Thalassa/ Klaipeda – Turku 20.8 – 27.8. 2011
In Thalassa we have trainees from Lithuania, Australia and Finland. The Finnish team consists of 15 students and 2 teachers from Turun Suomalaisen Yhteiskoulun lukio, which is upper secondary School in Turku with maritime studies .
We left Turku 20.8. at 5 a.m. and reached Klaipeda and Thalassa 18 hours later. During the drive on Via Baltica we learned about the Baltic countries, history, nature and we prepared for the Cultural 2011 Tall Ships Regatta. Turku is the 2011 Cultural Capital of Europe and our leg is from Klaipeda to Turku.
All the trainees are divided in to 3 watches: The apples, the pears and the bananas. The basic idea is to participate in all the ships work around the clock. Every watch has 4 hours work 8 hours off and 4 hours work. Sometimes everyone is needed like today 23.8. at 6.15am when the captain was calling: “All hands needed on the deck”. During the daytime everyone is working and helping.
The watches mark the position every hour, help brace the yards, trim the sails, steer and navigate with the help of the crew, clean, help the Masterchef in the kitchen, do the dishes and of course learn all the time new things about the ship, sailing, weather conditions, each other and the Baltic Sea around us. Navigare necesse est.