Team SA 2009 Cape Windjammers/Class Afloat

The latest addition to the cape windjammers crew

2009-07-17T09:37:00.001+02:00

Friday 17th July, 2009

We are happy to announce the latest addition to the Cape Windjammers crew .... Our son Camillo Nahne Allavena-Nahnsen was born on 17.7.09 – he is healthy, strong and a happy chappy and we are proud, happy and fascinated!

Hope you are all well and we are looking forward to be in touch soon again - once we have found a new routine in our life – might take some years as we hear J

Antje and Alex

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 28th June - Follow up - Cape Town

2009-06-28T10:00:00.009+02:00

Home again! Team SA follow up meeting 28th June 2009 - Felix Kleinwort

Our debriefing was supposed to start at 9:30am, but the last person only arrived at about 10:20.
While waiting we watched a presentation made by Hilary.

It felt good to see everyone being well. At first each of us got a table where we were supposed to show the highlights and our lows for each port we visited on the trip. Marx and Monde shared those with the rest of the group.

After doing that we talked about our media work and how things worked out with our team leaders.

After having a lunch break, where we got sandwiches that where prepared by Helen, Asekho and Shane, we started talking about what we can do in the future to stay in contact and to make similar trips possible for other teenagers. We also split up into groups that would do things like: speeches, a video, a slideshow and the logbook.

The meeting officially ended at 16:30 and before everyone left we all got cupcakes with a “2,6“ on them, which was what we screamed on the Concordia when we were hauling on a line.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Wednesday 17th June - Cape Town

2009-06-18T10:27:00.001+02:00

Team SA 2009 is back from a journey of a life time! On Wednesday 17 June 2009 at 8 am they were welcomed by friends and families at Cape Town International Airport. A moment long anticipated!! Now is the time of story telling ... and there will be plenty, no doubt.

On 28 June 2009 the team will meet again at the Cape Windjammers offices in Woodstock to give feedback to Cape Windjammers about the experience, and to share with each other the experience to come back home as this is often the most difficult part of a journey. The team will also make plans for the future: there are presentations and events to be prepared, a video to be edited, and most importantly, how will they stay in touch as a team?

Keep on checking this blog to keep informed about the final legs of the team’s journey back here in Cape Town!

Head of School Update - Bermuda

2009-06-16T19:25:00.000+02:00

Best Wishes From Class Afloat!

To our South African friends,

I am sure you are very excited to welcome your "Floaties" home after their incredible tall ship adventure. In many ways they will be the same but in many ways we hope that they have changed over the past 2.5 months, taking on a more global perspective as well as developing friendships and skills to last a lifetime.

It was our pleasure to host your sons and daughters and we feel that our students benefited immensely from this opportunity. Thank you for sharing your family and culture with us and thank you to Cape Windjammer Education Trust for all their efforts and hard work to bring this experience to fruition. We hope you have enjoyed being a part of this adventure!

Your Floaties will always be members of the Class Afloat family and will be missed by their crew. Please keep in touch and we wish all of them the very best in all their future endeavours.

Fair winds,
Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 15th June - Bermuda

2009-06-15T19:13:00.000+02:00

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 14th June - Bermuda

2009-06-14T19:04:00.000+02:00

Meeting the Mayor of Hamilton, Bermuda - Helen Worthington-Smith

14 June 2009,

Today we had a planned port program; we were going to be going to the famous crystal caves of Bermuda. We woke up early and walked to the bus ranks where we caught the number eleven bus out of town. We managed to squeeze all 40 of us into the bus, even though it meant that we had to sit on each other’s laps and most of us had to stand.
When we arrived at the caves we were introduced to our guide who told us the safety rules (always hold onto the handrails, do not touch the crystal formations etc.) We were then led into the depths of the earth… To get to the caves we had to walk down a steep flight of dimly lit, very slippery stairs. As we got lower into the earth we started seeing beautiful crystalline structures and all around you heard the steady drip of the water which forms these wonders. Then we turned a corner and found ourselves in a cave that was half filled with the most crystal clear (excuse the pun) water I had ever seen. Stalagtites descended down from the roof like the jaws of a huge monster and if you looked down into the water, you could see the broken stalagtites which had broken from the ceiling and fallen down.

Our guide told us that the crystals were formed by water which drips down through the earth, collecting calcium as it goes. It then drips and hardens, forming the ¨teeth¨ shapes. They form a cubic inch every 100 years!!

After the caves we all went our separate directions. I went to the aquarium and the natural history museum then went to the media centre to make a few phone calls home. The South African crew then met at the ship and went to have dinner with the mayor of Bermuda but when we got there we found that they had over booked and we couldn´t have dinner. However, we met the mayor and had the chance to hand over a gift and mayoral greetings from the Mayor of Cape Town.

We went back to the ship and had supper there then went out into the town to enjoy our last night in Bermuda and with the Canadian crew.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 13th June - Bermuda

2009-06-13T14:34:00.010+02:00

13th June - Bermuda - People, Parade and Tall Ships - Shane Barnes!!

We are still docked in the most amazing place I have ever seen – Bermuda!!! It's sooo unbelievable! With all the festivities taking place every where you look its hard not to over indulge yourself in complete enjoyment.

Today all the CAF students will take part in a Trainee Parade, which will take place from Barr's Park to Victoria Park and then after that it is a another prize-giving event and a party with live music at Victoria Park. At colors this morning Mr Allman said that we all have to be here on the ship by 17:15 to prepare for the parade. Asekho, Helen, Dayana and I went to the Crew's center where there is free internet, any type of cool drinks your heart's desire plus those free 20dollar phone cards which I immediately used when I got there. We stayed there till almost past lunch tine and came back to the ship to pick up Marx because he had port-suspension for a totally unfair reason. We went off to go to have something to eat at this restaurant just down the street, and it was very delicious and so unlike Andy's (our cook's) food. Then we went back to the Trainee's Center so that Marx could contact his parents. After that we just walked around until 5pm. We all had to wear CAF uniforms and we walked to Barr's Park where all the trainees from the various other tall ships were and it was pretty intense. So the parade got started and off we marched to Victoria Park. It was fun and we were in the spot light so all the people watched with awe as we marched. When we got to Victoria Park the people of Bermuda Sail Training presented the prizes to all the other tall ships and then after a short presentation, the party started. We did not stay, but we returned later at 10pm and then came back to the ship before curfew at midnight.

Head of School Update - Bermuda

2009-06-12T21:29:00.004+02:00

Concordia Arrives in Bermuda!

Dear Friends and Families,

Concordia has arrived in Bermuda! The vessel made great speed from Trinidad and arrived late last night in St. Georges. The vessel is moving this morning to Front Street in Hamilton where she will remain over the weekend.

Concordia will sail again on Monday.Some highlights of the past sail include Mitchel's crowning as the new Ms. Concordia and a swim call for the crew! Oral exams were also completed and final written exams will take place on the sail to Grand Manan.Bermuda is part of the Tall Ship Atlantic Challenge 2009 series and the weekend is jam-packed with sports events, festivals, food and great inter-crew opportunities. This is an incredible chance for our crew to visit and tour other tall ships, meet other tall ship crews and take a great deal of pride in being the crew of Concordia as we are considered a featured vessel in the festival.

Attached is a map of Hamilton harbour and list of the vessels in attendance this weekend!

We will, sadly, need to say good-bye to our South African crew mates here in Bermuda. They will fly home on Monday with, we hope, wonderful memories of their time aboard Concordia and a great deal of personal and global learning in their wake. It has been a pleasure to have them aboard and we wish all of them the very best for the future!

There will be one new crew member joining the vessel to sail from Bermuda to Grand Manan. Adam Goodwin is a Floatie alum from 2005-2006 who is a native Bermudian and who has spent the three years since he graduated from Class Afloat pursuing a mariner career. Adam will be working on deck daily with the crew to help prepare the vessel for Lunenburg and will be an invaluable resource to students in the debrief process. Adam is quiet but confident and when you get him talking he is articulate and able to make deep connections between his experiences aboard Concordia and his path since returning to "real life". Students will be encouraged to talk with him, individually and in small groups, about life after Class Afloat, transitioning home etc. and we hope that his presence will add a unique element, together with our Bosun's Mate Axel who is an alum from 2002-2003, to the student debrief. Adam will disembark in Grand Manan and the crew will complete their voyage to Lunenburg as a core family group.

Have a great weekend! Only 14 sleeps until Concordia arrives in Lunenburg!

Cheers,Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 12th June Bermuda

2009-06-12T14:21:00.002+02:00

12th of June 2009 - Gustav Michael Allmann

Today was a day I think everybody will remember for the rest of their lives as the day we arrived in Hamilton, Bermuda, the most beautiful and exciting of ports. Before we moored we were waiting on another ship to make space for us between some of the other many huge and beautiful tallships. During this time we just admired the other ships and views. Finally we were allowed to go in. We moored up against the Europa which was really cool. Its a magnificent ship and I personally feel lucky that were allowed to moore next to it.

There are four South Africans on board the Europa. After we finished on deck we met in the mess to be briefed about all the facilities offered to us like free access into museums, aquariums and to an internet cafe. We were then awarded shoreleave until our new midnight curfew. This extra hour makes a huge difference. Its really cool. Once we all left the ship we split up into our groups and made our way to either one of the following: restaurant for proper food, bank, phones and the nearest beach.

Everybody returned to the ship exhausted but extatic with excitement for the following days in this beautiful port. This is by far the best way to finish of this once in a lifetime experience. Its exciting and depressing at the same time for the South Africans because we are having an awesome time but it is the end and we have to leave the ship...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 11th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-11T14:28:00.001+02:00

11th June - Preparing for Arrival in Bermuda - Marx
11th of June 2009

The day started of with a raw, we had very little wind so we were motoring.

Today was captains clean, the day the ship gets scrubbed from head to toe. I was on galley today and very tired, but the galley had to be cleaned. So we started mid day and it took us 4 hours. It was horrific we scrubbed, bleached and scrubbed some more. The galley was so dirty it was really something to get it clean, we found things that we wish we never did and saw things that will scar us for life, but after 4 hours is was spotless clean and the only things still alive inside the galley was the crew.

After that everyone went outside and had a tan, and before we knew it we were preparing the boat to dock in St. Georges. We docked at 9pm and got cleared by customs by 10pm and then we got shore leave for 2 hours. It was really fun and nice to be on land again, unfortunately everything was closed except one local pub, where we all just sat around for 2 hours before returning to the ship to get some rest for a early departure.

Some of us were so excited that we did not sleep that night.

Only 4 more days till we fly home!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 10th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-10T14:12:00.000+02:00

10th of June 2009 - Felix

Our course is: 017
Wind direction: 3/ SSW
Speed: 7.5 kn
Temperature: 28°C
Lat: 29°32 N
Lon: 65°13

Today I had galley, that meant no watch for me. We had cereals and oatmeal to serve for breakfast. The Canadians finished their exams today, and most of us are also done with their schoolwork. Later during the day we had a swimcall. It was the first swimcall out in the open ocean for the South Africans and we were all excited. We had a lot of fun jumping off the bowsprit and swimming in the middle of the ocean.

After the swimcall me and a few others just layed in the sun on the mizzen deck.

This evening after dinner we had le CAFF, the Class Afloat Film Festival, which started after we had a small debriefing about the time on the ship and what the challenges for the South Africans and the Canadians were. At le CAFF a couple of students presented videos they took by themselves. They were very funny, especially the one from Antoine and 2 teachers, about Zombies on the Concordia, in which I played one of the Zombies. The day was really cool and I had a lot of fun.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 9th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-09T14:06:00.004+02:00

9th of June 2009 - Bryan

Course: 010°
Speed: 8.8knots
Wind direction: 4/ESE
Temperature: 26°C
Lat: 26°27.8N
Long: 65°51.79W

Today was another usual day aboard the ship, only now, so close to the end of our voyage, many of us are thinking of the excitement of going home and the sadness of leaving CAF.

The sea was a gem-like blue today, the sun shining and the music was playing. The South Africans had class as usual while the rest of the students had the oral exams... SO glad we don't have to do our exams! In our free time, either we socialized, slept or helped out on deck to get everything ready for our much anticipated arrival in Bermuda.

Helping involved 'rust busting', grinding and priming, while I was allowed to go aloft and tie wire around all the shackles that didn't have any on. It was a great job, but I'm sure if my mom saw, she wouldn't approve of the precarious positions and the ways in which I was held up either by just a hand or just dangling attached to a piece of rope...it was great! And even better was that it gave me a workout at the same time!

Other than that, it was an ordinary day, but in the evening, the Design class presented their portfolios; which were basically their impressions, memories and what they got out of CAF.

Some were funny, some more serious and moving, but all was incredible! A lot of us were crying by the end, but they were definitely worth watching.

So it was an awesome day and everyone is making the most of their last few fleeting days. I only wish this trip was longer, even though I am excited to get back home...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 8th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-08T14:00:00.004+02:00

8th of June 2009 - Asekho

Speed: 10,5 kn
Wind: East 3
Longitude: 065 52 w
Latitude: 21 30,4N
Point of sail: broad reach
Sea: 3

Today we started our day the normal way, but at colors the Captain made an announcement about the program of Bermuda (International Tall Ship race). After colors, I had cleaning station and went to class. The day started slow until I had my day watch, today we had a party during day watch while Bryan and Brandon were burning in the galley. Gustav, Monde and Shane were painting the ship during day watch and they immediately stopped when the party started because me and Axel were entertaining them by our good dancing moves. People started coming out to watch us and we enjoyed it. After that I had my free two hours before my navigation watch. In mine I was with Gustav and Shane, who was doing well in helming and our speed raised. I again chilled for two hours then had my night watch and went to bed. This was a good day for all of us because of the news we had in the morning.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 7th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-07T13:55:00.004+02:00

7th of June 2009 - Brandon Schoor
(no logbook for 2 days, only getting new one tomorrow)

Today was another school day on the ship but it was exams reviews for the Canadians but normal school day for us. This meant we had more free time because everyone only had one hour nav. watch and one hour day watch so that was cool. All of the team members enjoyed this day because everyone used their free time to catch up on some sleep and so did I and I'm looking forward to another day on the S.V Concordia...
Since it's the last few days for the team SA on the Concordia some of the team members are so excited to get back home and some does want to go home but they also don’t want to leave behind what they have now and that's how I feel and a few others but we enjoying every moment since its going to be our last...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 6th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-06T13:45:00.005+02:00

6th of June 2009 - Monde

Latitude: 21 11.67 n
Longitude: 65 20 31 w Temperature: 28 degrees ,
closest port is the Virgin islands
Our average speed is 8. 1 nautical miles

Today was an interesting day. Yes, we did the same watches but at different times, it's preparations for examinations for the Canadians, so the schedule is slightly inconsistent. Another intriguing part about this day is that it's the long awaited Miss Concordia. You could see it in the companion way, the boys were being pampered, the make up was daring especially Gustav's.

Some did look a bit horrific like my dear friend Asekho - no offense but he really looked like a mime artist or a crocodile with make up, but he did pay it up by his provocative dancing moves that dazzled the judges and made the deliberation on who will be Miss Concordia a bit difficult. I cannot go on without mentioning Brandon or should I say Belinda his girl's name. We were all honored with princess names, mine was Mona Lisa. Belinda was yet another highlight with his belly dancing and crude shorts that disturbed especially judge Mr. Hurley. As for me, I came on second place with Asekho. I must say I looked fierce all thanks to my German glam squad .

The night was divided in 4 sessions: there was evening wear, interview, bathing suit and talent. I think all of these were fully executed by the girls for the night, considering that none of us had any practice in that field, well except for Mitchel, who stole the show but however I thought they gave it to him because it was a bit personal to him but hey no hard feelings. We ended the night with some high adrenalin sailing maneuvers as we took advantage of the good mood we all were on.

