On board

                                             01-11-2016            AMSTERDAM

The 1st of November. That is the day that I am joining the Clipper Stad Amsterdam, which is currently in shipyard in Amsterdam. I acquired a Greenhand position on board. As a MIO, Matroos In Opleiding, which roughly translates to 'Sailor in Training', I am on board to learn about sailing a full-rigged tall ship, and about everything that comes with it. The plan is to be an Ordinary Sailor by June 2017.

Being 18 years old, I am by far the youngest on board. The next youngest person is, for as far as I know, 21 years old. Maybe it will be a challenge for me to find my place in between all these older people, but I doubt that it will be a problem.

The coming 18 months I will be working for this ship, which is quite a long time for someone who is only 18 years old. Luckily these 18 months do not solely consist of work, but also holidays. I am combining these 1.5 years of working with holidays abroad in between, making these my gap years. My travel plans so far are to go to Uruguay during my first period on leave. My sister will be there form the 2nd until the 10th of January, so I am visiting her after I get off in Martinique. My sister is following a program called Class Afloat, similar to School at Sea, which I did in 2014/2015. She will be in Montevideo with the Gulden Leeuw. She is also maintaining a website, in Dutch, which is JannaAtSea.nl. After my sister leaves Montevideo for the isolated island of Tristan Da Cunha, I will meet up with a friend of mine to travel through Uruguay and its bordering countries for 3 more weeks.

After I get back on board and work for 2.5 months, I get off in Miami. My plan is to then go to Cuba for one month, but I have not planned that out yet.

I am really looking forward to the coming months of work and holiday as it will be a great adventure with lots of new experiences and learning opportunities. As my mom said: “If you have to move out, this is by far the most fun way to do it.”