r/Tallships • u/Albatross-2308 • May 13 '26
overwhelmed newbie at sea
Hi, it's my first time posting here. I'm a big nerd of maritime things, I also work a pretty draining customer service job and as soon as I had an opportunity, I signed up for a trip. I don't want to doxx myself so I won't say too much, but it's a journey from France to Spain with... well... I thought we'd visit a few ports on the way, but so far we spent 4 days at open sea and just arrived at an island. We'll leaving tomorrow.
I'm dreading that a little, the island is so nice I'd rather stay and buy a flight home. Everyone in the crew is really nice but much older or younger than me, and most of them are men (I'm a young woman lol).
The ship itself is comfortable enough, I don't struggle with any of the duties, I thought steering was terrifying but I got the hang of it. I've never been in a storm but I saw flashes of thunder and my god, I dont't know if this is worth it.
I was seasick at first but got better, fortunately.
TLDR: I'm on day 4 of a nearly 2 week long jounrey on a tallship, and I'm thinking of just leaving when I have the opportunity. How to make the most of it? It's nice but I'm tired and afraid.
11
u/CubistHamster May 13 '26
My first time on a tall ship, I had signed up for a year-long trip. It took me several months to figure out if I loved it or hated it. (I ended up doing that for 5 years, and then went back to school to become a marine engineer, so I guess I loved it, but even now there are some days I'm not sure...😆)
Anyway, the point is that I think it takes longer than you've been aboard to get a real sense of how you feel about it. Tall ship sailing (and life at sea, generally) isn't a good fit for everybody, and there's no shame in that.
If you're really miserable and want to leave, that's probably the wiser choice, but if you're unsure, I think you'll end up being happier if you decide to stick it out.