One Month

It’s been one month since I came aboard the Bounty and it has been more than I could have ever imagined. Things were a lot different from what I had expected, first of all I was not the only new person and in fact we’re mostly girls instead of me being the only girl. The first day when we climbed the rigging I was all for it, not the least bit scared and I made it all the way to the cross trees that first time. I was really proud of myself for having gotten all the way up there, I’m not afraid of heights, but I’m no climber.

As far as living on the ship, I didn’t know what to expect at all, but it’s great. My cabin is nice, everything arranged the way I like it, the generator has a nice hum, when it’s turned off at night everything is so quiet. The sound of the waves hitting the side of the ship is great too. Showering and laundry is easy enough along with using the heads. I have not done too much cooking; just making a few desserts and they really have all kinds of ingredients so there is always something good on hand.

Now for the workload, I knew there would be a lot to do, cleaning and fixing of things, just didn’t know exactly what. Well it’s a lot of the same repetitive things, sand and paint, sand and varnish, sand and oil, caulking, fixing things in the rigging and Peter does things in the engine room that are a mystery to me.

Physically I have gotten more tan, built muscles and growing some nice calices. I have also learned a lot, not just about fixing things, power tools and actually having a job, but a lot about the tall ship industry. Boats have reputations; some are known for being stupid, like the Royalists and others lazy like American Pride. When I look around for another boat to work on I’ll be sure to email Rebecca and get her opinion on them, she’s seen a lot and worked on a bunch of them.

I really love working here, mind you I’ve never worked anywhere else, but it’s all a great adventure to me.

Today was good fun; I finally got to work on the deck. Brooke and I spent all day making holes for the bungs. You drill a hole in the deck, put in a screw, add a dot of wood glue, place in a bung and whack it in a little and let it dry. When it’s all dry you come back with a chisel and make it flush. There were also a lot of tours today and people kept asking us what we were doing and how it worked.

After work Brooke, Katie and I went swimming for a bit, I would have swum longer but they didn’t want to, I could swim all day even if the water was not that warm.