I just arrive on board yesterday afternoon, meeting the Amistad in Portland, Maine, just two hours south of my hometown of Camden, Maine. When I came on board I wasn’t really sure what to expect in terms of my position and the period of time I’d be onboard. What I initially thought would just be a short volunteer job of two or three weeks ending in Martha’s Vineyard has become a full time crew job with a contract going until November when the boat arrives in Mystic for the winter. But I’m not too intimidated since I’ve worked on five other tall ships previous to this one.

      Yesterday was spent learning the quirks that come with every new ship and meeting the crew and learning their quirks as well. We had a sail in the evening, which was my first trial run with the boat and it seemed to go quite successfully. Today is my first morning and is still being spent in gaining all the information of life onboard Amistad, how she works, her history, and other details that pertain to my next two and a half months with her.

      Many of my other adventures have started out pretty unexpectedly, and hopefully this one continues to follow the same pattern with it ending in a very satisfying experience I’ll be happy I was a part of. 

-Sarah Renée