Life at Sea Part 1: Setting Sail
I live on a ship. It is strange to finally be here after weeks of preparation. The Alexander von Humboldt II (affectionately known as the Alex 2) is of the tall ship variety known as a barque, meaning it has three masts, with the forward two being square-rigged while the aftmost mast is “for and aft” rigged (it has triangular sails). I know this because I have been in sail training since I stepped on board two days ago. It is a lot of work, which puts me to bed tired and happy. What is especially challenging about the experience is that everything on the ship is named in German. I do not speak German. There are English names, but they won’t do me any good since all the commands are also in German. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it, but I will only hope to be fluent in German sailing vernacular.
This post is a bit less put together on account of it being past my bedtime on the night before we set sail with the ship listing at least 5 degrees to port, but we prevail.
Climbing the rigging was fun and reminded me of my days on cellphone towers. Unite with the wind, for if you fight it, you’ll fall.
Too much salt in the brain.
A good amount of work, small spaces, and a regular schedule are as expected, but I didn’t expect it to be so comfortable. I’m starting a magnet collection from all the ports we visit since our ship is metal. It adds a nice touch of color to the room. We also got a plant… His name is Feignar.
This sounds more like a journal entry at this point.
Everyone is warning of the seasickness, especially considering we are entering the English Channel first. It will be a bumpy ride, but after that, it should be pretty smooth sailing. We’ll be following the trade winds in a circuit of the Atlantic. I will have more to say on that arena when we leave Morocco in a few weeks. The voyage begins.
I’ll be happy to get going.
We are currently docked in Bremerhaven, Germany. It took us about an hour to see most of it, concentrated on the waterfront. Surprise surprise. That waterfront has a ton of stuff packed into less than a square mile: mall, outlets, stadium, zoo. They are intricately designed, looking like an architecture student’s side project. It is something to marvel at, but it doesn’t hinder me from doing what I came here to do. Sail.