Its now 9 days till home, it' s insanely unbelievable! It all went so fast, it's sad for the amazing people we met, but it won't be the last time we meet and certainly not the last for us the South African team.

It has been a bon voyage - Thank you Cape Windjammers!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 5th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-05T13:35:00.004+02:00

5th of June 2009 - Chrissy =)

Our position details as announced at colors this morning...
Latitude.. 12º 37.3' N
Longitude..062º 17.6' W
Speed..7.0 knots
Temperature.. 29 ºC
Nearest Coast.. Caribbean Islands

Today was a great day that was different from other days aboard the Concordia as we got a new routine schedule. The other Class Afloat students have exams coming up and therefore we have other class times for exam review and oral exams. Now, instead of having our usual schedule for a whole 5 day cycle, we have a different one each day, which is hung up on the notice board (mostly a day in advance).This means that we have different class times than before and different nav. and day watches with different people than we usually do.

In the morning we all had 2 hours of class which started right after cleaning stations and were followed by day or nav watch right after, for some students.

After lunch we had an abandon ship drill which went really well! Everything worked out as fast and efficient as it should in a real emergency so we can all feel safe that if the ship were to sink, we would at least all know how to get on our life-rafts quickly.

The afternoon was relaxed but you could feel that today was the day before Miss Concordia. You could see excitement and anticipation in some guys faces but also pure dread in others! Many people started preparing for the great night tomorrow and did something which some of the guys never thought they would do - they shaved their legs. Many South African students were planning to participate but not all of them were quite so sure about what they were doing. Monde, Asekho, Gustav, Brandon and Bryan spent the evening getting ready. This meant getting your outfit planned, thinking about a talent to show off, mentally preparing for an interview and the most dreadful task of all for the boys, which was shaving their legs. It took a bit of convincing for most but in the end they all had the guts to shave the leg hair they had been growing for about 17 years (except for Asekho, whose leg hair was nowhere near visible anyway). Bryan was a very brave guy to let Andrea and me shave his legs and get rid of the fur. After bringing that sacrifice, the next steps were to varnish his nails - bright red and pluck his mono brow. We planned the outfit he would wear for the evening wear and swimsuit wear and brainstormed ideas for his talent. By now the boys were ready to get some beauty sleep before their great night and their managers and make-up artists needed a break from the stress, so we all went to bed, ready for what the next day would bring!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 4th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

2009-06-04T13:26:00.004+02:00

4th of June 2009 - Shane Barnes

Our current course is 350, speed is 5.7, the wind comes from 5 ENE and we have traveled 165nm in the last 24hrs.

We are still docked in Port of Spain. At colors it was announced that we will leave right after colors and be under way again but as it turned out the pilot did not arrive at 10am because of some paper work that needed to be sorted out before he could come on our ship and steer us out of port and then we would be off to Bermuda! My watch group took care of the gang way which is our new docking station and it was kind of easy but doing it while you are being cooked alive by the sun is in fact quite exhausting. The pilot did not arrive until 2hours later and we finally left Port of Spain and it took us probably till lunch when we were fully out of the harbor. By now I was tired and felt sea-sick while I was sitting in class after lunch for 2hours and right after that, I went to sleep. I would have slept till the next day was it not for class again for an hour and dinner. After that I slept again till my watch from 23:00 till 2:00am and my watch group did the seamanship constellation project, which was pointing out and giving details about a star – mine was the Eagle (Aquila).

Then at 2:30am I finally went to bed.

Head of School Update - Trinidad

2009-06-03T20:36:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends and Families,

I have not yet heard from the vessel but the crew should be in Port of Spain as I type after enjoying time ashore in Tobago yesterday. The vessel will be in port until this evening and will then head for Bermuda.

Cheers,
Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 3rd June - Port of Spain, Trinidad

2009-06-03T13:14:00.001+02:00

Exploring the Port of Trinidad - 3rd June 2009 - Bryan Castle

This morning we arrived in Trinidad at the Port of Spain. First impressions are always important, and by the looks of things we were in store for another Walvis Bay type of area, but we were so wrong. The city itself was extremely clean and very well built up. There was a lot of new, big buildings that generally dominated wherever you would look, but they were not the ugly ones, they looked modern and attractive.

Once we were allowed to go ashore, we split into our groups and except for those unlucky enough to have port suspension, the first thing we did (most of us anyway) was to go find food! My group went to Subway after finding ATM's so that we could get a bit of money. Subway was phenomenal, foot long subs with so much great toppings on...chicken, peppers, sauces, salad, ham, veggies and so much more! And there was a lady who was really friendly and was talking to us, telling us about Trinidad and all that. Then we went for ice cream, it was so good! After that we went exploring the city and found internet and phones. It was great being able to speak to our parents again, even if it was 10 pm in S.A.

Other than that, souvenirs were bought, more food was eaten (we couldn't get enough!!) and we all had a lot of fun.

After my group (Gustav, Patrick, Claire, Sarah, Rachelle, Monde and myself) had done our grocery shopping, just outside the shop, a man called Marcus walked over to us and we began chatting. He was an ex-active USA marine and was involved in a group of ex marines who would walk around the streets seeing if anyone needed help, especially tourists, and take them to places, always keeping us in the assurance of safety, as they had a reputation wherever they went. He took us all over the city and showed us a lot, informing us about all the important landmarks and features. The last stop was Mahatma Gandhi Square where there was a statue of Mahatma (aka Brandon) and there was a homeless man who Monde and Rob had a long conversation with. He was surprisingly knowledgeable and had a freaky funny laugh. He was a part of a program that Marcus ran which tries to give all homeless people food, a shower everyday, clothing and hopefully eventually shelter. Monde felt really connected to him, and was obviously sad when we had to leave, otherwise we wouldn't have been back at the ship in time.

Once we had said bye to Marcus and thanked him for his help, it was awesome having someone like that with us, especially at night in a strange town. When we were back on the ship, most people who had laptops were on them because internet was available from the port. So everyone was up late, talking or chilling and one by one we began going to bed.

Trinidad is an incredible place and the people are all so friendly, it is definitely somewhere I want to come back to in the future! Everyone had an amazing time, but we are all looking forward to our final leg of the voyage...

Today was also Felix's birthday!!!!!!!!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 2nd June - Tobago

2009-06-02T20:58:00.000+02:00

2nd of June 2009 – Port Tobago - Asekho Mdaka

Today we started our day early as 5am in the morning for sail maneuvers because we were going to anchor at Tobago. Me and my cabin mates came late as some had few hours of sleep. We started dowsing and setting sails. As I was doing the sail maneuvers, my mind was still in bed while my body was there and that made me function slowly.

After we were done with sail maneuvers, we had colors where we were told that we will get shore leave early today. After colors, we had a big spring deck clean and went to a meeting straight after that. People could not wait to go and explore.

When I arrived on land with my group, we went to change money, but the exchange was closed and we had to change money with a guy on the street. Being Cape Townian we knew what can happen in street exchange, but we decided to take the risk. After that we went for a tour in the streets in the island. We did not take a long time and we thought of food.

We went to the beach and stayed there for the rest of our free time. While swimming, one of the locals called us for a game of soccer and we wasted no time. We split ourselves and started playing. We got tired and stopped playing to take a swim.

Gustav thought of a good idea asking the bosun John to come and fetch us where we were swimming as we saw other boats coming in. John had no problem with it and for that matter we enjoyed ourselves swimming with the new 1st mate and 2nd mate Evan. When it was time to leave, they asked us to come with them but we told them that we had already arranged with John. When we saw the Zodiac coming in and going we started to have fears as we thought that John might forgotten us but things went well.

When we arrived, we had sail maneuvers as we were about to leave for Trinidad. I left early as I had galley day. Afterwards, I went to bed. Everyone was fine, but tired after the day.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 1st June - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-06-01T20:52:00.000+02:00

1st of June 2009 - Brandon Schoor

Long: 59 56.5386
Lat: 11 16 0722Speed: 5.6

Today was another ordinary day on the ship: SA classes, day watch and nav watch but a few things changed like at 13:00 the time will go back another hour so when its 13:00 it will actually be 12:00 which means we get more free time. We had another media meeting which went well but this time Bryan was hosting it so it was even more enjoyable and funny most of the time. Later in the media meeting we decided to write a goodbye card (which we all signed) and take a picture with the captain since he is leaving us in Trinidad and we gave him a few gifts to remember us. After dinner, the captain called for all free hands on deck to strike a few sails since we will be anchoring tomorrow morning when we arrive in Tobago. The team is very excited because we are so close to our next two ports and so am I. We can't wait to get onto land again.

Head of School Update - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-06-01T19:03:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

Quick update - the vessel made great speed over the weekend and will have time to stop for the day in Man-'O-War Bay, Tobago tomorrow and then sail overnight to stop for the day in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Wednesday. YAY!

Cheers,
Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 31st May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-31T20:45:00.001+02:00

31st of May - Monde Sitole

Latitude is 9 35 degrees North, Longitude is 53 40.05 degrees West
Speed: 9nm Wind: 4NE
the nearest port is Guyana
Point of sail: broad reach
the weather is great, sea is fair and the wind is working in our advantage

Wow what can I say, 31st of May, I already take a pause and reminisce about when all this started. I will say it once more, time really flies when you are having fun. I guess by now you understand that this day is not like the rest, the schedule is not the same, there is no day watch because its bosun's day, nonetheless classes and cleaning stations are left uninterrupted. But the reason why this day is different is not the schedule, the whole day in essence is weird. We, some of the South African team, bonded in an indescribable way, today we involuntarily always end up together just laughing and talking about how lucky we are. Today, I also got a lot of me introspective time where i laid on the bowsprit listening to soul music from Marx' i pod. I got to think about my life and my role in the universe. My highlights for the last past weeks are going aloft while it was thundering and heavily raining, and of course the equator crossing - getting my hair shaved was not so nice, but i don't regret it though because how many people can say they got their hair shaved in the middle of the globe. It is very seldom. By now I am cherishing every moment.

It's only 2 weeks and 1 day left for our departure. A lot of us are happy but at the same time sad to leave behind the relationships we've built and our new life and habits. But another special thing that make anticipate home are the letters Hilary and Dayana gave us from our parents - they came at a co incidentally right time.

It's only 23 days before my birthday – Hooray! -S and one day after mine is my big sister Chrissy's who's been like a mother to the team. By this time, all of us can be called sailors!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 30th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-30T20:40:00.000+02:00

30th of May 2009 - Chrissy Braun

Our position details as announced at colours this morning:

Latitude: 8 degrees 13. 8 ` North
Longitude: 51 degrees 52. 78 ` West
Sails set: Inner Jib, Outer Jib, Course, T`Gallant Topsail, Upper Topsail, Lower Topsail, Main staysail, Main sail, Mizzen Sail
Speed: 6.3 k/m
Temperature: 28 degrees C
Nearest Coast: Brazil

Today was another great day aboard the SV Concordia. It was sunny with blue sky. We had cereal, fruit and yoghurt for breakfast which was a great start into the day.
Navigation and Day watches were very relaxed and productive. The bosun`s mate Axel taught us how to make bags out of old sailcloth and ropes and so a lot of people are currently working on bags and Axel gave us our day watch time to work on it.
The team is feeling really well and integrated into the family but we all kind of get the sad feeling of having to leave soon and so we enjoy every minute we have left with our Class Afloat family. It was such a great and happy day, as every day.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 29th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-29T20:32:00.004+02:00

29th of May 2009 - Shane Barnes
Our current course is 303 with the wind coming from NE By N the speed 7.5, average temp 29 degrees.

We are literally speeding to Trinidad, the wind is finally knocking on our door!!.This morning at colors it was said that we have traveled 202nm in the last 24 hours and still have 890nm left to our next port which is Trinidad. The sun decided to stick around more and just shine away the ever troublesome sea-sickness plague.

Team SA had sail training with John again which was just practicing to throw the heaving lines. My new cleaning station is cleaning the mess room which only took about 20 minutes, that gave me ample time to clean my cabin. The toilet is constantly flooded because that stupid drain is blocked and it pumps up all that nasty water back up, we asked one of the engineers to take a look at it, which was after dinner, and he said that he can do nothing about it and its normal! Asekho and I were like are you kidding, are we supposed to do with a filthy drain that floods the whole toilet!

But only 17 days are left so we just have to bare with the every rebellious shower drain. I think every one had a fabulous day and also getting used to their new night watch, mine is from 12pm to 2pm and thats kind of still okay I think. Lots of our team members were also going for the High Altitude test this evening.

Head of School Update - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-29T18:57:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends and Families,

The Concordia has been making best speed to Trinidad but the winds have not been cooperative. The vessel has encountered either no wind (the
doldrums) or wind on her nose, making progress even with the engine a challenge. The vessel finally caught some good wind yesterday and will make up some time over the weekend.

At this point the ETA for Trinidad will need to be revised to June 3rd @ 0600. The vessel will plan to call in Port of Spain, Trinidad for the day for shore leave time and to provision/fuel and do a crew exchange.
Captain Bill will be departing the program and will be replaced with Captain Remi Trzaska for the month of June. We will also add a new mate to the mix - Eric Romelczyk will join us as a 3rd mate, in training, to sail through to Lunenburg and then continue on with the program for the summer. The vessel will sail that evening for Bermuda.

We are all disappointed that the safety equipment replacement and poor winds have resulted in 3 fewer days in port in Trinidad but are comforted that the vessel has sailed with all gear in good order and that the students were able to enjoy 2 extra days of shore leave in Natal as a result of the delay.

If there are any changes I will keep you updated.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,
Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 28th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-28T20:28:00.002+02:00

28th of May 2009 - Helen Worthington-Smith

Course: 314 ̊
Speed: 8.2kn
Sails set: outer jib, inner jib, fore staysail, course, lower, upper, t'gallant, royal, main staysail, main, mizzen, t'gallant staysail.
Wind: EbE, force 4
Cloud coverage: half
Visibility: 8
Pressure: 1017
Temperature: 29 ̊C

Today was the first day of having our new schedules. I am wildly ecstatic because this means that I no longer have 4-6 night watch! I now have 8-10 which means that I won't be woken up in the middle of the night by someone shouting at the door that I have to be upstairs in 5 minutes. I will never again have to force myself to leave the cosy warmth of my bed and stumble onto deck, bleary eyed and half asleep to brave the elements.

We have been having decent sailing wind for the past couple of days and we've managed to reach some impressive speeds. I'd almost forgotten what it's like to actually move through the water (before we never really did more than bob up and down, staying in the same place, no matter how many sails we set). I also find that people's moods improve. When we had no wind we were all often a bit short tempered and didn't feel like doing anything. Now, it is as though the wind has blown away the cobwebs and everything is fresh and exciting again :)

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 27th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-27T20:21:00.001+02:00

27th of May 2009- Gustav Michael Allmann ;)

Our latitude is 3 degrees and 30.32 minutes north, our longitude is 45 degrees and 50.20 minutes west and the temperature is 29.

Today started off just like any other day: breakfast, colors and instead of cleaning stations, Ben requested all hands for sailing maneuvers. I was extremely happy when i heard that because I've been getting annoyed with the fact that were just motoring all the time. Setting the sails was so awesome because after every sail was set the ship would tilt even more and once we were all done it was difficult to walk from port to starboard. One had to almost crawl on all fours. Not only did the ship tilt more after every sail was set but the sky would also open cloud by cloud as the sails went up. The first sighting of the sun in several days. I was literally jumping for joy once we were done, think I've fallen in love with sailing because I get this adrenalin rush when were so tilted and speeding at + - 9 knots. Bryan, Sarah and myself were leaning over the starboard rail and just admiring the sun, the sea, the wind, and the waves crashing and spraying against our beautiful Concordia.

