A lot can happen in a year when you're in high school. You'll have new experiences. You may get a sense of what to do with your life. You may fall in love. This and more came to pass for the three Bowen teens, Emily Lefler, Will Evans and Aidan Holland, who participated in a West Island Colleges program called Class Afloat. They spent 164 days at sea, crossed the Atlantic twice, sailed over 16,000 nautical miles and visited 22 ports in 16 countries while completing their Grade 11 coursework. They started the adventure on August 25, 2011 and finished on April 29 the trip changed their lives.
"We started in Norway and finished in Malta," Aidan Holland said. "A couple of us stayed on board to sail down to Istanbul, Turkey, and we dismantled the ship while we were sailing." Aidan first heard about the program from his father. He added that his great grandfather was a sea captain and harbour master in Vancouver the love for the sea runs in the family.
Will Evans said, "We basically did a circuit of the Atlantic. We started in Western Europe, in the Mediterranean. We saw a bit of Spain, then we went to the west coast of Africa. Then we sailed across to Brazil, the Caribbean and then to Bermuda, then the Azores. After that, we went back to the Mediterranean to finish off the year." Will added that, in preparation for landing in a port, the students learned about the culture and the "cool places to visit."
For Will, the most interesting stops were in Morocco, the Brazilian city of Belem and a trip up the Amazon River. For Aidan, the highlight was landing in Malta, the final port. "All the parents were there," he recalled. "We did what we call 'dressing the yacht.' Students climb up the rigging and I was lucky to be at the top. From there, I had a great view. I could see all the different styles of architecture."
Will said that both he and Aidan "enjoyed the actual sailing aspect" but that this wasn't the case for everyone. "You didn't need to have any experience going into it but you come out with a lot," Aidan said, adding that one of the extracurricular activities available was learning more about sailing where students completed different assignments in a booklet. "Everyone should have completed the first level but then it became more difficult," Aidan said. "I got 75 per cent and climbing to the top of the rigging was the reward." Two other classmates also finished the higher level: one earned the second spot at the top, the other had the honour of steering the ship into port.
But Class Afloat offered more than lessons about sailing. "I came out appreciating things more. Even little things like taking a shower. We had a limited water source and could shower only once a week," he said. "I also learned that you work better as a team. Being a team-player makes your work ethic better. It was interesting to see how the people changed on board. They arrived being self conscious and, by the end, they were more comfortable with who they are."
Another thing Aidan learned was to do a job well. "If you slack off, this will either impact you or someone else," he said, recalling the many times he and his shipmates had to re-do a job that wasn't done properly. "That stuck with me. If you don't slack off and get it done fast and well, you'll be rewarded and get a better job next time. "
The Class Afloat community has grown since 1984 when the program started, says Will, but not all the experiences are similar because the "route changes quite a bit every year." And the sense of belonging is not limited to the students' shipmates. Aidan said, "The 'Floaty' community is not just our group but all the people who have taken part. When you travel, they will all take you in."
"The program stayed in the Atlantic a couple of years and went into the Pacific three or four times. It started with Terry Davies, the founder, who developed it for a competition to create the best traveling school," Aidan explained. Davies developed a curriculum where students learn seamanship, work as crew members and complete their high school coursework. This year, the majority of the Class Afloat students completed Grade 11. Half a dozen were in Grade 12 and half a dozen were university students.
Aidan said that the biggest challenge was not having any privacy. "The program had a setback when the ship called the Concordia sank off the coast of Brazil in 2010," he said. "Everyone survived. With the number of drills you do, you know exactly what to do and when to do it. But they weren't able to recover the ship."
Will added that, for the last two years, the program has been renting a Norwegian tall ship, the SS Sørlandet, that was built in 1927. "The Concordia was built for the program," Aidan said. "But the SS Sørlandet is a national ship of Norway and it's kept as traditional as possible. Everything is lifted by manpower there are no winches and no power-steering at the helm."
Will said, "In such a small community, you get a feel for the effects of your actions. On a ship that's 64 metres long and nine metres wide, the quarters are very close and you're at sea for 16 days at a time. Things get around so quickly and you're pretty aware of what you are saying to each other." Evans added that everything went quite smoothly but there always were some smaller conflicts. Aidan agrees, "There are people for everyone that you can't stand. But on the ship, you learn to work with them. You know people's strengths and weaknesses and you learn to work around it. You go to certain people for certain jobs."
The hardest part about coming back home was saying goodbye to their friends. Aidan said, "There were 40 of us from all over the world, for instance from Mexico, the U.S., Germany and Turkey. The three of us are lucky to live on the same island, so we see each other a lot. But others have to go from seeing 40 people every day for eight month in a row to not seeing them at all." For Will, this means a geographical distance from Marta, his girlfriend. "We started dating in September," he said, adding that they held a 'wedding at sea.' "She's from New York but we'll hopefully continue the relationship."
What's ahead for the Class Afloat students? Will is probably going to attend West Vancouver Secondary School for his Grade 12 year. Aidan says he might get a chance at another year at sea. Holland sees this as an opportunity of a lifetime. He says, "You can go, do it, if you are able to make money it's $42,000, that's a lot of money but it's worth it."
