Ship's Logs - Follow the Voyage

Date: 06/20/2004

Location: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Topic: Home Again

Author: Sara

Yesterday afternoon, the Picton Castle arrived in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. After more than 200 days at sea, stops in 20 different countries, we?ve traveled more than 27,000 nautical miles and completed our round-the-world voyage. I?m happy to be going home, I?m sad to be leaving the ship, and I?m freezing cold?

When you?ve lived in the tropics for the better part of a year, Nova Scotia feels chilly, even if it is June already. Luckily, with three layers on the cold isn?t bothering me too much. What I?m thinking about now is everything we?ve seen and done in the past year. There were so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I feel like I?ve lived several lifetimes in the last twelve months. At the beginning of the voyage we went through the Panama Canal and passed under the bridge of the Americas. With North America on the left, South America on the right, the Atlantic behind us and the Pacific in front of us, our adventure was just starting. In the Galapagos, I shared a walking path with tortoises that can live to be more than 150 years old and I made friends with a sea lion. On Pitcairn Island, I went swimming in St. Paul?s surrounded by black volcanic rock in the bluest water I?ve ever seen. In the Cook Islands, I learned how to drive on the left and in Palmerston I learned how to dance Polynesian style. In Tonga I ate Taro root and octopus, and in Fiji I bought a cannibal fork and a kava bowl. I went to a soccer tournament and a string band concert in Vanuatu, waded into the sea to visit a temple in Bali, and saw men staggering under the weight of huge flowered cavadees in Mauritius. I saw penguins in South Africa, Napoleon?s house in St. Helena, and spinner dolphins in Fernando de Noronha. In the Caribbean, I walked on white (and pink!) sand beaches, went snorkeling on coral reefs, and learned a little French. All in all, I did a lot of amazing things this year and saw a lot of incredible places.

I also learned a lot this year. At sea, I learned how to sew a sail, how to sew a patch on my pants, how to stand lookout and steer the ship, and how to navigate using the sun and moon and stars. I learned the constellations in the southern hemisphere like the southern cross, the names and uses of more than 175 lines and 20 sails, and not least of all how to live with forty other people and not lose my mind. It wasn?t easy. Like any big family we had our share of disagreements, but we also had more than our share of happy times. I?ll never forget the things I did and the places I went this year, but the best part of the voyage by far was the people I met; my shipmates, students and teachers in the schools I visited, and people onshore who welcomed me into their homes and communities.

My shipmates are certainly the people I spent the most time with. Whether we were riding the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, eating (or at least pretending to eat) Laplap in Vanuatu, stowing sails, raising the anchor, or just sitting on the Aloha deck and talking at 3 o?clock in the morning, we were always together. I?ll miss all of my shipmates very much. My shipmates played a large part in shaping my experiences this past year, but the students and teachers I met when I visited schools also made the voyage what it was for me. At every school I visited, the students and teachers gave me an overwhelming welcome. There was singing and dancing, gifts of fruit and flowers, and kids who just wanted to talk to me and wanted to hear about the ship and our voyage. How many travelers are greeted in a new place by a sea of smiling faces that want to welcome them? Not many. I can?t thank the teachers and students I met this year enough and I?ll never forget them.

Outside of the ship and outside of the schools I visited, I met hundreds of people. Some of them, like the people on Pitcairn and Palmerston, welcomed me into their homes, gave me a place to sleep, and delicious food to eat. Other people volunteered to show me the sights in a new place and some just gave me directions or told me where the post office was. We spend so much of our lives worrying about how other people can hurt us, how they can steal from us, cheat us, or lie to us, but in this past year I met so many kind and generous people. Maybe the most important thing I?ve learned is never to forget how many good people are out there.

Now the Picton Castle is snug alongside her dock. I?m nearly done packing and the ship is strangely quiet. It makes me sad to leave the ship, but I?ll take the memories of the places I went, the things I learned, and most all, the people I met with me. I?ve packed away all those memories in my brain and now it?s time to finish packing my clothes in my bag and brrrr? I think it?s time to put on another sweater!

When you?ve lived in the tropics for the better part of a year, Nova Scotia feels chilly, even if it is June already. Luckily, with three layers on the cold isn?t bothering me too much. What I?m thinking about now is everything we?ve seen and done in the past year. There were so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I feel like I?ve lived several lifetimes in the last twelve months. At the beginning of the voyage we went through the Panama Canal and passed under the bridge of the Americas. With North America on the left, South America on the right, the Atlantic behind us and the Pacific in front of us, our adventure was just starting. In the Galapagos, I shared a walking path with tortoises that can live to be more than 150 years old and I made friends with a sea lion. On Pitcairn Island, I went swimming in St. Paul?s surrounded by black volcanic rock in the bluest water I?ve ever seen. In the Cook Islands, I learned how to drive on the left and in Palmerston I learned how to dance Polynesian style. In Tonga I ate Taro root and octopus, and in Fiji I bought a cannibal fork and a kava bowl. I went to a soccer tournament and a string band concert in Vanuatu, waded into the sea to visit a temple in Bali, and saw men staggering under the weight of huge flowered cavadees in Mauritius. I saw penguins in South Africa, Napoleon?s house in St. Helena, and spinner dolphins in Fernando de Noronha. In the Caribbean, I walked on white (and pink!) sand beaches, went snorkeling on coral reefs, and learned a little French. All in all, I did a lot of amazing things this year and saw a lot of incredible places.

I also learned a lot this year. At sea, I learned how to sew a sail, how to sew a patch on my pants, how to stand lookout and steer the ship, and how to navigate using the sun and moon and stars. I learned the constellations in the southern hemisphere like the southern cross, the names and uses of more than 175 lines and 20 sails, and not least of all how to live with forty other people and not lose my mind. It wasn?t easy. Like any big family we had our share of disagreements, but we also had more than our share of happy times. I?ll never forget the things I did and the places I went this year, but the best part of the voyage by far was the people I met; my shipmates, students and teachers in the schools I visited, and people onshore who welcomed me into their homes and communities.

My shipmates are certainly the people I spent the most time with. Whether we were riding the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, eating (or at least pretending to eat) Laplap in Vanuatu, stowing sails, raising the anchor, or just sitting on the Aloha deck and talking at 3 o?clock in the morning, we were always together. I?ll miss all of my shipmates very much. My shipmates played a large part in shaping my experiences this past year, but the students and teachers I met when I visited schools also made the voyage what it was for me. At every school I visited, the students and teachers gave me an overwhelming welcome. There was singing and dancing, gifts of fruit and flowers, and kids who just wanted to talk to me and wanted to hear about the ship and our voyage. How many travelers are greeted in a new place by a sea of smiling faces that want to welcome them? Not many. I can?t thank the teachers and students I met this year enough and I?ll never forget them.

Outside of the ship and outside of the schools I visited, I met hundreds of people. Some of them, like the people on Pitcairn and Palmerston, welcomed me into their homes, gave me a place to sleep, and delicious food to eat. Other people volunteered to show me the sights in a new place and some just gave me directions or told me where the post office was. We spend so much of our lives worrying about how other people can hurt us, how they can steal from us, cheat us, or lie to us, but in this past year I met so many kind and generous people. Maybe the most important thing I?ve learned is never to forget how many good people are out there.

Now the Picton Castle is snug alongside her dock. I?m nearly done packing and the ship is strangely quiet. It makes me sad to leave the ship, but I?ll take the memories of the places I went, the things I learned, and most all, the people I met with me. I?ve packed away all those memories in my brain and now it?s time to finish packing my clothes in my bag and brrrr? I think it?s time to put on another sweater!