Hilary and Dayana were responsible for another pleasant surprise of the day. They gave us letters which our parents wrote for us before we left. I was overjoyed and couldn't wait to read it but I had to wait two long day watch hours before I could read it. Once in class everyone that hadn't read theirs yet had the opportunity to do so. Some of us got really emotional reading their letters but everyone was really happy afterwards and I'm sure everyone is looking even more forward to going home now...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 26th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-25T20:17:00.000+02:00

26th May 2009 - Bryan Castle
HDG:315 Vis:7
Wind:3ESE Pres: 1016
Seas:4 Temp: 27C
Wx:X Lat: 2'27.38
Long: 42'06.44 Speed: 6.7

Today was another regular day 5... consisting of classes and nav and day watch. Sadly it was also raining again, so much for the hot sunny equator!

It was a good day, everyone was laughing at the weird and wacky hair cuts that we received yesterday. After cleaning stations this morning Kathinka shaved the rest of my head, making it look SLIGHTLY better, but not much. So, I got laughed at a lot, because apparently it doesn't look particularly great...which it doesn't really to be honest.

Everyone was still very tired after yesterdays ordeals, even though some were luck enough to sleep about 5 hours (CHRISSY!)

Bryan Castle

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 25th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-25T20:05:00.007+02:00

25th May 2009 - Crossing the Equator - Bryan Castle

HDG:004 Vis:8
Speed:7.1 Pres:1016
Wind:5SbW Temp:26
Long:40'49.2 Lat:0'00.00

Today we had the Equator Crossing...
This meant that all us 'Polywogs' were finally able to be initiated and become 'Shellbacks'! Luckily for us it was raining all day, so we didn't get too hot, especially down in the bosun's locker.

After doing our cleaning stations we had to wait around until we were called and the fun began...after being called onto deck we were all piled into the bosun's locker for about 3hours. After about the first hour and needing the toilet REALLY badly, it begins becoming a bit unbearable. Fortunately, a storm blew over so the Shellbacks, aka the teachers, couldn't do their work anymore so we got a short break..FOOD and TOILET were the only things on my mind. Marx on the other hand probably didn't have much on his mind as he was too focused on the contents of his stomach projecting from his mouth...YUMMY!

After our break and being shoved for another period in the locker, eventually all of us had been called up for our initiation, which included and optional hair shave or a more moderate hair clip. Then we had to crawl through a tube and under a net being spanked by a pair of wooden scissors and being poked in rather awkward places.

The Slop Pool followed that...all the left over slop from the last 2 days was poured into an old Zodiac and mixed with water, into a delightful soup of things best not thought of, but it was Andy's' cooking, so it wasn't great! So we had to sit in this and half a watermelon filled with the soup was poured over our head and we had to wear the watermelon as a helmet nd crawl belly down through the soup under a piece of metal, ensuring we got nice and smelly!

Then Miss Czeczan put a toilet seat over our head and "made us beautiful" with mustard and other stuff rubbed all in our head. The only good thing was that we got a free head massage out of it... Next was the fishing, we had to grab a fish out of a bin filled with a mixture of water and something else. After I got mine, I had to throw it back and fish for it with my mouth, aren't they lovely?

Finally we got to Axel, or King Neptune, who made us read a passage and then kiss his feet before we were allowed in his 'Kingdom' and we got out fish names, mine was Clown Goby Fish. After that ordeal, we got hosed down by John and then got the reward of cleaning everything up before we could shower, get warm and eat...

We had the rest of the day off after that, during which time, everyone slept at least a little bit, except for those of us rudely awoken for sail maneuvers...and at 8pm we got to watch the concluding part of 'Horatio Hornblower'...a great end to a great day!

Everyone is doing great and Gustav, Brandon and myself (also Monde and Asekho) got some GREAT shaves from Mr Hurley, so it was a very productive day!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 24th May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-24T19:58:00.000+02:00

24th May 2009 - Felix Kleinwort
Our position at 12:00 is Lat: 01°50,73 S Lon: 039°12,94W
Our wind direction is SE
and we have 27°C, our course is 319

This morning nobody woke me up for breakfast , so I slept till 7:55, when I got woken up by the 5 minutes to colors announcement. It was fine with me because the breakfast was bad anyways. We had sail maneuvers straight after colors. The weather is still really bad and it was raining most of the day, but the moral of the team is as brilliant as always. Because sometimes there is wind, so we can finally sail a little bit after most of the days of just motoring before we arrived in Natal. We are still motoring a lot, but its becoming less the further we come to the North.

For lunch we had pizza which is one of my favorite foods on the ship. This evening the teachers already prepared things for the equator crossing. And Ms. C and Axel went around and had fun writing 'polywog' on our faces. It was very funny, when we all sat there for dinner, with marks and lines in our face. It was a good start for the equator crossing. And I am sure everyone had a lot of fun so far. At 9pm we were called in the mess, where we spent some time waiting and being excited for what would happen next. Then finally we were called one after another and had to go to midships. None of us knew what was going on. Then suddenly Axel and John dumped buckets of seawater on us, because they were hiding on the plank under the main boom. It was a lot of fun. And we are all looking forward to tomorrow.

It was a really awesome and funny day, even though the weather was not as good as we wished it was.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 23rd May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-23T19:53:00.003+02:00

23rd of May 2009 - Marx Mohr
Longitude: 36 degrees, 34.7 West
Latitude: 3 degree 38.7 South
Speed: 8.4
Wind: SSE right through the days
Temperature: 28 degrees
closest coast Brazil

Today was a pretty uneventful day. It’s the day after we have left Natal and last night we got some pretty bad news. We were told because we are so behind schedule, we have a ca. 12 day sail ahead of us, and that we will miss one of our ports (Tobago) and only be in Trinidad for 24 hours at the most. This came to a big shock to all the students and we are not very happy about it.

It is a dilemma to most of us because we have only provisioned food and other supplies for a 9 day sail, and since we are going to be in Trinidad for such a short time period, we will have to fit in a number of things without having time to experience the port. Some things we have to do at port is groceries shopping. Phoning home which has been a dilemma at most ports, and trying to buy souvenirs even as simple as a postcard.

All the talk rumors have subsided of pirates. It's just somebody saying something and it gets blown out of proportion. We are also picking up a new captain and 3rd mate at Trinidad. The only 3 reasons for stopping at Trinidad now is picking up a captain, a 3rd mate and to refuel.

Tomorrow is the equator crossing, I think we are all looking forward to it, it's going to be a lot of fun. All and all things are good on board with the team although some of us are secretly counting the days till we are back home, and some not so quietly.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 22nd May - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-22T19:45:00.002+02:00

22nd of May 2009 – back on sea! - Brandon Schoor
long 055 25.6w
lat 37 08 75

Speed 5.5
wind speed EbyS 4

Today we left Brazil after 3 days delay and we got our new first mate called Ben, he looks like a cool guy... When we left Brazil, we were motoring going about 8knots but later when we were a bit far from port, we switched off the motor and set all the sails and we were on our way to Trinidad. Today was no school, only day and nav watch.

Later on they called for all free hands on deck because we were going not fast so we had to strike all the sails and start to motor again and well we were doing the striking. It was raining so hard but at the same time we all enjoyed it...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Wrap up - 14th to 21st May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-21T21:27:00.021+02:00

Port Natal, Brazil – 14 to 21 May 2009 - Bryan Castle

We finally arrived in Natal on the 14th of May, and were greeted by white sandy beaches and beautiful warm water... and a bunch of big industrial buildings and one rather large bridge. We were met by a pilot who guided us up the river to the port where we would be docking and finally get back on land. Docking stations, port authorities and clearances were the only things preventing us going ashore. However we did eventually clear those obstacles and were let ashore!

Now, the next thing to accomplish was to find a way to Ponta Negra, which involved either getting a bus or a taxi. Some of us were fortunate to be seen by a tour guide person, called Addy, who showed us the right bus to take and where we could exchange money and even went as far as escorting us to Ponta Negra itself. The beach looked awesome and the water was incredible!! There were plenty of shops, especially a lot of touristy shops, where nearly everyone spent too much money! Our curfew was at 11 pm which was great because it allowed us more time to have fun (going to clubs, drinking and partying!!!) before we had to sober up and get back to the ship.

The 15th was very exciting for us all; it was the day we would meet our home stay families and go live somewhere normal for 2 nights! But before that 20 students signed up to go to 2 different schools to do an English class. It didn't involve any teaching, the class Shane and I were in just asked questions, as in the other classes. We all had bunches of fun and answered some interesting questions (like what we do in our happy hour, which is what they called our free time).

There was a reception at 5.45pm where we were to meet our host families. Shane, Jonas and I were put in the same family with 2 boys, Fellipo and Enrico. We were allowed to leave whenever we wanted so the 6 of us left to go to their house, which was INCREDIBLE! And after settling in we went out to meet the others at Pittburger, a burger restaurant, where we all bought something...the milkshakes tasted great!

DUNE BUGGYING on the 16th! Everyone agrees that it was easily one of the best days we have had! Our home stay families dropped us off at the buggying agency and from there we split ourselves into groups of 4 and got into our buggies and were underway in no time! I was in a buggy with Monde, Asekho and Patrick; and the 3 of us just messed around the whole time, thoroughly enjoying the day! Our driver was great, he did a lot of drifting around the dunes (which led to a lot of screaming coming from Monde!).

We made few stops during the day: at a lagoon for a few pics, at another pit stop just by a beach with souvenirs shops (interesting clothing) and the chance to watch Marx fall off a sand board, as well as at a restaurant that actually had its tables in the water, with all the fish and swimming people and everything. After a brief swim and lunch we were taken to an area where we could slide down a hill on belly boards into water, which nearly everyone did... a bit expensive, but worth it!!

Our next stop (don't worry we are nearly at the end) gave us the chance to go on a zip wire in a chair like contraption into a dam, and after Mr Allman showing us the way, we all had great fun going down!

Finally, after a long but phenomenal day, everyone had the chance to relax on the beach until it was time to go home... obviously not without a street race! Involving bumper to bumper action and some side scraping and hi 5ing between cars, and a lot of speed... it was... INTENSE! And we all loved it!

Then the 17th... the last day of our home stay... sad times. No more great food or big beds or huge TV's, but I was excited to get back to the rest of the floaties and share stories. So, after having spent some time in the mall, everyone returned to the ship, and we were then allowed shore leave, which we all utilized by going to the beautiful Brazilian beaches!

Ah, the 18th, the day we found out that we would be staying in Natal for 2 extra days, which was great news especially for Felix and myself who were smiling from ear to ear. The only problem was figuring out how to spend the few remaining Raels in the best way possible (which in my opinion was on food!). And with that good news bestowed upon us by Mr. Allman, we had even more shore leave while we waited for our EPIRB to arrive, which was the reason we weren't leaving.

A snap back into reality came the next day, because we had to have school, while still at port!!! Nothing more agonizing than sitting in a hot room staring at land, longing for the beach...but we made it through just fine! And were allowed to go on land from 6 till 9pm.

The 20th, the day of expected departure, was when our first mate Kent decided to resign, which meant we were stuck longer at Natal, which doesnt sound too bad, but everyone had run out of money and we were anxious to go so that we could still have time to get shore leave at Tobago. Fortunately though, Hilary gave us each 15 raels more for groceries! I was so happy!

Finally, departure day! Or new 1st mate, Ben had arrived early in the morning, so we were set to leave at 10am...WHICH WE DID!!! All farewells said to Brazil, we were soon underway to our next destination unknown, with who knows what adventures awaiting us...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 21st May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-21T19:42:00.002+02:00

21th of May 2009 - Brandon Schoor

Still in port & rainy weather

Today was a normal school day on the ship but we weren't on sea, we were still in Brazil for the last day. We did all the things we do everyday like day watch, nav watch and normal classes except one thing changed: our shore leave, instead of just having shore leave for two hours from 7pm till 9pm we had it even for four hours from 7pm to 11pm. The reason we had longer shore leave was because tomorrow we would be leaving Brazil as we finally got our a new first mate (reason for our delay) and his name is Ben. So we will leave tomorrow definitely. Some of the team mates were excited to get back onto sea and some wanted to stay including me but we had to go as we have no choice.....

Head of School Update - Brazil to Trinidad

2009-05-21T18:59:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends and Families,

Concordia will depart Natal today - if all goes according to plan! The new piece of safety equipment is scheduled for delivery early this afternoon (it is coming with a new crew member - see note below) and the vessel will depart shortly thereafter. We apologize for the delay but have worked as quickly as possible to ensure safe replacement of necessary equipment.

We will also have a change in crew today. Chief Mate Kent Cassels will be replaced by Chief Mate Ben Gowland,who has sailed previously with Concordia.

This service delay will now impact the vessel's time in Trinidad & Tobago. The vessel can make up time enroute if winds are favourable and so at this time we are only announcing a revised arrival date of June 1st. We will keep you updated throughout next week and will make best speed to ensure limited disruption to the schedule. While frustrating it is important that we place safety first and the students have enjoyed additional shore leave time in Natal as a result of the delay.

Enjoy the rest of your week - we are supposed to hit 28 degrees in Lunenburg today - and Happy Memorial Day weekend to our American families!

Cheers,
Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 20th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-20T19:35:00.000+02:00

20th of May 2009 - 2nd additional day in port (Acad. Day 1) - Asekho Mdaka

I woke up at 6am for my navigation watch and today it was a different day as we were going to have class while we were still in port. This came as a surprise to people as they planned to do some grocery shopping. We went for breakfast at the usual time and colors it was said that Mr Allman caught some people walking in groups of three instead of four and those people got a port suspension of seven hours. The sad part is that these guys were in a group of six and three were inside as others were looking after their clothes but Mr. Allman did not see it that way. But we also had good news as they told us that the new 1st mate is coming tomorrow and that means we will sail round about 4pm. We had a class at 10am till 12pm.

There was not much interesting during the day as people's minds were still thinking about fun time on shore. I almost forgot our team S.A meeting where we talked about how we felt about our home stay and the port program. We were told that we are allowed to go ashore at 6pm and come back at 9pm. Those who still had money to spend went out and ate dinner while me and others sign for dinner here on the ship. Even if I had a plan to go a could not because I was having a class from 1800 to 1900 and watch from 2000 to 2200 so I was forced to stay.

The best thing was that during my watch it started to rain and people came out and danced in the rain, it looked like people were happy today.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 19th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-19T19:27:00.003+02:00

19th of May 2009 - 1st additional (6th) port day - Felix Kleinwort

Today is our first day that we have got extra, because we are still waiting for our new EPIRB, which is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Kent our first mate is gone, for personal reasons and we will get a new mate on Thursday. So we will spend two more days than planned in Natal, which most of us liked very much, but some of us were running short on money, so they couldn't really do anything.

I went with Max, Jonas and Karl to the beach, where we spend most of the day. Besides swimming and lying in the sun we went to the internet café, from where we had the chance to call our family with skype. It was the first time I saw them via camera since we left Cape Town, that was really exciting for me.

In the evening we went to have dinner with Jenn, Jonas and Kate. We went to a really nice restaurant were we ate from a buffet. The food was really good and I enjoyed my last proper food before going back to the routine of the ship and the bad food we get there. In the taxi we took, we could watch a movie, because there was a screen. So we watched Transporter 3 on our way back home.

After all I really liked it today, but I am already looking forward to being back on sea.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 18th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-18T19:32:00.002+02:00

18th of May 2009 - 5th port day - Asekho Mdaka

I woke up at 7am in the morning in a hotel as we were having a watch trip the last night. We woke up and showered and went for breakfast. The funny thing is that in the hotel they said it is only 4 people in a room and we were eight. As we woke up, the first four went for breakfast while I and other three people were waiting for them to come back, they came in laughing and told us that they already signed for our room.

