So thatās that, Iāve not long got home from the most amazing venture in my life. I am completely heartbroken to have said goodbye to Wind Surf, and once again extend my thanks to everyone on board, each one taught me something. I really did not want to leave, the crew, the ship, and the Caribbean as England is too cold. Whatās that I hear you ask, what was it like spending 5 weeks in the Caribbean around Christmas? Well, Iāll tell you, hot.
We arrived at Philipsburg, St. Maaten at the start of December, having stopped off in St. Johnās, Antigua to dispose of garbage, pick up some embarking crew, and such. I returned to being on 4-8 full time, however this time with 2/O Sebastian, however after my first week, Alistair disembarked, leaving me as the only deck cadet on board, so did work with each of the navigating officers, if and when required.
I know I mentioned in my post about the med that the days were repetitive, but that was nothing compared to the Caribbean, as we anchored most days, and our arrival and departures weāre mostly the same time each day, not to mention that we visited the same ports, either weekly or every other week. This meant I did find myself getting more tired then what I was in Europe, and lead a less adventurous life, but that does no way mean I wasnāt finding myself feeling amazing about my training.
During watches my 2/O took a step back and it became more like him shadowing me as to oppose to me shadowing him. He was very reassuring that he was there if I had any uncertainties, to ask away, but soon Iāll be qualified and need to be confident having the con, so good to have some practice with someone there. Throughout watches heād also ask me question such as what action I think we should take when we sighted other vessels, reinforcing my rules of the road practically. Along with often leaving the pre-arrival/pre-departure checks down to me, though doesnāt seem like much, it worked wonders for me feeling confident about being a future officer.
With work being done on the sails infrastructure during wet and dry dock, and Sebastianās duo-ticket, the maintenance we did on sails was different to what was done with Aline. My last few weeks on sails were spent concentrating on the workings of the system and trying to restore them to a near original condition.
During the Caribbean season I became more aware of other operations that happened around the vessel, each cruise the chief officer, invited me to host tables with him in the guest dining room, I had time and energy to attend the on Deck BBQs & Line Dancing, beach BBQs, I spent a lot of time at the Marina, and I also managed to watch the crew show. I even sang Christmas carols on Christmas eve to our guests, and spent my New Yearās Eve interacting with guests in the Compass Rose bar.
By this time this had come around I was very used to interacting with guests, giving them tours of the bridge, answering any questions, but hosting tables was something different, every time I felt terrified (normally only for the first 10 minutes or so), I really didnāt want to say the wrong with, or worse spill food on my formal whites! Luckily, I got on very well with my chief officer, so my mind was put at rest, and it was very easy to continue a conversation. I genuinely think working with him helped me grow a lot on board, hearing āLee, you are the best,ā (Lee was his name for me, donāt ask Iām not entirely sure why either) multiple times a day was great, I must say.
My first holiday season at sea was one that I wonāt forget definitely! As you probably all know Iām not the biggest party animal in the world, which meant I was dreading the Christmas Eve party, instead I spent my evening with some my closest friend I had made listening to musical and having a good laugh in my cabin. Christmas Eve also consisted of buy Christmas crackers, lots of candy, and somehow Waitrose products in Antigua.
Christmas day was definitely one that I donāt think Iāll experience again, due to the fact we spent the day at sea traveling north west, we had the perfect wind for sailing, meaning we turned the engines off around 10am and didnāt turn them on till about 20pm, this was wonderful for me, as my cabin was above the PMs, it was completely silent, ergo I woke up for morning and evening wake, to exchange secret Santa present on the bridge, and have the traditional Christmas burrito lunch, and slept pretty much the rest of the day.
We sailed into the New Year also, but I was not in bed at midnight to make the most of the silent engines. Every New Year people in my village in North West England go for a swim in the sea, this year I decided to uphold this tradition, although I was in Antigua. Though this wasnāt anything out the ordinary as I spent spent the time at the marina, most days swimming, and using the water trampoline, but I also discovered in Roseau, Dominica that I am ace at Stand Up Paddle Boarding, however not that great at doing flips anymore.
I am aware that there is so so so much more things I can write about, but if I wrote everything I wanted to, a) this would be thousands of words long, and b) I need to keep something back so I can have stories to tell that no one has heard before, so Iāve tried to keep it short and sweet.
I really want to say thank you again to everyone on board, the perfect team. Everybody on board taught me something, and I have made some fantastic friends that I hope I do stay in contact with. I feel completely privileged to work with who I have, if I mention one person Iād have to mention everyone, or at least 95% of the crew. When I said I didnāt want to leave I was completely telling the truth. Iām currently sat at home, feeling homesick (for probably the first time ever) for the ship I called home for the past four months, and the people Iāve called family. A wise woman did tell me though, āItās never goodbye, just see you later.ā
All good things must come to an end ā See You LaterĀ Windsurf December ā January Caribbean season So thatās that, Iāve not long got home from the most amazing venture in my life.
