morale were good. Had some good laughs, and entertaining music.

To sum it all up, it definitely was a fun and educational watch.

– Sophie

Day 7 – 23^rd of July

So today we had a watch from 4-8 in the morning. It was a very productive four hours, we folded the sails, and then tied them up. After that we coiled the ropes and tied up the net. Unfortunately, I fell down the stairs and poured out my cup of coffee, but Kiwi was so nice and she cleaned it up for me. Some of us from the bridge saw some dolphins. To sum it up I would say it was a very nice watch, I learned so many new things, and I saw the sunrise as well, which was pretty beautiful.

– Marti

Getting closer to home sweet home.

Today I realised that my limits when it comes to sleep are far beyond what I expected. I have learned that as long as there is a good reason to get out of bed, I can do so without issue.

– Lennart

Day 8 – 24^th of July

Today we departed Malmo, Sweden, and sailed north. We had a lot of fun during the day with the country presentation, and had a delicious Danish dessert. We are halfway in our journey and already learn so much, like how to unpack the sails, trim them, make different knots, and even climb the masts.

What a cool trip!

– Louise

I’ve learned to steer the helm. For me was it a heavy job. Sometimes was it difficult to hold the helm straight. But when I did this for a longer time, it became much better. I like also to play the murder game. I “murdered” two people and I’m ready for the next one.

Day 9 – 25^th of July

We’ve set up a lot of sails today, adjusted them every ten minutes. So no one can feel their hands now. Other than that, the watch was pretty successful. My only problem was hunger. We had to “volunteer” an extra hour after our watch ended, without lunch. But after that, the food felt extra tasty, so maybe it was a good thing to work a bit more after all. Now I’ll just go to sleep.

– Barnabas

Day 10 – 26^th of July

Currently, I’m writing this while Anoush is giving her sea shanty explanation. The class catches on quickly, and you can tell people think it’s fun. Cody joins in too.

It’s been a while since the last log. We’re really at the end of the journey too. Kinda makes me sad. Anyhow, there’s enough to do in the coming days. The barbecue is tomorrow, we’ll be on galley duty so that’s fun.

The white watch group is in my opinion the most fun watch out of the bunch. Everyone gets along so well. Not something I expected when going on this trip. But definitely, something all of us needed.

At the start of the trip some people had a difficult time to be included within the group. Which finally happened a few days ago! Ever since that moment, the group has been blooming more.

I am very proud of the fact that whenever people need help on deck, the white watch nearly always steps in.

The chores on deck are really fun to do, and whenever someone feels a bit off, we try our best to make them feel better. We’re basically always making sure everyone is motivated to keep going.

And we will keep going. Three days is enough time to have an absolute blast! I can’t wait to finally take that dive off the ship.

Day 11 – 27^th of July

When we started our watch, there was already a lot of to do, and I mean a lot… but it was so much fun! We hauled up a lot of sails: the mizzen, forestay, outer jib, and another one. We learned a lot from Mattias about why we need some sails and the different ropes. When we had nothing to do (well there’s always something to do, but you know what I mean 😊) we played a game called Ninja, it was fun. At the end of the watch, we made a staircase of the square sails. It has something to do with the wind (I can only explain it with my hands.) After our watch we got compliments from Mattias. It was an amazing last watch!

Thank you guys for everything!

Today we had a great watch: I finally got to navigate. Ron said I was going more in depth than the other trainees so that’s always nice to hear. I really enjoyed doing it and I think I am at least decent at it.

After my watch I helped with packing sails and even went up the mast again; that was pretty fun! One of us had to go down again, because they got afraid. After that we went swimming. The watch was really cold but after a few minutes we got used to it and it was really nice. We had to watch out for the jellyfish but luckily no one got stung. There was a rope to swing out with and it was really fun but I tore open a big blister, but it’s not that bad.

– WJSQ