Friends Forever International (Day 3)

Boston Harbor Islands

August 23rd, 2023

Since the day we left the harbor, I’ve developed more skills, learned more about marine animals, and have had massive amounts of fun. In the morning, we eat breakfast and do our morning chores, which are mostly fun, but breakfast and all the food is always great. Around noon we break up into our watch groups and learn to steer a boat, proper maintenance, and watch the water near the bow for other boats and lobster buoys. There’s a lot of those. That’s not all we do though- as we also do research for almanacs, either on weather, navigation, astrology, or on marine creatures. In the evening we often do more rope coiling, putting sails down, and have fun activities like salad bowl (charades) or the last sea activity, where we ranked important items for survival and compared our own lists to the coastguards. Dinner is always amazing as well. Once we’ve gone off to bed, we start anchor watch in one hour. We go in shifts to check the boat throughout the night, making sure we don’t  drift or drag anchor, and also check the bilges. By the end of our shift we go down to the galley and get midnight rations and then go wake up the next watch and fall asleep. Like I’ve said before, I’ve learned so much and had a blast along the way and I would 10/10 recommend sailing on the Denis Sullivan.

-Ethan 

It’s been a kind of crazy experience on the Denis Sullivan. Yesterday,  we had a little bit of sea sickness because of the motion of the ocean. I have been learning a lot. I have perfected my working and balentine coil. You get so much support and help with everything, which I appreciate. Raising and lowering the flags is one of my favorite things to do. We had a swim call last night before dinner, which refreshed everyone who was ill earlier in the day. 

My personal experience has been very exciting and different. Considering the circumstances, I am one who gets unbelievably sick in cars, boats, and planes. I am having a blast so far, and am so thankful to be here. Anchor watch is not my favorite, but I really love my group and they always find ways to make me laugh. The evening activities are a good way to start off the anchor watch and a good way to wake me up. 

-Summer