We went down for breakfast and as we arrived taking plates and started serving, one guy came to us and ask our room number then we told them and they said that there were four people who came for breakfast already. We stopped serving and Sarah was talking with the guy saying that we are eight people in our room. The guy looked shocked and said okay and we could have breakfast quickly as we were rushing for provisioning.

We waited for the provisioning that was supposed to be at 9:30 am, but ended up being 1pm. After that people went out to the beach but this time people started walking when they were going to the beach as it came as a surprise that we still have two days left, but not having enough money anymore.

By that time I was doing my laundry and watching a movie. It was also my galley day so I was supposed to serve people food but today the cook made things easy as he said we must just make one big table and sit with the Captain and the teachers. When the dinner was finished I went to do my night watch and went to bed.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 17th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-17T19:22:00.002+02:00

17th of May 2009 - 4th port day - Monde Sitole

It was the last day of our home stay, the longest I have stayed offshore. The day was obviously a tormenting day for us as we had to say goodbye to our home stay families. Nevertherless, the day itself was a blessing as we squizzed, laughed and giggled for yet another day together. The day started with a long table of exotic and succulent fruits exclusive to Brazil, and dessert fit enough for a monarchy. Afterwards, I took a long shower and they insisted I put perfume on, and yeah I did. Afterwards they gave us a surprise box with a Brazilian T-shirt, a book about Natal and Havaiannas sandals.

Hereafter, we drove to the biggest Cashew nut tree in the world, it's really big and charismatic. We took many pictures and it was there that I met many of the Class Afloat students. I was really delighted, we hugged as it seemed like it was a long time, but it was only 2 days.

Afterwards we drove for about 2 hours to a SPA. We had a massage and aroma therapy treatment. After sitting in the jaccuzzi, we went to have a meal in the big mall where the were about 30 restaurants alongside one another. We went to the vegetarian one. I had a treat - my stomach was so full, it felt as if it was going to explode. The family gave me also a cd collection of Brazilian samba music. We drove hereafter to the ship, at the time it was 3.40pm, and the time allocated for our return was 3pm, but we drove anyway and arrived 4.12pm.

The day in essence was lifechanging. We had the greatest hospitality treatment. We enjoyed ourselves. This trip is proving to be worth it everyday and we all feel honoured to be in this voyage.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 16th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-16T18:49:00.023+02:00

16th of May - 3rd port day - Shane Barnes

We are currently docked in Porto De Natal and today is Dune Bugging day!!
I spent the night with my home-stay family and it was unbelievable, Bryan and Jonas were with me as well.

At my family's home or rather a very fancy apartment, I had an amazing breakfast and I totally loved it. After we had breakfast our 'mother' took us to the place where everyone was supposed to meet before we would go out with the buggies. When we arrived at the rendezvous for the Class Afloat faculty and students, most of them were not present yet except for some. Our lunch was given as soon as everyone followed suite, which was a sandwich and a cool drink.

The buggies were waiting outside so we all got in, four people in each buggy. Hilary, Marx, Brandon and I claimed ownership of a very awesome looking buggy. After everyone filled a buggy it was off to the dunes!! The buggies roared as we made our way through the city, we were like a huge motorcade. The buggies speeded over the beautiful bridge of Natal to get to the dunes. We shortly arrived at our first pit-stop to take photos and then we were on the dunes again and I must say, our driver was totally cool.

The next stop was for picture taking again and then we hit the dunes again at a blistering speed which was sooo bloody awesome!! We stopped for a swim in some kind of dam where a party was already taking place but we all had a swim and I think everyone enjoyed it especially the part where Monde apparently lost his shorts while swimming, revealing much of which made Asekho bursting out with a very ridiculous laugh.

We were on the road again to our last stop of the day, it was some kind of beach restaurant and we all just chilled until it was time to get back to Natal and back to our families. The ride back was totally awesome, our driver was driving far better than a F1driver!

He did some very impressive driving maneuvers all the way back to Natal. My family picked us up from where they dropped us this morning, Jonas, Bryan and me, and took us home where we played games with the two young brothers and we had a wonderful dinner, played some more games and then slept at last!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 15th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-15T18:43:00.001+02:00

15th of May 2009 - 2nd port day -Chrissy Braun

Today there were several points on our schedule. We had colours in the morning, as usual and there were several people that signed up to give language lessons at a small high school for children and adults that normally take extracurricular English lessons there. One group of us went in the morning and another in the afternoon. The one who went in the afternoon spent the morning walking around town, doing some grocery shopping and then ended up sitting in front of the port gate with Mr. Hurley who went with us. We came back an hour early though because none of us really had their uniforms with them and we were actually meant to wear them but when we arrived, we found out that the ship had gone to re-fuelling and so we were stuck at the port without our uniforms …

The school we went to was pretty small and different to our schools. Two of us went into each classroom and spoke with the teenagers. They had many questions as to what life on a ship is like. Some of them spoke English very well and some did not really know how to express themselves but they tried really hard and asked a lot of questions.

Afterwards we rushed back to the ship for our reception. All the students were back already, getting changed and packing bags. Today was also the day we got to meet our host families and everyone was really excited and anxious to meet them. We were all wondering how many `siblings` we were going to have and what the houses/apartments would look like. A few of us Class Afloat students were together to go to a family and so Helen was going to be my sister and stay with me at another girl's house. Our host mother was the last to arrive and so we waited, ate chocolates and got to meet everyone’s families. It was really sad because although we would see everyone the next day, it did not feel right being without them. We went to our new apartment, got to know the family and ate home cooked supper. It was delicious and it felt really good to be in a home again. The apartment we stayed in and the family we stayed with were both really nice and we thoroughly enjoyed our first day `home`. We went to bed with the excitement for the next day on which we were planned to go dune buggying in Natal and along a few beaches.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 14th May - Port Natal, Brazil

2009-05-14T19:56:00.001+02:00

14th of May 2009 - 1st Port day - Helen Worthington-Smith

This morning we reached Brazil! I still haven't been able to get over the indescribable joy which you feel when you gaze to the horizon and see land after 2 weeks of sailing. We dowsed all the sails and turned the engine on because the wind had dropped and we would never have reached shore otherwise because we were just bobbing up and down in the water.

We started off the day with colors as usual during which we were informed of our docking duties. we had to port furl all the sails which means furling them very neatly so that the ship looks presentable. We also had to get the fenders and the mooring lines ready for when we were alongside the dock. After that we had cleaning stations and we had to do a very thorough job because the health inspector was coming on board to make sure that the ship was the pinnacle of cleanliness.

When we were docked and cleared by the health official and customs official we were let loose on the town, our only parameters were that we had to be back by eleven that evening. Natal is a very beautiful city and was very fun to explore, but first we had to acquire some of the currency so that we could spend as much money as possible. This proved to be rather difficult (acquiring the money, not spending it) as none of us could speak Portuguese and none of the banks exchanged money. Eventually though we all managed to get our hands on some cash and we spent the rest of the day shopping (in the case of us girls) or going to the beach.

Eventually, we all returned to the ship. Some a bit earlier for night watch and others at curfew at 11pm, but all of us completely exhausted. It had been a long day!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 13th May Fernando Island to Natal, Brazil

2009-05-13T19:44:00.006+02:00

13th of May 2009. - Gustav Allmann

Our latitude is 16 degrees 16.96 seconds south and our longitude is 34 degrees 30.48seconds west. It is 30 degrees Celsius, our speed is 6.2 knots and we are motoring.

Today there were two main firsts for the South Africans. A captains clean and an open mike night. A captains clean is when we clean the ship, like a guy for when he brings his girlfriend to his room for the first time. Everything gets shined till you can see yourself in whatever it is you are cleaning. It takes several long and hard hours but it has to be done. The reason for us doing it is because once we are in Brazil, health inspectors have to check whether we are bringing any diseases into the country, have any expired food on board and they make sure the ship is in a good hygienic state. After all of this comes the fun part of the job. Everybody changes into their swimming stuff and scrubs as Axel hoses down the whole ship. Its a refreshing job...

Everyone was really tired after the whole ordeal and spending most of the day under the hot and draining sun but still had enough energy to stay upright for the open mike show.

There were some funny performances, some pleasant ones and some "professional" ones. Andy (cook) broke the ice for us with a song that involved everybody. He is not a bad singer at all. Maybe he should think of a career in singing and forget about cooking. Second on the list were Max and Antoine with a very emotional version of "Every time we Touch - Cascada" dressed up as females. Dylon followed with a Christmas Carrol. I think we were all a bit surprised to hear his singing voice. That's what I call a pleasant surprise. Then came Monde and John. Monde was the only South African that signed up to perform. He rapped while John supplied him with beats. Another rap was performed by a quadruplet which consisted of Kate, Claire, Daniella and Chiara. They had something nice to say about everyone. John came back as a one-man-band playing four instruments at the same time. He is really talented. Then Patrick and Claire did what they do best, play the guitar. They chose a great song. Patrick is also extremely talented. The next performance by Bryan, Brandon and myself was not planned, well at least I didn't know. Bryan and Brandon wrote my name down without me knowing. Kate luckily knew about this and when it was my turn she announced all three of us were going to perform Barbie girl. After a minute of hesitation I got up and forced Bryan and Brandon to join me. Obviously we were great and everybody loved our sexy moves. The night was finished off by Miss Faucher's song about her watch group. Very cute...

Everybody is extremely excited for Natal, especially after the I think almost forgotten disappointment of Fernando.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 12th May - Fernando Island to Natal,Brazil

2009-05-12T22:10:00.001+02:00

Tuesday 12th May 2009 - Bryan Castle

CMG:234 Latitude:4.06'
Wind:3 NebE Longitude:37.49'
WX:1 Temp:32'C
Vis:8
closest coast: Brazil

Once upon a time, near a land far far away lived 35 young students who were on an intrepid voyage of discovery... however due to the fact that these pioneers were not allowed stepping foot upon the island of Fernando, they had to unfurl all the sails in order to get underway to Natal. However, we were first given the opportunity to delve into the warm refreshing water for what we call a Swim Call, which was exhilarating indeed!!

Kent (1st mate) explained what was to be, but not to be a complicated process, of sailing away from our anchorage point. Unfortunately, due to the wind changing its course, which was we considered very rude, we almost ran aground, which would have undoubtedly been an..interesting maneuver to say the least...
Due to the severe lack of wind, once the sails were set and the anchor was away, the vessel moved at a lightning fast speed, in which the travelers traveled about 100 m every hour...at this speed we were set to be at Natal in no time!

With the wind at our stern and our sails full of wind, in 4 hours, we were still bobbing expectantly next to the island...so the Captain decided it would be best if we turned on our motor, and do some real sailing. This meant that our noble heroes were once again set the task of dousing and furling all the sails.

Interesting the class today was. Speaking about appreciation we were, and what there was to be appreciated within the others. Coming out were interesting comments, such as the sleeping in class that Felix was doing, which an odd appreciation is.

A good day we had, with highlights being plentiful. One and all had an adventurous, fun, but energy sapping and hot day.

PS: By the way, you should listen to:
Sam Roberts
Radiohead
bon iver
Fleet foxes
TV on the Radio The Acorn......according to Claire and Patrick (from Canadian team)

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 11th May - Fernando Island

2009-05-11T21:58:00.008+02:00

Monday, 11th May 2009 - Felix Kleinwort

Fernando Island

Our course is 283 ̊
Fernando is not far away, we can see it already
our Lat is 3 ̊50,7213
our Long is 32 ̊06,1818
we have no sails set, are running on engine
and it's 33 ̊C

Today we arrived in Fernando, which is a beautiful island. It took a while until we slowly motored into one of the many small bays of Fernando, where we anchored at around 15:00h. The island by itself appeared beautiful on the first sight already, when the sun was shining over the small hills of this paradise everybody's heart was beating faster, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Mr. Allman couldn't give us shore leave to day, because we first had to send Kent (1st mate) to speak to the person in charge of the island. Even though we still had class today, they were pretty relaxed and we were looking forward to the swim call at 5:30pm.

John attached lines to the course yacht, from which we swung into the water. Most of us also jumped from the bowsprit which was a great feeling, and Marx even tried to dive from there. After our swim call we had chicken for dinner, with jelly for dessert, that was delicious. After that we had a meeting in the mess, during which we were told that we will not go ashore tomorrow, because we have visited countries where we could have caught illnesses that they don't want on the island. So we will set sails again instead of visiting Fernando island.

We were all very disappointed. Mr. Allman also told us that we will have a home stay in Natal, that means we will stay two nights with local families. After that we saw a picture presentation from Mr. Hurley and Rob about the sail trip since Brazil. Then we were watching a sailing movie in the mess, which Axel used to watch when he was on the boat as a student and the movie reminds him of the time when he was still on the ship.

I liked today, even though we cannot go to Fernando, but I liked the swim call.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 10th May - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-10T21:50:00.005+02:00

10th of May 2009 -Marx Mohr
4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

Time: 20:15 pm
Current position: Lat: 4 ̊ 12'S, Long: 3 ̊ 23'W
Weather: some clouds but very very hot 34 C
Speed: 7,3km
Miles traveled (in last 24h): 148nm
Closest coast: Fernando

Today is academic day 3, we started the day like normal with breakfast and colors at 8am. Shane called everyone to attention over the intercom and one of the German students read the announcements. We were all very exited to hear how far we have traveled in the last 24 hours because we knew we are close to Fernando. It's not that we have been at sea for a long time that is making everyone exited to get to port, it is that no one has food and supplies left on board. We were all bargaining to do some shopping in Ascension but there was no time.

Today was like all the other days except that there is no wind what so ever so we had to motor. This might sound nice but that means there is no shade on deck, there is no sailing maneuvers and the boat is not heeled over to one side... this might sound nice but our shower only drains if we are heeled to starboard side which we are not, so no showering with out flooding your bath room, personally everybody needs an shower, especially me.

The most excitement of the day is there is a new list up in the mess, after everyone has finished eating there is always a big mess, so now there is a list up with everyone's name, as soon as you make a mess your name is crossed of the list. The last person remaining will get a price. I am going to try and get it.

We are almost half way on going back home. It is going to be sad to leave but at the same time I am excited to go tell all my friends and family about my last 2 and a half months.

The sea is as blue as the sky and it is so hot that you just want to be down below were it is cooler (aircon).
We will arrive in port in 1 to 2 days where we will phone home. Talk to everyone soon!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 9th May - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-09T21:40:00.004+02:00

9th of May 2009 - Brandon Schoor
4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

speed....7.5 knots
longitude....4 50.3245
latitude...27 33.9976
nearest cost...Brazil
temperature...31 degrees

Today was twins day,where everybody had to choose a twin and they had to dress up the same, but myself, Gustav and Bryan decided to dress up as triplets, we wore ladies shorts, shirts and wife beaters... (which looked awesome and weird)... but we didn't care... later on we found out that at 13:00pm the time will go back for another hour, so when it was 13:00 it would actually be 12:00. When I found out about that, mine and Marx face went sour, because this would mean... we had to do 3hours of Navigation watch instead of 2hours... Later on in our 3hour Nav. Watch, me and Marx saw something very disturbing (if I must say so myself)... Gustav and Bryan were dressed up as two girls wearing a Bra and G-string and doing a photo shoot... when the photo shoot and my Nav. watch were done, me, Bryan and Gustav played a game of cards for a few minutes... 30 minutes later they called for all free hands on desk to help strike all the sails (fold and put away all the sails)... once all the sails were striked, we switched on the motor and we started going faster and faster... I asked Gustav and Bryan how was their day and they said unforgettable and I agree with them... we'll never forget this day!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 8th May - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-08T21:32:00.004+02:00

8th of May 2009 - Asekho Mdaka

4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

temperature: 28
wind direction: S by E
heading to: Fernando
latitude 502.96075min s
longitude 26 39.6456min w
speed: 7,8 knots
traveled: 215nsm
sea condition: 2
nearest coast: Ascension.
weather out look: sunny
point of sail: motoring

Today I woke up at 6am to do my navigation watch. As we arrived we were told to set the main stay sail. It was a bit difficult because we were just three people so no one could relax. After that we started our watch, at 7:30 we went to breakfast and colors. Today it was a birthday of our team member, Dylan, so at colors they called him to stand on the spot so that they can throw him with water and as a surprise he shaved his beard.

