Living and Learning Aboard

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Going to school and living on board a boat provide a whole new set of challenges to both the students and the teachers - imagine trying to do your homework with your desk pitching and rolling with the seas, or fitting all your clothes in a small shelf by your bunk.

In the past sailing boats were extremely cramped places with sailors lined up in hammocks swinging back and forth, and no private space or storage. Ocean Star is fairly spacious in comparison with only 14 people contained within her 88ft length, however we have all had to adapt to the ship board lifestyle where cleanliness and tidiness are essential. If you leave any personal belongings like clothes or shoes out in the salon (the nautical equivalent of a living room) then the skipper will hunt you down and make you scrub the decks as punishment!

Classes are generally carried out on deck, unless it is pouring with rain and then we retire to the hot and cramped salon for the lecture. Occasionally we have slideshows where a screen is set up in the cockpit at night and we can watch and learn under the stars. Practical lessons and laboratory sessions are also part of the program, including learning to dive and identification of the marine life under a microscope and in the water. It is like being on a 3 month long field trip from school.

The students even get to decide when they want class - at the beginning of each week they are given the number of hours needed for each subject and they arrange them to fit in with other activities that they want to participate in, like hiking up a mountain or visiting local islands - it would be like you telling Mrs Mott when to have English or History!

For the past 3 days we have been in the Tobago Cays, a deserted set of islands at the southern end of The Grenadines. It is a beautiful spot with crystal clear turquoise water and tropical sandy beaches - a very hard place to concentrate on school work!

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