The Thor Heyerdahl – our new home

Just a little over two weeks ago, we moved into the ship Thor Heyerdahl, our new home. We all feel very well here and have already found our favorite places.

The ship itself is bigger than it looks like: The main deck can be separated into three parts: fore deck, quarter deck, and the main deck. The deckhouse with our kitchen is situated on the main deck. When the weather is good, we eat outside at the main deck, and the food is handed out of the kitchen through a bullseye. That is what I did two days ago, when I was chef with Theresa, Clara, and Hannah from the ship’s crew. Together, we were responsible for all the food and drinks throughout one full day as the galley team. I liked being in the galley very much because we were allowed to hear music and cooked for all the people on our ship for one day – and food makes people happy!

On top of the deckhouse with the kitchen, you can find some space to sit down. We often hang out there in the evenings, just looking at the sea, talking or writing our diary. This place is one of my favorite places on the Thor. Yesterday, we sat there as well, one of us was playing the guitar and we sang songs together as the sun set down.

The messroom is another place that is frequently used. We eat and have school there, and in the evenings, we read, crochet, or play some games together. Our ship has a little library with a lot of books as well. There, we can hang out and read, study, or write our blogs.

One of the things I like most about my new home is, having all my friends close to me, so I always have somebody to talk to. You are never alone and that is very nice, but also sometimes exhausting, since you are never alone and have little privacy.

In the quarter deck, everything related to sailing is happening. There is the chartroom with a chart plotter and many nautical charts. Next to the it, you can find the saloon, where crew meetings are held. There. the captain, the mates and some of the other crew members also sleep.

Midships belowdecks are the student cabins, that’s where we all sleep. The cabins are not very big, although comfortable – I live in a cabin with five other girls. There is also the cargohold with a lot of storage space, a workshop, and a cold storage room you can walk into, where we keep our food for the whole journey.

In the fore deck, the crew cabin is situated belowdecks, where six people of our ship’s crew, like our teachers and watchleaders, sleep.

Our sailing ship has three masts, and you can climb on top of them. A few days ago, I climbed the main mast with two of my friends. We sat there and talked in the sun for almost two hours, under us the Thor and all around us only the sea. And suddenly, we saw something in the water below us. Dolphins! That was so beautiful, and it was one of my favorite days on the Thor Heyerdahl since our departure two weeks ago.