After colors I again went to my watch as I was left with one hour. As we were motoring we were going so fast till the Captain decided that we must set the square sails, mizzen and main sail as the wind was picking up. When doing sail maneuvers Brandon was appointed to call how to set the main sail. At first he looked kind of lost but when Axel helped him and he started calling orders, he made us proud.

Today we held our team SA debriefing where we shared our achievements and challenges, read out our logbooks and some of us won gifts for the best pic (Gustav), best logbook (Bryan) and best video footage (Helen).

As I had my watch early I was free the whole day, it was a hot day and Shane was burning hot on the bridge doing navigation watch. People could not wait for dinner as it was someone's birthday that means we will get nice dessert. Dinner was nice today and everyone was happy. Straight after dinner we were called for sail maneuvers to douse the sails as we were going to motor because there was not much wind. The night was beautiful with a full moon and people were chilling outside listening to music and I was doing my night watch from 20:00 till 22:00, which was the best of all of them because time was used on sail maneuvers and that made it short. After that I went to sleep.

For me the day was good because I had a lot of free time.

Concordia Ships Log Entry 8th May

2009-05-08T10:25:00.000+02:00

08-May-2009
Latitude: 05.45 s, Longitude: 23.08 wSpeed: 7.7 kn, Course: 283 deg.
185 nm in last 24 hours 20432 nm from Lunenburg 560 nm from Ascension Island 740 nm to Natal
Motoring Wind: ese, force 3 - gentle breeze Sea state: 2 - smooth (wavelets) 3/4 cloud coveragepressure: 1019 hpa=764.25 mm hgair temp: 29 deg. C=84.2 deg. F

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 7th May - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-07T21:19:00.001+02:00

7th May 2009 - Monde Sitole
4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

latitude is: 5 45.714
longitude: 23 7. 875 w

Today was a nice day, I saw the sun rise, the fiery crimson sun radiating promising that it will be a blessed day. The day started with a fiery boys fitness, it was breakfast, then colors where we got our notices and the days expectations. We afterwards proceeded to cleaning stations, cleaned our rooms and departed to our different classes and watches.

In essence the day was very chilled and tranquil not half as busy as yesterday when we had to be clipped in the bosun's chair and we were dipped in the water it was very exhilarating, completely breathtaking.

We had no sailing maneuvers but we were sailing amazing 6.9 nautical miles. I am really enjoying myself, this is life changing. I enjoy helming especially when I am with Felix and Shane. Today I also learned how the GPS and radar works.

The team is also growing, we now know most of the lines and almost all of the sails, we can set and douse some, so its amazing you see the progress when you recap back and actually today we have exactly a full month on sea, we have 6 weeks left. Last night we ended with a dance, everyone was there, same as tonight. We had a drumming or rather a music experience with the bosun - this was a perfect finale to end the day.

Clearly we are getting there.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 6th May - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-06T21:09:00.005+02:00

6th May 2009 - Shane Barnes

4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

Our current course is 265, speed 3,7, the sails are out and no engine. The wind 3 ENE and the temp is 27. The nearest coast is Ascension.

It was announced this morning at colors that we have approximately 930nm left to our next port, which I hope will be the island Fernando. I had galley after colors and at 9am it was class time until 10am. By then it was as hot as hell. After lunch we all mustered at midships because something special was going to happen. The captain said that as we are sailing so slow he will give us time to swim in the middle of the Atlantic but in a totally different way. Each person will get a chance to sit in one of the bosun's chair, which is tied to the course clew lines, and will be hauled in the air and eased of the railings and eased into the ocean. That was pretty awesome, the water was amazing and knowing that you practically swam in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is an amazing achievement if I may say so myself!!! Everyone enjoyed it but then it was time for sail maneuvers, dousing all the square sails and sheeting in the main because we are going on motor. We only had an hour of class and then dinner and our usual routine of night watches.

And oh yes I nearly forgot, also at colors we threw Brandon with buckets of water because it was his 17th birthday!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 5thMay - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-05T21:04:00.000+02:00

5th May 2009 - Chrissy Braun
4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

Latitude: 6 degrees 53.46` S
Longitude: 16 degrees 44.55` W
Temperature: 28 degrees C
Speed: 6.5 knots
Nearest Coast: Ascension
Heading towards : Fernando
Sails set : Most sails were set in the morning but dowsed later today because we started motoring.

This morning, it was already really hot as we got up. I had to get up at 7 to meet with my galley group, Mitchel, Jenn, Marx, Dylan, Larah and Callagy. We set the tables and helped our cook Andy prepare our oatmeals while listening to music and dancing around in the mess room and the galley (our ship kitchen). Galley day is usually a very fun day with a lots of privileges but also many duties that differ from your everyday life on the ship. You have to be in the galley half an hour before meals to set tables. During mealtime, 2 people put food on the plates, 2 people serve, 2 people do dishes (meal and industrial dishes) and another person does whatever else needs to be done. After the meals everyone helps cleaning. You do this for breakfast, lunch and supper but due to being on galley you do not have morning clean, day watch or navigation watch and you get to do your laundry.

Today was quite a stressful day. Team SA had sail training again which was especially taught to us by John, the bosun, but because Marx and I could not attend this training session due to having to clean up as part of our galley duty, John was so generous to offer his free time in order to give us an hour of training later that day to cover what everyone else had covered before. He explained the setting and dowsing of the square sails and taught us a few seaman's knots. After this session, we had clubs which we could attend for an hour: there was self-defense (offered by Marx for 1st time), a music club and ethics in action which were all very interesting clubs and the good thing is that you do not have to stay in a certain club but you can try out one the one week and another the next week. Afterwards most of us spent our afternoon on day watch on which we worked some more on the deck caulking with the bosun’s mate Axel who is very funny and energetic and who appreciates hard work a lot. After all, many of us had quite a lot of free time in which we were able to relax on the mizzen deck or at midships in the sun.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 4th May - Ascension to Fernando Island

2009-05-04T20:58:00.001+02:00

4th May 2009 - Helen Worthington-Smith

4th sail leg from Ascension to Fernando Island and Natal, Brazil

Time: 20:00
Course: 270 ̊
Speed: 4.7kn
Sails set: Outer jib, inner jib, course, lower, upper, main, main stay sail, main topsail, mizzen
Wind: Ebs
Seas: 2
Visibility: 8
Pressure: 1017
Temperature: 30 ̊C
Latitude: 7 ̊01,05S
Longitude: 15 ̊51,23W
This morning at colors the captain announced that we would be gybing the vessel so that we would be traveling in the direction of Fernando Island! This was very exciting news because before we had been unsure as to whether we would be traveling there or not. We had to do our cleaning stations first, and afterwards we all congregated on midships to get further orders from the captain as to what to do. We have stopped dreading sail maneuvers now because we actually know what to do now, much better than we used to, thanks to the bosun, John, who gives us sail training lessons every day three.

After the gyb we were all allowed to go back to class; fifteen minutes late, much to the glee of many of us (sorry Hilary).

After class, during his day watch, Bryan became the first South African to step in Axel's (the Bosun's mate) fresh caulking. Now to put this in perspective, Axel has spent many, many long, sweltering hours getting the boards ready for caulking and to step in the caulking is a cardinal sin. Fortunately, Bryan was not the first person to step in the caulking, more like the fifth person to do so and Axel had been one of the five people so Bryan got off lightly. He just got the L on his forehead (for Learner, not looser) and got a few strong words directed at him.

Apart from that the day was very uneventful. We'll just have to wait to see what tomorrow brings.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 2nd May - Ascension

2009-05-03T20:44:00.009+02:00

3rd May 2009 – day stop at Ascension - Felix Kleinwort
Time: 19:56
This morning we arrived at Ascension island. When I got up for cleaning stations, at 7:00 the Island was only about 3 km away. Even though we could have swum the distance to Ascension after we had dropped our anchor, we still had to wait till 12:30, and only then launched the Zodiacs that would take us to shore. But we had to swim the last bit, because the Zodiacs could only take us to a certain point, so our shoes were wet when we reached land.

When we finally got there we had a lot of fun.

While some of us were lying in the sun or took a swim, I went snorkeling with Andrea and later Gustav and Marx joined us. We saw lots of different fishes, all with different colors. When we were back at the beach after 2 hours, I went snorkeling again with Jonas, because he said that he knows where the turtles are.
But after looking for them for 30 min we eventually gave up and swam back to the beach.

Then a small group of us played water ball, which was a lot of fun. And Monde enjoyed diving around the people. There was also a dog swimming in the little bay that came together with a few locals.

I liked it very much today especially the snorkeling and I am glad that we made that extra stop at Ascension.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 2nd May - St Helena to Ascension

2009-05-02T20:34:00.000+02:00

2nd May 2009 - Gustav Allmann
3rd Sail leg from St Helena to Ascension

Our course for today is 326 COG. Our wind is a 3 from ESE. Sea is nice calm 2, visibility is a good 8.(very clear) and our temperature is 35 C. It is extremely hot and only gets hotter everyday.

Today was the start of a new "ship week", day1. The boys started earlier with fitness but were then joined by the girls for breakfast. After breakfast, as usual, we had colors at eight. Shane did his first announcements over the intercom and after that everybody started their daily routine.
The sails were all set after cleaning stations because after all, we are on a tall ship and are all here because we want to sail not motor. This was quite frustrating because if we don't motor we hardly move. A cool thing about setting the sails today was that we had to call the maneuvers.

Bryan was the only South African that volunteered. He did a pretty good job for somebody that has only been on the ship for little less than three weeks.
At the moment the main thing that everybody does during day watch is caulking. Caulking is the black glue in between the boards on deck. So what everybody does is scrape out the old caulking where it is necessary and then Axel comes and replaces it with new caulking.
Something was spotted for the first in a long time on navigation watch today. A smaller sailing vessel which passed us after we left St. Helena. We caught up to them because we motored and they didn't.

We also had another meeting today. It was about our media management. We discussed where we could improve, solutions and things to make it enjoyable for everybody. Hilary also mentioned something about a prize for the best photo and logbook entry...
There was also a movie being showed in the mess after dinner for those that were interested. It was called "Pay it forward".I'm sure i speak on behalf of everybody when I say we are all very excited to visit our surprise port Ascension tomorrow...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 1st May - St Helena to Ascension

2009-05-01T20:20:00.004+02:00

Friday 1st May 2009 - Bryan Castle

3rd sail leg from St. Helena to Ascension

Lat:11'04.8008 S Cloud:Z
Long:10'51.1781 W Temp:32C
COG:314' Pressure:1018
Speed:7.7 Knots Seas: 2
Wind: 2 E by S Sails Set: M,Mz,Ms

Today was sweltering hot, at least it felt like it was, but the temp average was only 32C, with an intensely blue sea...it was incredible.

It was another typical day on board the ship, with day and nav watch. During our day watch some of us did a little bit more caulking (and when you have double day watch, it gets a bit mind bending!). If we weren't caulking, then Axel and John kept us busy with odd jobs, like covering the helming area to keep the sun off the person who was helming at the time.

Nav watch was well...nav watch pretty much. Consisting of looking out or helming, all the while looking good obviously, especially Gustav, Chrissy and Felix in the sun glasses and rolled up sleeves!

Today Gustav and I were sent up the shrouds to gasket up the Royal and T'Gallant Staysails. If i were to describe it in three words, it would be "What a MISH!!" You sweat like crazy and you have to hang around in awkward positions, like round the back of the shrouds and on thin lines, but it was very fun. We were like Rambo, only more muscular and were involved in a more death defying task!

The food today was decent... I guess it kind of grows on you when it is the only sustenance you get. Lunch and supper were alright, but no one i ask can remember what it was, so it probably wasn't anything worth mentioning!

The South African team also had an hour of sail training with John. We got to douse all the square sails, the topsails and sheeting in the Main and Mizzen sails. It really was useful and was awesome being out in the bright sun shine!! Then the engine started up, allowing us to cling to the hope of getting to Ascension in time.. but sadly there was no swim call =(

All in all it was another fantastic day on board the SV Concordia! Everyday is. Everyone is absolutely loving every moment and making the most of it every day, and everyone on board is getting along swimmingly!

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 30th April - St Helena to Ascension

2009-04-30T20:06:00.007+02:00

Thursday, 30th April 2009 - 19:20pm - Felix Kleinwort

3rd sail leg from St. Helena to Ascension

Our position at noon was: Lat 12 ̊ 21.3208
Lon 9 ̊ 30.7872
Our speed at noon was: 5.00Kn
The course is 313
the following sails were set:
JoJiC TL TU TG R Ms Tgs Rs MZ Mzt M MT

Today the wind came from south by east but it was not strong.
I had navigation watch with Shane and Rachelle for two hours today that is a bit challenging atone point because it is hard to concentrate that long because all you can see is just ocean.

We set all the staysails today and the topsails, because the wind was not strong enough.

Today was the first time that I got enough sleep. I had galley yesterday and decided to go to bed earlier, which was a good idea, because I wasn ́t tired during the day.
The food today was acceptable, it was not good but better than normally.
For breakfast we had pancakes with strawberries

Lunch was pizza and for dinner we had fries with meat and cabbage and apple crumble with cream for desert.

Bryan and Brandon were relaxing on the mizzendeck most of the day. This evening Marx had his hair straightened, which I would never do. I have not seen much of the other team members today.
I liked the day because of the nice food and on my watch from 12:00 to 02:00 I was on standby, so I could sleep during the watch.

Radio Interview with Marx on RSG

2009-04-30T11:37:00.001+02:00

This interview was made on the 6/4/2009.

Click the link below to get to the RSG site and the follow the instructions....

Marx - RSG Radio Interview

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 29th April - St Helena to Ascension

2009-04-29T20:04:00.001+02:00

29th April 2009 - Brandon Schoor
3rd sail leg from St. Helena to Ascension

wind speed....4ebn
speed.....5.7 knots
temp.....25c
latitude.....16 26.4,S
longitude....008 21.0,W
nautical miles....131

Today there were a lot of suprizes for me... the first was everyone had to change watches which means changing cleaning stations, day watch, nav.day and our night watch... and another big suprize was that the weather changed which means the wind was on our side, so instead of going slow all the time we picked up some speed, we went up to 8 knots and after a while we slowed down again... Later in the day so between 1 and 2pm we did a man over board practice which took 1hour...when that was done, it was off to clubs.

There was four types of clubs, Xhosa, fitness and ropes and knots but me and a few others made our own club which was the eating club which we all enjoyed. Our last suprize was that at 8pm tonight the time will go back 1 hour, so when its 8pm it will actually be 7pm which means more time to sleep... After we all set our times back the SA team had a media meeting where we discussed who would do what e.g video camera, photo camera and so on. I asked the team how was there day and they all enjoyed it and so did I...

The Big Issue article - April

2009-04-29T15:18:00.000+02:00

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 28th April - St Helena to Ascension

2009-04-28T19:59:00.000+02:00

28th April 2009 - Monde Sitole
3rd sail leg from St. Helena to Ascension

Today is academic day 2 , Tuesday, its a sunny day the sun is crimson, the day is going fine, the only problem is the speed we are below 3 nautical miles. Its our first day on sea again sailing, our nearest port is St. Helena, we are 620 miles to the next port Ascension island. Other than that everything is going fine. Today we had a fire drill, everyone took hold of their possessions and we closed it up with sailing maneuver. Today was one of the best days I had in months. I had a lot of fun on galley. My galley is the best, they really cheer me up, they always know when I'm not on my best day and invigorate my day.

