Turn around. No matter what direction you face all you see is flat blue water. As you walk about, you constantly maintain three points of contact to maintain your balance. As you sit on the side of the ship and work on your homework, a single albatross flies overhead. As nighttime falls and the horizon disappears, it is your turn to handle a two-hour night watch. In the extreme darkness of night the sea is ink black. Overhead there is nothing but piercingly bright stars. These are the memories of the alumni who sailed the seas on the S.V. Concordia.
“It is like nothing else you can compare it to,” said Robert Crooks, who boarded the ship in 1999 for his Grade 11 year. “On a regular basis you are saving each others lives and seeing things that are mindblowingly different.”
Studying the pyramids and sailing to Egypt to see them first hand is an incredible experience. But for Alexis Grieve, sailing in the southeastern Pacific Ocean to Easter Island was her most memorable destination. After hiking around the island, the students set up camp and slept under the mo’ai. “Sitting there with ancient sculptures, it was unbelievable. To be on an island that is so remote and to have an experience like that is completely unreal,” expressed Grieve.
Visiting these rarely visited islands, like Saint Helena and the Soloman Islands, the Class Afloat students were able to interact with the local inhabitants. “They [Soloman Islands] were amazed that we would want to visit them. We were treated so nice. They didn’t ask for anything other than to know what our lives were like back home,” described Crooks.
After years of sailing around the world, Class Afloat developed relationships with schools around the world. This allowed “floaties” like Jack Bury to live with local families once they reached port. In exchange, local students would spend a night aboard the S.V. Concordia. “That made Class Afloat unique,” said Bury. “Trinidad was a real blast getting to know the kids. Talking to my friends from Trinidad, they are extremely sad that the S.V. Concordia is gone.”
The S.V. Concordia was not a cruise-ship. Every person on board worked and shared responsibilities like repairing sails, cleaning, daily maintenance, preparing food in the galley, and was responsible for a two-hour shift on night watch being an extra set of eyes for the person sailing the vessel. “Many students enjoyed their time at sea more than there time at port,” explained Bury.
Life aboard the ship taught life experience that students couldn’t get elsewhere. Each student would share a ten foot by ten foot cabin with three other classmates and that environment created deep friendships. “You just developed friendships that are life changing,” continued Bury. Nearly ten years later he is still in touch with someone from his travels once a week and visits his friend in Norway every Christmas.
One of the first things taught to the young sailors is to always have a spare hand free when on deck for your shipmates. “Everyone is always looking out for each other,” said Crooks. Safety aboard the S.V. Concordia was always paramount. You were never allowed to wear flip-flops on deck because of the danger. Before leaving the first port they spent days doing abandoning ship drills. They learned to respect the ocean, always walk with one hand on the ship, and always had a harness when climbing the mast. “We had more severe weather but there was never a time where we felt panicked,” reflected Grieve.
Even in port, safety was a major concern. Students were informed before reaching the port about local customs and traditions. On excursions, groups of four were mandatory. Grieve added, “They made sure we weren’t just on our own wandering the streets in some random city.”
For those who were on the S.V. Concordia when the ship went down on 2010, the adventurous alumni nicknamed them the “survivor group.” But for the alumni who spent a full ten months aboard the S.V. Concordia it is a real loss. “On one hand the ship doesn’t define my experience but it was such a part of what I did and who I became that the loss of the ship hurts,” says Grieve who was going to have a class reunion this summer. They had planned to sail the S.V. Concordia again for a few days off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Arrival Photos
Our Kids’ owner and photographer Andrew Stawicki was on hand at Toronto’s Pearson Airport the morning that the students arrived from Brazil. Click through to see his photos.
About 
it's good to hear this from other floaties. I was on the ship when it sank, it was my second full year aboard. I still cannot grasp that our Blue Lady is gone.. But it makes my heart throb reading other's same passion for what the ship was for us.
Lily
it's good to hear this from other floaties. I was on the ship when it sank, it was my second full year aboard. I still cannot grasp that our Blue Lady is gone.. But it makes my heart throb reading other's same passion for what the ship was for us.
Lily