Inly School (Day 1)

Newport, RI

Today was our first day on the boat! We got onto the shuttle raft and onto the boat. Once we all got on the boat, we were introduced to the crew members. After that, we pulled the shuttle raft onto the boat to raise the anchor and set sail. Raising up the shuttle raft was physically demanding, but it was interesting to see how we could do it when working together. Hauling up the anchor had a few hiccups, but singing a song with the crew helped raise the spirits even when the chain was jammed. When raising the sails, it was similar to the raft, but we were able to complete the task easier now that we knew how to work with the ropes together. Before doing most of these, we had lunch, which was chilli. We didn’t expect such good food for a boat. As our journey began, it started off calm and nobody expected to get nauseous. Little did we know, as the journey progressed, the boat began to sway far left and right, which caused some of us to become pretty sick.

Late into the afternoon, we got the opportunity to cycle through a few of the tasks on the boat, like active watch and tying knots, as well as a bit of downtime. Active watch involved steering the ship to keep it on course and boat check - identifying the weather and surroundings to see if there is anything that could cause the boat to go off course. When steering the boat, we had full control of boat’s direction which was cool to think about. Tying knots was also a new experience as we didn’t know many knots. It also required attention to detail, as even the smallest mistake can mess up the knot. After all of this came dinner, where we had shepherd’s pie and salad. The break at dinner gave us a chance to bond with other crewmates and peers. Overall, this day was a great kickstart to our journey to Boston.