I feel the team is also growing a lot in knowing the sails. I personally enjoy the navigation watch , i love learning about the different dynamics that influence the choreography of the ship , from the sea, to the vessel and its different mechanisms of the ship. I now even enjoy helming , thats when i get to meditate, i have found to be a good helmer, you must be really in tune with your senses.

In conclusion i would say we are really growing both as team SA and also as Class Afloat students. By now everyone from us has gone aloft, we are learning the different knots .
Yeah we are getting there...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 27th April - St Helena

2009-04-27T19:39:00.001+02:00

27. April – Port St. Helena - Asekho Mdaka

Today it is port day three and we are still in St. Helena.In the morning, we were called for swimming at 7am for fitness, most enjoyed the swimming, but I did not swim as it was cold and and I did not feel like it. Others did not like the fact that they were not allowed to jump in. At 7:30am it was breakfast and we ate and went to colours, where we were told that we will be going at 9am but we end up going at 10am.
When we arrived on land we separated as group of fours or more. As we arrived people started going in different directions.`Some went to Napoleon's tomb and his house which is interesting because of the history, while me and my group gathered next to the beach because of Felix enjoying his time snorkeling in the water. He even took pictures under water.
At 12pm we went to eat at Ann's place where we had nice meals, but we did not stay long because Felix could not wait to go again inside the water. So we went for swimming and then we had to go back to the ship because we were going to leave at 4pm. As we arrived at the ship we were called for a meeting with the Captain, telling us what sails will be set for our departure.

After the meeting we went to set the sails and that took about two hours. We went to dinner, straight afterwards Evan called us for another meeting about the position change of different security maneuvers. It looked like it was a day for meetings as we were again called for team S.A meeting that was about feed back about the port days and how do we feel so far. The meeting was helpful as we told our team leaders that we don't like to be called team S.A when we are with the whole Concordia crew and to do separate team SA pics because it makes us excluded from them. For the future we agreed that we will stay behind so that we can take our own pic and they should call us just South Africans.

I enjoyed that day because it was my last day on the Island.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 27th April - St Helena

2009-04-27T19:37:00.000+02:00

WEBLOG ST.HELENA – Chrismarie Braun

Monday the 27th April was our last day in St. Helena. We got about 5 hours of shore leave before we had to be back on the ship. Most people did their last grocery shopping or went up the 699 stair staircase and had a picknick. Gustav, Brandon, Bryan, Hilary and I went on a tour with Marx to visit the boer graveyard where some of his ancestors were buried. After that we went out for lunch and on our way back to port jumped into the water and went for a swim.

All together we had a fabulous time in St. Helena. It is an amazing island with all kind of nature, a very interesting historical background and friendly people who welcome you into their hearts wherever you go.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Sunday 26th April

2009-04-26T18:35:00.000+02:00

26. April – Port St. Helena

I went camping last night with my watch group in St. Helena, well actually on a mountain. It was so cool, we spent the night under the stars and we saw even three shooting stars!!!

Well that was yesterday, let me write about what happened today.
This morning my watch group and watch group 1 went down from our camping spot to Jamestown to meet with the rest of the ship's inhabitants to go on a hike. After we got transport down to town again, we meet the up with the others at the harbour at 10am. Two busses arrived to take us back up again to the hiking trail. The whole group split up in two to fill up both of the busses. It started to rain as we rode up the ever winding road and we finally made it. We had to wait our local guides before we could start our hike, when they pitched up, we began a scenic but wet and dirty route that we would follow for the duration of hike. I think, that the hike was not so gruelling as the one we did up Table Mountain, but I enjoyed it. After the hike, we all went to have lunch at Ann's Place, I had a hamburger and french fries. Hilary gave as additional 10 Pounds each, and I personally needed more, because I had to phone my parents. After we all had our lunch, some students went on their separate ways to go swimming or further explore Jamestown, while the rest stayed behind. Later, also this group went to go swimming at the landing place, where we were waiting for the Zodiacs to take us back to the ship. And oh yes, we saw dolphins on our way back to the ship in the darkness. I enjoyed the day!

Shane Barnes

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 25th April - St Helena

2009-04-25T19:34:00.000+02:00

WEBLOG ST.HELENA – Chrismarie Braun

On the 25th April we got shore leave. Despite all the excitement we were all really upset to have to leave Gustav, Bryan and Brandon behind at the ship due to them having gotten port suspension. I really hoped to see them at least at the hike the following day but whether they were let off for the port programm or not was not yet decided.

The Island was beautiful and the people were really friendly and welcoming. Most of us were really excited to meet some of the people there as we were informed about their cultural background: half the population was from African descent, a quarter European and a quarter Chinese when the island first got settled. The people had a very British accent with a Chinese tone and they looked African although they had Asian features. It was definitely a very interesting culture to get to know.

Some of us spent the day going on a tour to see Napoleon’s house, his tomb and giant turtles at the governors house. Others went around Jamestown with their watchgroups and explored the city. Watch 1 and watch 4 had a watchcamp planned for St. Helena that night, which means that the watchgroup ( the group of students you have nightwatch with – 7 in each group + a teacher responsible for the needs of his/her wathchgroup kids) spends time away from the ship for a day and a night to bond. Watch 1 and watch 4 shared the same camping spot but were further away from each other which gave each watchgroup separately the time to get to know one another better especially with the new watchgroup members just having joined.

Watchgroup 4 ( Patrick, Shane, Kyra, Chrissy, Claire, Dylan, Johanna and Mr. Hurley) explored the camping place which was in the middle of the mountains/ forest and to all of us the most beautiful place we had ever seen so far. Although it was far away from shore (about a 40 min. drive ) we could see over the ocean and could even see the anchored SV. Concordia.

We all had a lot of fun. We ate kaktus, had potatoe sack races, made a fire over which Mr. Hurley made us Pizza for dinner and later we gathered at the fire, and ate cookies while Mr. Hurley told us horrorstories. Although we had a tent, we did not use it, the night was way too warm and the stars were too beautiful to not sleep directly under the sky. The next morning we got woken up by a rooster which belonged to a family that lived close to our camping spot but despite the cookericoo, we got up at 8 a.m ( It felt really good to sleep in). We got picked up half an hour later because Mr. Hurley had arranged for us to eat breakfast at a very nice restaurant.

Later we met up with the rest of the crew to go on a hike in the foresty mountaint of St. Helena. I was really happy to see Bryan, Gustav and Brandon joining us for the day and was glad to hear that due to their very hard work they were let off the rest of their port suspension. Although it was very rainy and wet, we enjoyed the hike a lot. The nature was beautiful and the 3 hour hike was not as strenuous as expected. When we got back, we got a couple of hours shore leave before curfew and most of us used the time to phone our parents, eat lunch, buy groceries or to go swimming.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Saturday 25th April

2009-04-25T18:28:00.003+02:00

Logbook entry – 25 April 2009 arrival St. Helena

This morning we woke up and stumbled, half asleep, onto deck to be greeted by a most welcome sight: land. We had reached St. Helena. But before we were allowed on sure we had to do cleaning stations and room cleans as usual. Then we ad to get the Zodiacs (the rescue rubber duckies) ready to take us ashore because instead of docking the Concordia, we had anchored her in the bay. Each Zodiac could only take 7 people so it took a few trips for all of us to finally get ashore.

We had docked just outside of Jamestown, the capital of St. Helena so it was only a five minute walk from where we were dropped off by the Zodiacs to the town itself. We entered Jamestown through an arch and waled up the main road which has beautifully facaded buildings on both sides. The town has a very English feel to it and the people too have English accents.

Our first stop was the bank and then the tourist office where a few of us booked trips to see Napoleon's Tomb and the house in which he stayed when he was exiled on the island. Our friendly taxi driver took us up through the small winding roads of St. Helena, up into the mountain. St. Helena is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. There is green everywhere you look. Green trees, green grass, green moss, green ferns. The clearing in which the tomb is situated is unbelievably quiet, still and breath takingly beautiful.

We then moved onto Napoleon's house which was very interesting to see. After that we went back into town to explore, make phone calls and swim in the unbelievably clear water. We then met the Zodiacs at 8 to be taken back to the ship. All in all an amazing day.

Helen Worthington-Smith

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 24th April - St Helena

2009-04-24T19:19:00.000+02:00

WEBLOG ST.HELENA – Chrismarie Braun

On the 24th April, we were finally able to see land again – St. Helena. We anchored at about 8 p.m which was the delayed time due to the wind having droped 2 days earlier. All together we had a nice and exciting sail behind us during which we did not make use of the engine once – we sailed out of dock and into anchor which is a great achievement, not many sailors nowadays could have reached so successfully.

Concordia Ships Log Entry 24th April

2009-04-24T19:13:00.000+02:00

24-April-2009
Latitude: 16.10 s, Longitude: 04.01 wSpeed: 6.6 kn,
Course: 275 deg. 146 nm in last 24 hours 19050 nm from Lunenburg 1147 nm from Walvis Bay 103 nm to St. Helena
Sails set: ji,c,tl,tu,tg,ms,tgs,m,mz Wind: ese, force 4 - moderate breeze Sea state: 4 - moderate1/4 cloud coveragepressure: 1018 hpa=763.5 mm hgair temp: 22 deg. C=71.6 deg. F

Concordia Ships Log Entry 23rd April

2009-04-23T19:10:00.001+02:00

23-April-2009
Latitude: 17.38 s, Longitude: 02.13 wSpeed: 6.5 kn,
Course: 280 deg. 181 nm in last 24 hours 18904 nm from Lunenburg 1001 nm from Walvis Bay 249 nm to St. Helena
Sails set: ji,tl,tu,tg,ms,tgs,m,mz Wind: e, force 5 - fresh breeze Sea state: 4 - moderate Full cloud coverage pressure: 1018 hpa=763.5 mm hgair temp: 22 deg. C=71.6 deg. F

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Thursday 18th to Tuesday 23rd April

2009-04-23T18:13:00.000+02:00

Team logbooks from Walvis Bay to St. Helena

Logbook Entry, 18th of April 2009
Our current course is 310(HDG), -3(c), 302(COG), speed 9,01, the sails are out, wind is 5 south and the temp 18c, closest coast is Namibia

We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, I personally thought that the bacon was not so good but I think every one enjoyed the pancakes. Colors was at 8 as usual, no big announcements. After colors we went to our cleaning stations ,Bryan and I went aloft to the royal sail. It was cool being way on top, we untied the gaskets on both sides of sail. I felt so free being aloft, the fear of falling was not a factor for me. And the day went on as usual, I was sea-sick most of the time. I tried to keep myself occupied as to not throw up, and it worked!!.I think that Marx was in that state of being the most sea-sick of us all. Felix and I was at the helm for our navigation watch, it felt great steering the ship on the right course to St. Helena even though it was just for 30mins. We had a meeting in the mess room to discuss and go over our budget that we got. Apart from that the day was just as any other day out at sea sailing.

Shane Barnes

Logbook Entry, 19th of April 2009
Today was our second full day out at sea on our way to St. Helena.
Our course today is HDG: 290, COG: 294, C: +4 (20:00), our speed is 8,3 knots, the wind speed is 6 from the SSE and the temperature is 20 C.

Today was like any other day at sea, nice weather, intensely blue water and equally blue sky. Unfortunately, some us have been hit by seasickness again. Poor Marx got terribly seasick again but I'm sure he'll be good again by tomorrow. Since Namibia we've all had a chance to take the helm. Everyone seems to enjoy it although its not that easy.
The highlight of today must be the dolphins. Although we've seen dolphins before today was special because they put on a show for us. Everyone got very excited, especially when the one dolphin leaped high into the air...

Gustav Allmann

Logbook Entry, 20th of April 2009
Current Position: 19°01’ S
4°38’ E
Temperature: 22° C
Miles sailed in last 24 hours: 180 NM
Wind speed: force 4
Wind direction: South Easterly

Today at colors we found out that we have travelled almost half the way to St Helena. A journey that was scheduled to take 6 days we have covered in three. We may reach St Helena in three days time!
Today Gustav and I went up in the Bosun’s chair. The bosun’s chair is a device which looks like a swing which can be raised or lowered with the use of pulleys. It is used when you need to paint the side of the boat or, like in the case of Gustav and I, to get pulled up into the rigging. Gustav and I were painting tar on the stays (metal ropes which hold up the masts) and then putting baggy winkles over the tar so that the sails wouldn’t get tar on them. It was very scary to be so high up and what made it even scarier was the fact that the wind makes you swing around so you find yourself holding on for dear life.

We had our first proper sail training lesson today with the bosun, John. He took us around the ship and told us what each of the lines was called and what they were for. There are about 150 working lines on the boat so this was very overwhelming but at least now we have a better idea of what everything on the ship does. At this point it still seems unlikely that we will EVER learn all the lines but according to the Canadians we will learn them all in no time. Hmmm, we’ll just have to wait and see.

We found out some exciting news this evening. If we continue at the speed we've been travelling then we may be able to fit in some extra stops at Ascension Island and Fernando. We were all very excited to hear this and are holding thumbs that the winds will hold up.

Helen Worthington-Smith

Logbook Entry, 21st of April 2009
Our day today started off with a round of boys fitness. While the guys got to sweat by doing jumping jacks, running on the spot sit-ups, push-ups etc., the girls got to sleep for an extra half an hour. Tomorrow the roles will be switched. After fitness the boys and girls (which were up by now) filled the mess (dining room) to have breakfast which consisted of pancakes, sausage and melon. Right after, we had colors (our daily assembly) at which one of the students announced our position for today, which is a latitude of 18 degrees 36.65` South and a longitude of 002 degrees 55.80` east. Our current wind speed is 7.8 knots and our nearest coast is, since today, finally St. Helena. After the captains announcement last night about the possibility of making a surprise stop in ascensions and Fernando due to our fast and steady wind speed, we are all hoping to be able to stop at these islands which are said to be very nice. With our current wind speed, there seems to be a very good possibility of this happening.

Not much has happened today, except for our daily routine and a few tiny highlights to brighten our day, like seeing flying fishes and Bryan going aloft in a rope construction where he puts his feet in. He thought he was so cool, sitting up there until the lunch bell rang and he panicked he would not get any food. So after colors, we all went to our cleaning stations and did a half an hour boat clean, including our rooms which we got to clean at the end of the half an hour because they had to be ready for our daily room checks. A little later in the morning we had an hour of class followed by day watch or navigation watch for some and free time for others. The people on galley duty had to be in the kitchen at 12 to prepare for lunch, everyone else was called to lunch by the bell at 12:30. Today’s lunch consisted of Tomato soup, bread and potatoe salad and we got crepes for dessert which were made by Ms. Fouchers French class. After lunch most of us had about an hour to relax before some had to go to sociology class and some to their watch. In sociology class, we discussed the movie Sarafina which was actually part of the cultural exchange in South Africa but we did not have the opportunity to watch it until a few days before docking in Namibia. After that, we had another 2 hours of class which were followed by dinner.
Today’s sea was a little rough, the sky cloudy and dark and the sun set relatively early but all together it was a good and relaxing day.

Chrissy Braun

Logbook Entry, 22nd of April 2009

The information for today is:
COG: 252
HDG: 249
Sails set: JoCTlTuTgRMsM
Weather Conditions: SEbs 5
Seas: 3
VIS: 5
Pres: 1018
Temp: 22

I am sitting in the mess room and the boat is 300 sea miles away from St. Helena.
We had all woken up a little bit earlier for Dayana's birthday. The SA team had planned to wet her with buckets of water for her birthday. So at colors we got our water and she was soon soaked wet. It was very enjoyable for us for different reasons.

