Q&A with Concordia from the week ending October 11, 1996
What is the first thing that you learned as a crew member? Has it been useful?...5th Grade Class, Randolph, MA
by Ben Dunn, 10/7/96
When I first arrived on the ship, we were given a tour. Our guide was Francis, a former Class Afloat student and deck hand for the summer program, and one of the first things he said was that the ship is not a "McDonald's Playground." As I look back at my experiences thus far on the Concordia I realize what he was trying to tell us. There are many lines and sails all over the ship and if we, the crew, are not competent with them and understand our responsibilities it can have negative side effects. We all know by now the seriousness of our position onboard Concordia and respect the ship more.
The crew does occasionally transport passengers over shorter distances. However, these passengers are restricted in number and are almost always affiliated with the ship through Class Afloat school programming or Ocean Challenge officials. There are not enough rooms or supplies on the ship to make regular transport of other passengers feasible.
...8th Grade Class, Melrose, MA
We are allowed to take a shower everyday and it is almost necessary because we live in such close quarters and are active all day. We have a huge water tank that we fill up when needed at different ports, so showering is no problem. Our engineers ensure that our water system works and that hot water is available. Sometimes if the ports are a great distance apart we have to be mindful of the amount of water that we use, but in general that is a rule we follow all the time. For example, when brushing our teeth we only turn on the tap when rinsing and we are encouraged to take "navy showers".
Ocean Challenge / e-mail: ocean@oceanchallenge.com / Class Afloat 1996-97
(c) 1996 Ocean Challenge, Inc.