morocco, christmas, senegal

Again i’m sorry it took so long! We arrived late in Morocco coming from Tunisia because of some bad weather. So we missed our day off in Morocco to do internet and things. We had a three day port program which was awesome. The first day we took a bus tour through morrocco going to some villages and shopping around a bit at markets. We stayed in a hotel that night in a little village which was very nice. The next day we went to another village which was very poor and all the houses were built out of clay with no windows or doors. There were tons of children there begging for money which was heart breaking. After we went to that village we went for a nice lunch and switched the bus for camels! We got to ride the camels in the sahara desert and they brought us to a campground where we spent the night. It was really cool, there was a nice dinner set up for us and a live band playing Moroccan music and dancers too. We watched the most beautiful sunset i’ve ever seen in my entire life and then stargazed for hours with shooting stars every five minutes.

The next day we rode the camels back out the desert and got back on the bus to do some more touring around. We went to a few more villages and then stayed in another hotel that night. The next day we went for a short hike through the mountains and then in the afternoon got back to ship. Everyone was exhausted and the next day we left for Senegal.

It was a great sail over to Senegal it was boiling hot everyday and ofcourse we had Christmas during the sail too. It was a great Christmas. It was weird not being at home with everyone but I was just as happy to be with my amazing crew and in the middle of the ocean :). We arrived in Senegal on the 27th and we’ve been busy ever since we got here. Its really different here and a complete culture shock. But the people are really friendly and we are doing a health project about Malaria with a bunch of Senegalese university students. There are all really nice and give us tips about how to bargain etc.

Then I was in the group to organize new years and we did that non stop for the first few days going to fruit and vegetable markets and grocery stores and cooking. But new years was great again I missed being at home but instead i was with great people and in Senegal with great weather. This morning I went to an infant orphanage which was an amazing experience the children were new born to 1 years old. They were so cute and loved getting the attention from everyone. We still have 5 more days in Senegal and then We head to Brazil. It will be an exciting sail since we’ll be crossing the equator!!

Sorry it took so long! Malta, Turkey and Tunisia

Well I don't even know where to begin. Malta was great! Seeing mom, dad and Morgan was awesome. We had a great time and it felt so good to sleep in a normal bed although I do love my bed on the ship too :) We had a great day in the old town Mdina which was really neat. We saw Michael Jackson's This Is It and for anyone who hasn't seen it, go see it! It's amazing. Having to say another goodbye to them was hard but having the chance to show mom, dad and Morg my life right now was really good. There's no words to describe what I'm experiencing. It truly is life changing and I'm glad they got to meet my crew, second family and second home.

We had cold and rocky sail to Turkey but it was all worth it once we got there. Turkey was amazing I loved it there and want to go back someday because it was so beautiful and the people were so nice. We had a home stay with Turkish university students who are studying to be captains of ships. We were paired up to stay with people and Courtney and I had a really nice girl. She told us a lot about the Turkish lifestyle and culture and the breakfast her mom made was truly amazing. We had Turkish tea and coffee and traditional Turkish pastries. Then we got a tour of the high school in Istanbul that specializes in Marine studies. It was really interesting and everyone loved to here all our stories about all our travels.

Right now I'm in Tunisia and it's gorgeous here. Again the people are so nice. Yesterday a few of my friends and I had a taxidriver who took us on a tour of Tunis and we got to see Carthage which is an ancient Roman town. The second town the Romans built and then he took us to a village where the buildings are only blue and white. It was really cute and we had a nice lunch there. After that he dropped us of in the main area of the city Medina and we shopped around in the markets. Today we walked around Medina again and some of my friends got some great Henna tattoos. Tomorrow we go on our port program which will be a bus tour through Tunisia. We'll be going to the Sahara and seeing some of the places that Star Wars was filmed. All the guys are very excited about that. We'll be staying a hotel for a night and then heading back to ship all day the next day making a few stops here and there. We leave on the 4th of December and then we'll be heading to Morocco :)

Ajaccio, Corsica

On 27th of October we arrived in Corsica. The sail over was nice and going the strait of Gibraltar was really cool. The sail was mainly along the coast and we got in a storm which was kind off scary but more exciting. Since we were going so fast through the storm we had a lot of time to kill so we anchored off the coast of Mallorca. That was really nice and we had our first swim call. At seven a.m we got woken up for fitness and instead of doing our normal fitness we got to go swimming. Everyone was jumping off the side and the water was clear, bright blue and warm. On the first day in Corsica Opa and Mary were there to see me. Which was really nice. We walked around Ajaccio and had a great lunch. Then we went to see the house of Napoleon. That was really interesting. Then we went for an amazing dinner. Thanks again Opa and Mary! The next day we went on a hike which was 6 km up a mountain. The views were amazing. After the hike we went for a picnic on the beach. The rest of the day we had free time. The next day we went to the governor of Ajaccio's house and he made a very nice speech. We had the rest of the day free. And today our last day we have the whole day off. I'm in an internet cafe right now and I'll be hitting the beach for the rest of the day :)

Next stop: Malta!!!

Pictures from Aveiro

beautiful sunset on the way to portugal

the beach :)

lisbon, cathedral

Aveiro, Portugal

I dont have much time to write something but Portugal has been great. I love it here. The sail over was five days and very nice since it got warmer everyday because we were heading south. We saw tons of dolphins which was really cool. We got to Portugal on the 14th and had to stay on the boat for a day since the customs couldnt clear us. That was really unfortunate since we were all anxiõus to see portugal and it was superhot. But the local newspaper came by and took some pictures and interviewed our first mate. The next day we were on the front page! the next day we went to a maritime museum which was really nice and the mayor of Aveiro and the Canadian ambassador came to the ship to have lunch with us. It was really interesting to hear about all the Canadian and Portugese relations. The day after that we took a 3 hour busride to Lisbon and had the day of there. We did a lot of walking around and my friends and I went to an aquarium. We saw some really cool fish there. Lisbon was beautiful. Today our last day we had off and so I went to the beach with a bunch of people. It was really hot but the water was cold. But it was really relaxing after all the walking everyone did in Lisbon. We leave tomorrow morning (18th Oct) for a nine day sail to Corsica!

I'm in Dublin!!

After being in Horta we set off for a nine day sail to Dublin. It wasn't as tough as the first sail but we had to learn all of the 148 lines on the ship and be able to identify them blindfolded!

It was a lot of work this sail and it was exhausting. The highlight from that sail was definetly seeing the Bounty a ship that was built in Lunenburg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We saw the ship from a distance and we both changed our courses to meet up. We sailed right next to the bounty with a whale in between us. We sang a song with them, they shot off a canon and we blew our horn. One of the teachers on the ship plays bagpipes so he took out his bagpipes and started playing them. It was an amazing experience. Then arriving in Dublin was great. I love it here. It was great being in a city again. And of course the shopping has been fabulous. On port program we went to a farm about an hour and a half outside of Dublin. We got to hurd sheep, milk cows play in mud and the highlight for me was when they tought us Irish dancing. Everyone was so into it and we all had a blast. Then on our last night in Dublin a few friends and I went to a fashion show which was in a shopping mall. It was amazing! We leave today Oct 8th and it will be about a five day sail until Aveiro, Portugal! I can't wait!

Pictures from Horta

the volcano we hiked around

for morgie :)

the amazing beach

having lunch

horta, view coming in

the dock these are all tags from other boats

seeing land for the first time!