It is hard work aboard such a large ship but it is also great fun. Recently, I climbed up the mast for the first time while we were sailing and it was really wonderful. Usually climbing up the mast is done before or after sailing and it is done to unfurl the sails [tie down the sails] so they are ready to hoist, or for maintenance if needed of course. This time around there was some small work that had to be done during sailing. . It was super nice to look at the ship cutting through the water from up high above. Yesterday, the Red-Watch (my watch) had some time off so we spent visiting the island of Montserrat in the afternoon since we were lying at anchor. We went walking into the woods for a while and it was really beautiful. Although it was very hot we saw many banana trees and other sorts of plants you don’t find in the Netherlands. What struck me was the size of all the leaves that are about 30 times larger. At some point we met a farmer hard at work on his land but I have no idea where it was exactly, we did not quite know where we were. He was growing something and when we said we did not know what it was, we were offered to try and taste it. It was delicious but I still have no idea of what it actually was. After our inland adventure we went to the former capital [Plymouth]. It is located next to a still active volcano that destroyed the city 14 years ago. Since this volcano is still active nobody is living around here, it is like a ghost town. Really impressive. Now we are on route to St.Barth [ Saint-Barthélemy] and so my adventure on the city Amsterdam will be almost over. Then I will have to start thinking about which islands I still want to see and about when I will be sailing out there.

Laura