This morning I took the 9:11 train from Cambridge, arriving 11:29 in Folkestone. From there it was a mile to walk down to the harbour, where TS pelican was easily visible.
First day consisted of:
- Health questionnaire with the ships medic
- Getting on board the RIB (rigid inflatable board)
- Lunch from the galley (risotto)
- Meeting many new people – cinematographers, divers, scientists, and the full time professional crew
- “Life on board” briefing from the mate
- Rope training – how to prepare the ropes for working the sails
- Helm training – how to use the ships wheel and read the compass
- Tour of the ship – it’s highly technical
- Feeling slightly queasy until I’d had a Kwells tablet.
- Dinner – Sweet and sour pork noodles
- Unpacking my bag into my cabin
- Harbour watch from 10pm – midnight: I got a nice shift for this. You walk round the ship every half hour to look for anything out of order.
- And sleep – the bunk is quite comfortable