A week later

I've been landside for a week now and figured I should have one last post here. 

The last sail was short (3 days) but good. We were a pretty small crew but it was all people I'd gotten to know over the summer and it was nice to have the ship to ourselves without having newbies to train. Since we were lighthanded and on a tight schedule (we left an hour after the festival closed, usually we leave the next day), it was motoring all the way. While underway we also had lots of extra cleaning jobs to do in order to have the ship ready for the new school year which started the day after I got off. After a summer of practice we were all great at cleaning and I was amazed at how much we were able to get through. 

Getting back to Canadian waters and flying the Canadian flag was great. I didn't realise how much I missed my homeland till I saw that maple leaf fluttering from the halyard. 

Sailing through the Tobermory area was beautiful. The tourist boats all swung by to have a look as we passed by Flower Pot Island and I made a note to myself to come back and explore more. 

We docked in Collingwood the morning of the 21st and almost everyone left that afternoon. It was a little sad to say goodbye to people I'd spent the summer with, many of whom I may never see again, but mostly I was happy to be with my family again!  

A week later and Sorlandet is never far from my mind. Maybe it's showing my pictures to interested friends and family (if you haven't seen them, don't worry, your turn is coming!), or seeing my shipmates pop up on Facebook, or the fact that today I'm off to visit one of my shipmates at her cabin. So yes, I miss it, tall ship life is like no other, but overall I'm happy to be back on land spending time with those I love.