The Atlantic by Jacobus

I felt really sad to be leaving my friends that I had made in Tenerife, but I also felt very brave because I knew that I was going to be doing a huge trip that I had never done before. On the first day it was a little bouncy on the boat and I felt sick for a little bit but then I had some tablets and after fifteen minutes I was alright again. When you walk on the boat when it is bouncy it moves you from side to side, it is really annoying, so we always have to hold onto something on the boat all the time, sometimes, but not often I would forget then I would fall over. Getting in and out of bed was really annoying too, it was really hard to do and weird. I had to sleep on the chart table for twenty-four days and it is high up so to get in can be bouncy and difficult making sure that I did not fall over or out of the bunk!

On the first day Daddy and Ella saw pilot whales, I was down below because that was when I felt sick, I was really upset and annoyed that I did not seen them. Daddy and Mummy also saw flying fish much before I did and that annoyed me too. Luckily on the second to last day I saw flying fish and I felt fantastic, it was amazing, I could not stop looking at them then, they were magical, like birds out of the water.

During the day we had to have school, which I did not want to do, it was difficult some of the work. We had school with Daddy before lunch and school with Mummy after lunch. When we had free time there was lots to do like playing on the DS, playing with my cars or building lego, drawing and making Christmas presents for everyone in secret. One thing I enjoyed very much every day in December was opening the advent calendars. It was the first thing I did every morning and it made me feel really Christmassy opening them. I could not wait to eat the chocolate and to see what picture I had behind each door. Dylan had sent me out the picture advent calendar, thank you Dylan, you are a good friend, I thought about you every day because of it. Auntie Nina had also sent out a little homemade Christmas tree and some decorations, we all oohed and aahed and were really pleased.

I was really really excited when I saw that we had caught a tuna. Daddy and I sliced it’s head off, there was loads of blood that came out, I liked to see that! Daddy took its guts out and I think I saw it’s pooh. Mummy cooked it straight away, I like fresh tuna better than tinned ( I don’t really liked tinned tuna) but mackerel is still my favourite fish.

An exciting thing happened to me on the boat, my tooth fell out! I was so excited but I was not sure if the tooth fairy would be able to find me or Brimble in the middle of the Atlantic, so I was very worried. In the morning I was so excited because the tooth fairy had come and taken my tooth and left me $5 Barbados. I do not how the fairy found me or how she knew I was going to Barbados but I was very happy.

In the middle of the trip I got bored because I was not doing very much, so I played with my cars lots. I dreamt of playing rugby and running, there was no space to run on Brimble, not really much space to walk even. We had a half way celebration and we were allowed to do whatever we wanted, we watched a DVD and ate popcorn and pancakes, it was great, we did not have school either. Ella and I were really happy.

We had a competition to see how many days it would take us to get to Barbados, I guessed 24.9 and Daddy guessed 25 days. It was really close and I was happy that I won and not Daddy as there was to be a big prize for the winner, if Ella won she was to have a scuba diving course in the Caribbean, Mummy was to take us all on a helicopter ride over the islands, Daddy was going to take us all to a hotel for the night and have a bed and a bath and if I won, which I did, I was to get a new game that I was desperate for my DS. I saw the lights on the island of Barbados in the distance and then went to sleep, in the morning, there was Barbados really close to us, we had sailed the Atlantic in under twenty five days and I had won the competition! But then I became scared because we had to moor Brimble in the commercial dock right next to this huge cruise ship called The World and she felt really really small next to such a big ship. I was scared because Brimble was being pushed against the harbour wall and we couldn’t hold her off very well. Daddy could not leave Brimble to check in and get our passports stamped so Ella and Mummy had to go and clear in and Mummy had to pretend to be the captain while Daddy and I looked after Brimble. I was scared she would break up and all our things would go in the sea, but they didn’t, Daddy got out the Uber fender and it helped save Brimble with us. We anchored in Carlise Bay, it looked fantastic, it was not rocky and Brimble now stopped bouncing, the water looked really clear compared to England, the colours were turquoise and light blue. We saw our other friends Starblazer and we all shouted and said hello. As soon as we anchored I jumped in the water from Brimble. It felt good to be in Barbados.

The Atlantic trip was shorter than I had expected and I could have carried on sailing but not for forty four days, well maybe I could if I was travelling around the whole world. I would like to cross the Atlantic again and maybe even with my own children, I think they would like it too.