It was a hot sunny day, but day 5 means that most of team SA had a very busy day.
We started our day with classes, which most of us had to go straight to, after that we went either to day watch or navigation watch.

There was nothing on the horizon the whole day because we are in the middle of nowhere.
On day watch myself and Asekho have started re caulking the deck and servicing some of the blocks of the boat.

We also had sail training with John again who went through the sails and their names. He also showed us a new way to tie our shoe laces. The team also raised the fore stay sail for practice.

Everyone is ready for St. Helena. We have been out at sea for 6 days and we are all missing land. We should arrive by the 24th.

Marx Mohr

Logbook Entry, 23rd of April 2009
latitude 17.0748m
longitude 2041.47m
speed 6.9
We have travelled 163 miles in the last 24hours
our nearest coast is 189miles away and that coast is st Helena
wind speed 4seby e
sea condition 3
point of sail is broad reach
weather out look is sunny and cloudy

We started our day with boys fitness. While busy with the fitness we were called to give a hand to the people on watch with setting sails which did not take long. We continued with our fitness and then we went to balance things by eating breakfast. We did not do much as we just had our daily routine. When we were on day watch, Marx was busy vanishing the blocks while Helen was caulking with Axel (bosuns mait). After that we got sail training with John and he showed us how to anchor. After the training we had a short meeting as team South Africa to talk about what have we done so far and what do we think about the trip and food. And many were not happy about the food because its not good even worse when you feel sea sick. Afterwards others went to their watch and I went to rest for 2hours. At 6pm I had class in anthropology and listened to a presentation about the history of St Helena and then went to dinner. The food was not that good but as the Canadians says its better than what they had during their long voyage to Cape Town. Tomorrow we will be arriving at St Helena and people can not wait to reach there so that they can go to a nearest restaurant.

Asekho Mdaka

Concordia Ships Log Entry 21st April

2009-04-21T19:08:00.000+02:00

21-April-2009
Latitude: 18.46 s, Longitude: 03.57 eSpeed: 6 kn, Course: 270 deg.
188 nm in last 24 hours 18556 nm from Lunenburg 653 nm from Walvis Bay 597 nm to St. Helena
Sails set: ji,fs,tl,tu,ms,tgs,m,mz Wind: ese, force 4 - moderate breeze Sea state: 3 - slight 3/4 cloud coverage pressure: 1020 hpa=765 mm hgair temp: 19 deg. C=66.2 deg. F

Concordia Ships Log Entry 19th April

2009-04-19T19:05:00.001+02:00

19-April-2009
Latitude: 20.51 s, Longitude: 10.10 eSpeed: 9 kn, Course: 290 deg.
196 nm in last 24 hours
18179 nm from Lunenburg 276 nm from Walvis Bay 974 nm to St. HelenaSails
set: jo,ji,fs,tl,tu,tg,ms,tgs,m,mz
Wind: sebs, force 5 - fresh breezeSea state: 4 - moderate3/4 cloud coveragepressure: 1017 hpa=762.75 mm hgair temp: 18 deg. C=64.4 deg. F

A message from the Head of School, Class Afloat, based on the report of Matt Allmann Shipboard Director.

2009-04-19T09:54:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends and Families,

After another busy port the Concordia and her crew set sail this afternoon from Walvis Bay - they are leaving Africa and are headed back across the ocean once more ... but this time we don't foresee any 29 day sails! The vessel remains on schedule to arrive into St. Helena on April 27th.

I received a lot of positive feedback on the port programs in Namibia - exploring the moonscapes and dunes, a cultural trip into the townships and the student-led C.A.R.E. (Class Afloat Ripple Effect - a garden project) project. The CARE project in particular was a success - it had its moments and challenges but we're very proud of the effort and energy of the students and of all their work. This was a wonderful learning experience for all and though tiring, very worthwhile. It was wonderful to see our South African Floaties join the C.A.R.E. project, of which they only became familiar over the past sail, with enthusiasm.

This next sail will serve to help solidify group norms for our expanded crew. The first days in any new community can be challenging as everyone adapts to new faces and new dynamics. Seasickness for our newer crew will hopefully subside on this passage and Class Afloat expectations (being on time to class and watch, pitching in as part of the community when needed) will start to become second nature. It is sometimes difficult for our longer-term students to remember what it was like when they joined in September or February, before they became a "crew" and our way of life became "normal" for them, but I am very impressed with their energy and enthusiasm to integrate our new Floaties and to see the positive aspects of a growing family. I hope that our South African families have heard positive reports of the first leg of the journey from their students and that they are enjoying themselves to date!

Have a great weekend!

Best,
Kate

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Wednesday 17th April Day 10

2009-04-17T18:09:00.000+02:00

Log entry 17th April
Day of departure from Walvis Bay/Namibia.

At colors in the morning we were granted shore leave which every one was very thankful for, because we had not had a lot of it since we arrived in Namibia.
We all went to town for our last minute phone calls and groceries. We were short on time because we had to be back by 12pm.

When we got back to the ship, the new captain Bill called us into the mess to explain what was going to happen next. He told us his goal was to sail out of Walvis Bay without using the motor, not even to get of the dock.
It happen as followed. The pilot of the harbor boarded the ship. He was asked if what we wanted to do is okay and he gave us the thumb up. We had people at all stations ready for action. We set the outer jib, the inner jib and the four stay sail. We set them in the opposite side of the boat what would normally be. This pushed the boat of the jetty and swung us around with the view of Walvis Bay behind us. The last port were we had a chance to still take the bus home...

Now we are in it for real - there is no turning back!

Marx Moehr

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Wednesday 17th April Day 10

2009-04-17T18:06:00.000+02:00

Weblog – port Namibia – Gustav Allmann 17.4

We arrived in Walvis Bay on the Sunday the 13th of April. After docking we were granted shore leave till 7:30pm which was also our curfew. Everyone immediately left to explore Walvis Bay. I think everyone was a little disappointed because compared to Cape Town, it was dead. The harbor was nothing compared to the Waterfront because one had to walk at least 20min to get into the quite town. There were a few shops and a few things to see but otherwise it was pretty boring.

The second day, everyone went to Swakopmund, 30min drive from the harbor, which was a lot more exciting than Walvis Bay because it was more touristy with more shops, restaurants and interesting things to see. A lot of us also spent some time on the beach which was really cool because most of us were in desperate need of a swim.

The third day was one to remember because we had some unique port activities planned. Half the boat signed up for the cooking activity and the other half for the gardening as part of the CARE (Class Afloat Ripple Effect) project. From what I heard everybody had an awesome time helping out and making a difference in a few peoples lives.

The second last day at our first port must've been the most enjoyable. We went dune boarding. Now that was an amazing experience for everyone. The dunes are extremely beautiful. Wherever you looked there was sand and most likely somebody rolling down a dune and eating sand.

On our last day in Walvis Bay we had just a few hours of shore leave because we were leaving soon after lunch so everyone rushed into town one last time to buy the last few necessary groceries.

All in all I think everyone had a great time especially because after Walvis Bay we are closer to the Canadian team. Namibia is very beautiful and two differences that I noticed is that instead of having a huge variety of green plants everywhere they have sand everywhere. The second difference must be the cleanliness of the areas. A lot cleaner than Cape Town...

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Thursday 16th April Day 9

2009-04-16T17:58:00.002+02:00

16. April – Walvis Bay/Namibia - Monde

The day started with the normal routine galley, colors, cleaning station,and afterwards we were allocated in groups of 9 each group. We met Mr. Allman and he then told us what was expected of us for the day, and the events ahead of us. We then drove for some time to the desert until we reached two unique plants one of them was the dollar bush,which is one of the water supply for desert life force, it has a salty taste, and the other plant is 2000 years basically its self sustained ,and we drove again and wallah we saw the most beautiful mountains ever , no wonder the call them the moon ,the are splendid we stayed there for an hour or so observing the breath taking scenery,we again drove for about 50 km,until we reached the sand dunes again,we were greeted by two guys and they took us through the whole process of sand boarding , and we resumed it was fun really fun some also had their time to speak with nature to inter- act with mother nature. The day ended with some team sand boarding with Felix defeating us all he was a natural on the board.

We again went back and showered and next day we left, we had the best of our lives in Namibia though at first we were land sick, but Namibia is very interesting its enigmatic at one point its like abandoned town , at one point its so exotic to describe it will be almost be quixotic to define.

Hermanus Times Article - Week of 16th April

2009-04-16T17:43:00.003+02:00

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Wednesday 15th April Day 8

2009-04-15T22:24:00.000+02:00

Wednesday, 15th April 2009, Day 8 – Getting involved with community work

Today was pretty an awesome day! Everyone really enjoyed themselves. We had to do something for the local community called the CARE project which was largely organised by one of the locals, Charlotte, and the rest of the Class Afloat team on board the Concordia.

We started off with a really early morning...breakfast was at 6.45!! No one looked particularly awake, especially the teachers! J then we departed the port we are at to have a tour of the local township called Mondesa, which everyone found very interesting, we even got taught a bit of the Nama language, which in a word is HARD! After our tour and making great friends at one of the pre schools (especially Monde and his little brother!) we were driven to begin with the actual project.

Three groups assembled for gardening, cooking and games. The cooking group worked all day long in the kitchen with 19/20 yr olds, while the gardening and game groups went to a primary school. Now, the games group had it easy, all they had to do was play with the kids all day long, while the gardeners had to dig a hole, 6×6m, fun stuff! Eventually, at about 5pm, all of us met up again and showed off what we had accomplished, including some great looking and tasty food, an awesome greenhouse and some really happy, exhausted children!!

Finally we left to go back to the ship... dirty, tired and hungry. But after speaking to everyone, everyone had great time and taken away some amazing memories (and Kate even got a picture of her new friend!)All in all, a hugely successful and fun day!!

Bryan.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Tuesday 14th April Day 7

2009-04-14T22:21:00.000+02:00

Tuesday, 14th April 2009, Day 8

Today was the day we arrived in Namibia. People could not wait to get to feel Nambian land, as time goes we finally went of. People were rushing to go to the malls only to find out all stores were closed besides a supermarket because it was Easter Monday. Now many were disappointed.

We then bought refreshments and went to a bank nearby ,when we were there we saw two minibuses and ask how much will it cost to take us on tour but they offered to give us a free ride to the beach. We could not stay for long there as we were supposed to be back at 19:30. Me and my group started walking while we left others who were swimming. As we were walking we got lost and had to start from the place we got drinks at the supermarket as that was a long walk we again bought us refreshments and head straight to the ship and we ate dinner ,watched a movie and went to bed.

Asekho

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Monday 13th April Day 6

2009-04-13T22:16:00.000+02:00

Monday, 13th April 2009 – Day 6 – Exploring Walvis Bay and Swakopmund

Port Walvis Bay, Namibia

It was 7am in the morning when everyone had to wake up and get done for and exciting day ahead of them. We went to Swakopmund, we arrived there at 12:30...when we got off the taxi and we had 6 hours free time to explore the town which was great cause we got to see the whole town....our first stop was the bank, where some of us drew money and some exchanged money... once all the money problems were solved everyone went straight to the internet cafe to write e-mails to their parents to found out how the family is doing....we spent about an hour and 30 mins just writing messages to our families... which was sad and good, sad cause we all miss our families and good cause we got to hear from them.....once everyone was done writing to their family, we went off to go find somewhere to eat and we found the perfect place right in front of the beach and we got a table with a perfect view of the beach... the name of the place we ate at was the lighthouse and their food was great and enjoyable....when everyone was done eating...we went to the beach and took a nice refreshing swim to cool us down, once everyone was done swimming we all just sat on the beach and watch the sun set which was every nice and once the sun set it was time to go home........well for me today was great and enjoyable because we all got to know each other more and more...

Brandon

Concordia Ships Log Entry 13th April

2009-04-13T19:34:00.000+02:00

13-April-2009
Latitude: 22.56 s, Longitude: 14.20
eSpeed: 5 kn, Course: 54 deg.97 nm in last 24 hours
17886 nm from Lunenburg 836 nm from Cape Town 14 nm to Walvis Bay
Sails set: fs,c,tl,tu,tg,msWind: sse, force 4 - moderate breezeSea state: 2 - smooth (wavelets)Clear skypressure: 1014 hpa=760.5 mm hgair temp: 18 deg. C=64.4 deg. F

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Sunday 12th April Day 5

2009-04-12T21:50:00.002+02:00

Sunday, 12th April Day 5 – Easter with Walvis Bay on the Horizon

Today is Sunday morning the 12 of April, academic day 5.

Last night we have traveled 128 sea miles.
We are on the SV Concordia south from Walvisbay and our nearest cost is Namibia.

We are traveling at a speed of 1.9 kn and the following sails are set:

Course
Lower Top
Upper Top
T-Gallant
Royal
Main

Our course is 55 ̊, the wind is coming from south-east and it is wave movement 1 on the scale.
The water temperature 17C.

Today everyone of the South African Team felt fine, none of us where seasick

I am in Watch 5, which is from 22:00-24:00.
On my watch I could already see Walvisbay on the horizon.
Later we had to do sail manouvers, where some of the South African team members climbed aloft up to the T-Gallant. We took the sails in, to prepare them for anchoring in front of Walvisbay.

Felix

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Sunday 12th April Day 5

2009-04-12T21:50:00.001+02:00

Sunday, 12th April Day 5 – Easter with Walvis Bay on the Horizon

Today is Sunday morning the 12 of April, academic day 5.

Last night we have traveled 128 sea miles.
We are on the SV Concordia south from Walvisbay and our nearest cost is Namibia.

We are traveling at a speed of 1.9 kn and the following sails are set:

Course
Lower Top
Upper Top
T-Gallant
Royal
Main

Our course is 55 ̊, the wind is coming from south-east and it is wave movement 1 on the scale.
The water temperature 17C.
Today everyone of the South African Team felt fine, none of us where seasick

I am in Watch 5, which is from 22:00-24:00.
On my watch I could already see Walvisbay on the horizon.
Later we had to do sail manouvers, where some of the South African team members climbed aloft up to the T-Gallant. We took the sails in, to prepare them for anchoring in front of Walvisbay.
Felix

Concordia Ships Log Entry 12th April

2009-04-12T19:33:00.000+02:00

12-April-2009
Latitude: 24.04 s, Longitude: 13.56
eSpeed: 4.3 kn, Course: 330 deg. 120 nm in last 24 hours
17789nm from Lunenburg 739 nm from Cape Town 106 nm to Walvis Bay
Sails set: c,tl,tu,tg,r,mWind: sbe, force 4 - moderate breezeSea state: 3 - slight1/2 cloud coveragepressure: 1013 hpa=759.75 mm hgair temp: 15 deg. C=59 deg. F

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Saturday 11th April - Day 4

2009-04-11T21:41:00.000+02:00

Saturday 11th April 2009 - Day 4 – On the bow sprit

This morning we had the most amazing sunrise so far, it was a burning red, painted over our heads, breaking through the dark and cloudy night sky. The air was cold and there was hardly any wind. Later, during coulours (assembly) at 8 a.m, the boot stood in a position from which we could see the full moon in all its elegance on the one side and the beautiful, majestic sun on the other side. Our information for today, which was announced at colours was that we had a Latitude of 25 ̊09.25` South, a Longtitude of 04 ̊ 23.7` East, that we were travelling at a windspeed of about 20 knots and our nearest coast is Namibia.

