“If you were one minute late to your post, you got a strike. “We had a very strict regimen aboard the ship,” said Madeline. The students grew ever closer, however, and daily routine helped fortify these relationships. “There were times when the closest people to us were the astronauts on the International Space Station,” she said. “There was no Internet or cell service during crossings,” said Madeline.Ītlantic transits typically take 20-30 days, depending on weather. They made their first Atlantic crossing to Argentina in October. But seas like that became routine as the students sailed through the English Channel to Portugal, and then south along the coast of Africa. Madeline said waves sometimes breached 20 feet, and would crash over the deck. The captain would let us take turns steering through the waves.” “Once we got our sea legs, we lived for storms. “Storms got more fun for us after that first one,” said Madeline. The students keep in touch daily through a group text chain, and plan to have reunions every year. You don’t make bonds like that at a normal school.” You’re with the same people every day for an entire year. “We hit a storm two nights into our sail,” Madeline said. Language barriers and foreign cultures didn’t stop the students from bonding instantly. Canada, Barbados, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and South Africa were also represented. 31, 2015, Madeline was the only student from Maine, and one of only four from the United States. Out of the 43 students who boarded the Gulden Leeuw on Aug. “But being with the other parents in Amsterdam, talking with them, eased my worries.” “No parent can say they wouldn’t be a nervous about letting their child go to sea,” said Elizabeth. Her parents, though enthusiastic about Madeline’s endeavor, shared the same trepidations.
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