Time: 08:00
Date: Friday, April 2, 2026
Latitude: 49°, 53.13 N
Longitude: 2°, 02.36 W
Average speed last 24 Hours: 4.8 Kn
Distance travelled last 24 hours: 115 NM
Wind: 20 knots
Sea state: 3
Sailing status: Sailing
Log Keeper: Anya
Where do I even start? Imagine what you think would happen if you were sailing through the North Atlantic Ocean into the English Channel with 48 students who have been at sea for the last 10 days. Now multiply whatever you came up with by an enormous amount of sleep deprivation and distraction and maybe you will have some concept of what yesterday was like.
I’m on the 4-6 watch right now, which meant that I got to watch as these pranks were set like presents at Christmas, waiting for their targets to wake up. Somehow, the doors of all the cabins magically ended up off their hinges (sorry, engineers), and shoes were everywhere but where their owners had left them. During my watch, helm suddenly had to be switched out at least every five minutes, and for some reason, no one seemed to be able to tell the mate the correct course, even though they were steering it perfectly. Most notably, colours today were spontaneously held in the dungeons, and consisted solely of slightly confused students, music, and absolutely zero announcements. Unbeknownst to us, the teachers had come up with a similar prank, and we were both waiting for the other group to find us until the ongoing watch decided they could not stay any longer. As if nothing had happened, everyone went back to chores and then classes, and most of the pranks that came later in the day were much less disruptive.
As If we needed even more distraction, yesterday also marked our transition from the North Atlantic into the English Channel, and at 16:30 everyone gathered on deck to change our course and fly across the major motorway to get to the right side. How I’ve been describing it (maybe a little dramatically) is imagine getting up to top speed to turn across traffic on a major highway where everyone else is also going at top speed, except you are riding a bike and everyone else is in a rally car. This manoeuvre really showed me how everything comes together when we can apply our knowledge as a team, and watching it unfold from thehelm was really special. Since we were able to stay on sails instead of transitioning to theengine, we had right of way over all of the other ships, and it was mesmerizing to see one after another divert their course after being by ourselves in the ocean for so long. The work did not stop there, and after all that we still needed to pack the upper square sails before finally returning to class.
Overall, yesterday definitely confirmed that everyone is very ready to complete this sail. The restlessness that got to show its face has been building for days, and the novelty of messing with our normal routine was welcomed by everyone. Everyone enjoyed getting to spread some fun around the ship, and we are all very glad to only have to try and focus on work for another two days. Talk to you soon!!
Lots of love, Anya.