For breakfast we finally had cereal, for the first time on this voyage - kellogg's frosties and papaya. It tasted very good and everyone enjoyed the homely breakfast. We had about 2 hours of free time before an hour of class time started in which we first discussed how everyone is feeling and then worked through as much of our schoolwork as we could. After class we had about an hour of free time in which some of us went to the bow to look at the popouses which we first mistook for dolphins but a few people from the more experienced crew explained to us that dolphins would have been twice that size. It was still very nice to watch the porpouses move through the water gracefully though. As we kept watching we also saw bright orange jelly fish swimming through the water right next to our ship. As we were observing these extraordinary animals, we heard the bell to call us to lunch. When we went outside to do our day watches, some of us got the opportunity to work on the bowsprit, which is the part right on the front of the boat. The air was still very chilly but the sun rays warmed us as we attached hanks to the sail. It was a lot of fun, but also quite hard work. After that, some of us had sociology class for one hour, with one of the class afloat teachers and other class afloat students. In this class we spoke about the generalizations of countries and how we feel about charity and why society or individuals feel that it is important to give something to others which are less privileged in their eyes and improve their way of life. It was a very interesting discussion in which all students participated and expressed their point of view. Right after, we had two hours of class in which each of us worked through their schoolwork with Hilary’s assistance.

Before we started our announced movie night for this evening, we had supper. Our plate filled with mashed potatoes, meat and pumpkin was a very filling and satisfying meal for most of us. The brownies as dessert were very good and a few people were hoping to get seconds and thirds. After cleaning the tables and letting galley finish their duties, we started Twilight, a movie which many of us had seen before and others were waiting to see in anticipation. All in all, today was a very fun and exciting day and we went to our rocking beds with smiles on our faces.

Chrissy

Concordia Ships Log Entry 11th April

2009-04-11T19:32:00.000+02:00

11-April-2009
Latitude: 25.49 s, Longitude: 14.15
eSpeed: 7 kn, Course: 7 deg.204 nm in last 24 hours
17669 nm from Lunenburg 619 nm from Cape Town 181 nm to Walvis Bay
Sails set: c,tl,tu,ms,mWind: sse, force 5 - fresh breezeSea state: 3 - slight1/2 cloud coveragepressure: 1015 hpa=761.25 mm hgair temp: 14 deg. C=57.2 deg. F

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Friday 10 April – Day 3

2009-04-10T21:30:00.005+02:00

Friday 10 April 2009 – Day 3 - Dolphins are our travel mates …

20:15 pm
Current position: Lat: 26 ̊ 13'
Long: 14 ̊ 13'

Weather: clear skies, sunny
Speed: 7,7km
Miles traveled (12-12): 210nm

Today was our third day at sea. Most of us have recovered from our seasickness except for Marx who was still feeling very sick. The day started out very cloudy and cold but by midday the cloud had disappeared and the sun made a brief appearance.
We started the day as we normally do with breakfast followed by colours and then the South African crew had an hour of class after which we all went either to our separate watches or free time.
Gustav climbed on the bow sprit for the first time today to douse the outer jib. We had pizza for lunch which was received with great enthusiasm from all the students.
Tonight we saw the most amazing thing; dolphins swimming with us and playing around the bow. It was amazing and indescribably beautiful to see these majestic creatures swimming along with us and surfing the bow wave without loosing pace with the boat. We all ran out and just watched them paying in the water, not wanting to move away and completely in awe of these amazing creatures. We are all unbelievably lucky to live in a place where you can start your homework, run outside to watch dolphins swimming alongside you, then go back inside to complete your homework.
Helen

Concordia Ships Log Entry 10th April

2009-04-10T19:30:00.001+02:00

10-April-2009
Latitude: 29.11 s, Longitude: 14.13
eSpeed: 8.1 kn, Course: 3 deg.189 nm in last 24 hours
17465 nm from Lunenburg 415 nm from Cape Town 385 nm to Walvis Bay
Sails set: jo,c,tl,tu,ms,mWind: sebs, force 6 - strong breezeSea state: 3 - slightFull cloud coveragepressure: 1022 hpa=766.5 mm hgair temp: 18 deg. C=64.4 deg. F

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Thursday 9th April Day 2

2009-04-09T21:22:00.005+02:00

Thursday, 9th April 09 Day 2 - Signs of Sea Sickness

Today was the second day at sea. Like every day, it started at 7:30 for breakfast. Some of us were still really sick especially Marx but Chrissy felt better than she did yesterday. Then came colours and the daily announcements.

The information for today is:
COG: 013
HDG: 020
Sails set: JoCTlTuTgRMsM
Weather Conditions: SEbs 6
Seas: 3
VIS: 6
Pres: 1022
Temp: 2010

Some of us were asked to help John on the bowsprit with the sail. This was really cool because one only has a net between yourself and the rushing ocean and if you are sitting there and you look back you can see the whole ship.

Bryan was the first one of the South Africans to climb all the way to the royal, he says it was awesome. I'm sure all of us cant wait to do it as well.
Gustav

Concordia Ships Log Entry 9th April

2009-04-09T20:36:00.001+02:00

09-April-2009
Latitude: 31.48 s, Longitude: 14.51
eSpeed: 8.2 kn, Course: 314 deg.
196 nm in last 24 hours 17273 nm from Lunenburg 223 nm from Cape Town 577 nm to Walvis BaySails set: jo,c,tl,tu,ms,m Wind: sbe, force 5 - fresh breeze
Sea state: 3 - slight 1/2 cloud coverag epressure: 1021 hpa=765.75 mm hgair temp: 19 deg. C=66.2 deg. F

Incredibly, more Press - Vukani 9th April

2009-04-09T19:43:00.001+02:00

Coverage in the Sailing magazine

2009-04-09T13:27:00.002+02:00

Another great article in the April 2009 edition of 'SAILING' magazine.

TEAM SA LOGBOOK - Wednesday 8 April

2009-04-08T21:09:00.005+02:00

Wednesday 8 April – First Day on Sea

Our first day out sea! The morning started off at 7:30 for breakfast and then at 8 o'clock all of the students and Concordia crew have to meet on the bow for colors, raising of flags and daily announcements.
The course we are on is 310(HDG), 5(C), 315(COG) and our speed is 7,6. The sails were not out yet, the engine was running at 1550/5. Wind direction 55W and the temp 17 degree.
After colors team S.A members were all feeling sea-sick especially Marx and me. But through it all we did sail maneuvering which was actually a bit grueling. Setting up the main sails, fore sail, ,main sail and the other sails I do not yet know the names of but I will certainly do in due time.
By now we were still feeling sea-sick and we spent most of the day sleeping on deck and throwing up.
During the late afternoon Felix and me were on navigation watch, the first mate allowed us to take control of the helm which was very awesome! We had another class after nav watch on deck where all of us discussed our journals and how each one of us are feeling.
And the day concluded with dinner and night watch.
Shane

Press Coverage Galore - Athlone News!

2009-04-08T19:38:00.000+02:00

The Tygerburger on 8th April

2009-04-08T18:40:00.000+02:00

And yet more Press for our Team!!

Concordia Ships Log Entry

2009-04-08T13:22:00.001+02:00

08-April-2009
Latitude: 33.36 s, Longitude: 18.06 eSpeed: 7.9 kn, Course: 310 deg.27 nm in last 24 hours
17077 nm from Lunenburg27 nm from Cape Town773 nm to Walvis Bay
MotoringWind: s, force 2 - light breezeSea state: 1 - calm (rippled)1/4 cloud coveragepressure: 1015 hpa=761.25 mm
hgair temp: 12 deg. C=53.6 deg. F

A fantastic article in the First Ascent Newsletter.

2009-04-08T10:04:00.001+02:00

For the full web-letter and to subscribe to the First Ascent Newsletter, follow this link:

First Ascent Newsletter

08 April 2009Tall Ships Sailing:

Incredible opportunity awaits Cape Town learners

Ten lucky learners from the Western Cape aged between 15 and 18 will soon be making history as they spend 10 weeks of this school year attending class on board a tall ship on a voyage to Namibia, St Helena Island, Brazil, Trinidad and Bermuda – a first for the African continent. The South African team under the guidance of two adult female team leaders, will include 4 youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds on the Cape Flats.

The team will join 25 Canadian students onboard the S V Concordia when it docks in Cape Town harbour on 2 April and will set sail on 7 April. The SV Concordia is one of two tall ships operated as part of the Class Afloat project, a Canadian shipboard classroom and university programme initiated 25 years ago. More than 200 sea education projects in 25 countries affiliated to Sail Training International (STI) operate on all other continents, but this is a first-time opportunity for young people from the African continent. The 10 youngsters have been selected by the Cape Town-based Cape Windjammers Education Trust (CWET) formed in 2005 as the first offshore sail- training programme on tall ships for youth leadership and life skills development on the African continent.

Dr Antje Nahnsen, CWET programme coordinator, praises Terry Davies, CEO of Class Afloat, for making this unique opportunity available to young South Africans. In addition to providing school curriculum and environmental education on board, the voyage will also offer the youngsters instruction in sail handling, navigation, passage making, safety at sea and ship management. She explains that Cape Windjammers and the SA Sail -training for Life-skills Association (SASLA), both affiliated to the STI, are cooperating to promote the empowering sail training experience mainly as a means of helping young people learn about themselves, discover hidden strengths and talents, and understand the value of others and of working as a team.

“Sailing is generally seen as an exclusive luxury for the wealthy. Our mission is to make the life-changing experience of sailing on a tall ship accessible to young people from all communities”, says Nahnsen, who herself was given the opportunity of a 10-day sails training experience when she was 16. Ten years later she trained and qualified as a crew member. “My sail- training experience as a teenager helped me to gain confidence and taught me how to face and overcome small fears like climbing up the tall mast. I also learned how important it was to work in teams, that every project needs to be planned beforehand and that the plan needs to be executed step-by-step. These are life lessons of great value for anyone.”

According to Nahnsen, Cape Windjammers is run by a team of volunteers who are all committed to the idea that an intensive experience has a great impact on learning - the more intense the experience, the greater and more sustainable the learning effect. Says Nahnsen: “For the Concordia voyage Cape Windjammers was able to find two highly motivated and skilled voluntary team leaders, Dayana Dreke and Hilary Ambrose. While Dayana has a background in youth life skills development, conflict management, intercultural education, marketing and fundraising; Hilary has a background in formal school education and sailing, and has successfully run her own consultancy firm many years. Together they form a brilliant team, each of them bringing their own area of expertise. Without them the facilitation of such a huge project would not have been possible.”

Watch this space for their voyage report. Shane Barnes (16) from Hanover Park, Asekho Mdaka (18) and Monde Sitole (16) from Khayelitsha, and Brandon Schoor (16) from Kuils River are the four youths from disadvantaged communities looking forward to the experience of a lifetime. Barnes is a Grade 10 learner at Christel House, a special school supporting families to break the cycle of poverty in an area often referred to as Cape Town’s ‘gang heartland’. A member of his school’s first soccer team, he enjoys reading and playing chess, and dreams of becoming a surgeon. “This experience will inspire me to learn to navigate my life through the many challenges that I may face in my family and my community”, he says in his application, ending with the assertion that “…I’ll be very willing to pass on my knowledge and skills to others”. Mdaka, whose parents are both currently unemployed after his mother was injured in a recent car accident, is in matric at Masibambisane High School at this year. Like Barnes, he plays for his school’s first soccer team. He is also an active member of the debating society and has volunteered as a peer educator for the past three years. He wants a career in law enforcement one day and sees the tall ship trip as a way of fulfilling his dream of interacting with people from different countries and communities and developing his leadership skills. Sitole, who passed matric last year, has been raised, along with his two siblings, by his mother, a domestic worker. His knack for poetry prompted him 3 years ago to join a group of young volunteers known as ‘Mayibuye Hip Hop Azania’. Among his many other interests are archiving black history dating from ancient times and learning ancient languages such as Sankrit, Aramic and Nama. He dreams of one day being a motivational speaker focusing on youth development. Schoor is in Grade 9 at Bellville High School and extreme sport is one of his passions. His parents’ divorce divided the family, with him living with his mother and sister, while his brother lives with his dad. The other youngsters who required bursaries are Chrismarie Braun (16) from Hout Bay, Cape Town and Bryan Winston Castle (16) from Stanford in the Overberg region. Chrismarie, who wants to become a psychologist, experienced great hardship while living for 18 months with her mum and younger sister in a safe women shelter during her parents’ difficult divorce process. Bryan, who was chosen as head boy of his school in the UK during his family’s 5-year stay abroad, is now in Grade 11 at Hermanus High School. He has been a winner in public speaking competitions, is a keen sportsman and the top swimmer at his school, as well as an avid musician who plays the electric guitar and the alto saxophone.

This project has been made possible by the generous donation in kind by the Class Afloat project. Furthermore a generous donations by the Bermuda Sail Training Association, CSM Consulting Services, Rotary Club Pinelands and the great team spirit amongst parents and team members has helped to raise the necessary funds to pay for travel and preparation costs of also those deserving team members, who would never be able to pay for themselves. Other donations in kind were made by CSM Consulting Services, City Sight Seeing, Township Tours SA, Cape Rainbow Tours, Sense of Taste and last but not least First Ascent, who equipped the second South African team with some high quality outdoor gear. Nahnsen appeals to sponsors to support Cape Windjammers and SASLA to establish a bursary fund that would allow to send many more South Africans on similar sail training voyages in the future. Potential donors can visit the website http://www.capewindjammers.org/ for contact details. To follow the team’s progress and experiences aboard the SV Concordia, please feel free to visit the blogsite http://windjammers09.blogspot.com/

Cast Off!

2009-04-07T21:39:00.003+02:00

7 April 2009 – Cast off

7:45 pm – the sun has set, it is dark already, enough tears have been shed - finally the S.V. Concordia casts off – what a sight … - with 2 pilots on board the Concordia’s little dinghie pushes the Concordia off the jetty … off they go …

Fair winds S.V. Concordia, fair winds Team SA – enjoy every single day of this amazing adventure!!

Many many thanks to the whole Class Afloat Team for making this opportuntiy possible for South Africa! It has been such a pleasure to wrk with you thus far - and we hope there will be many more opportunities to work with you in the future. To find out more about Class Afloat click here.

… Next time we will hear from the team will be around the 15th of April, when the Concordia arrives in Walvis Bay Namibia, and we will receive the team’s log …

So keep checking this log …

Out and About in Capetown!

2009-04-06T21:13:00.007+02:00

6 April 2009 – Out and About in Cape Town

5:30 am: Today some more physical exercise for the whole Concordia crew … hiking up Table Mountain at 5:30 am in the morning for a beautiful sunrise --- But uuh, once on top there was the “Table Cloth” and instead of great views walking in a big cloud was on the agenda … J

Many thanks to Deputy Mayor Cllr Grant Haskin for sponsoring the Cable Car for the whole crew to come back down … after weeks on the ship, some muscles are just not fit enough to cope with the steep Platteklip Gorge ….

And many many thanks to Alvin and Suki from Cape Rainbow Tours to sponsor the shuttle service of the whole crew to and from Table Mountain!!

After a quick sandwich for lunch – South African history was on the agenda: a visit at Cape Town’s famous District Six Museum telling the story of this once so very lively and diverse inner city community that has been demolished during the height of Apartheid … anybody who has not been there yet, should definitely do so very soon: go to www.districtsix.co.za/ for more info about the museum and the story of District Six.

7:00 pm – The day may have been exhausting but no time to rest as yet – tonight the S.C. Concordia crew and Cape Windjammers are hosting a small reception to give in particular families and friends of Team SA members, sponsors and those to be (?) a chance to visit and tour the ship lead by the trainees … time to dream on for all those, who have to stay behind this time … And then finally also the last speeches … by the Concordia Captain and Shipboard Director, the Class Afloat Head of School, the Cape Windjammers president and of course Team SA 2009 – well done Chrissie and Bryan – cool speech!!