Haul Away Pollution

Tall Ship Eendracht

Esbjerg (Denmark) – Ostend (Belgium) – IJmuiden (Netherlands)

8-18 August 2025

Nationalities on board: Belgian, Danish, Dutch, Latvian and Irish.

Day 1

Writer: Sam (Ireland)

We arrived at the Esbjerg train station and started our 20 min walk towards all the tall ships at the harbour. After we arrived, we got on the boat, got assigned our rooms and saw who we would be in the room with for the rest of the trip, I was put in a room with Maverick, Daniel and Tómas.

After that we got an introduction to all the crew, some more info on the plastic project we were going to be working on throughout the trip, got assigned what watches we would be in and got the meet each other. Then we got a good tour of boat such as the decks, the engine room and seeing where all our cabins are. For dinner, we had some rice and really tasty chicken with cake and strawberry mousse for dessert.

After dinner we did a good few icebreaker games such as name games and guessing games, and then we were allowed to have our free time in Esbjerg.

We stumbled upon a random concert. It was really nice, they played some good songs. Then the fireworks started going off for like 15-20 minutes and the ships started blaring the horns. Very impressive!

 Day 2

Writer: Floor (The Netherlands)

For me, the day began at 06:45 because Maartje (from the blue watch) and I went for a run. When we came back, there was a lovely breakfast waiting for us.

At 10 AM, we left the harbour. The weather was perfect. Wind combined with sun! On deck, I read a book with a couple of other trainees and then our watch with Team Red began.

With Fred as our instructor, everyone feels very safe. He started by teaching us some sailing basics, from tacking to making knots.

At dinner, me and my tablemates discussed the different nationalities and compared language and culture. I learned the words frokest (lunch in Danish) and sveiki (hallo in Latvian).

What a lovely day! We went to bed expecting to be woken up at 03:30 for our next watch during the sunrise!

Writer: Tomas & Jane (Ireland)

Dear Logbook, today was epic.

Today started like any other day, the watch arose from deep restful slumber with great intent to wash toilets. We’re delighted we’ll only do this once in the next two days.

We began watch by sending our two strongest soldiers (us) to the galley to wash up after lunch and we used the dish washer (aka the steam room).

After that we launched the Magical Manta Microplastic Muncher (MMMM), we became enthralled by the mystery of Citizen Science as we set her to the waves; she ate 11 pieces of plastic (which is unfortunately expected for these waters).

Day 3

Writer: Kerr (Belgium)

Today we had a watch from 00:00 till 4:00 which was really cool. It was dark but the sky was pretty clear. We could see stars and LOTSSS of wind parks. All 6 sails were up and we tacked twice during this watch.

After the watch, I slept like a baby until 9:30. I had nice breakfast alongside some nice talks. The next watch was from 12 till 16 which was mostly chilling on the bridge with some music, doing the dishes and cleaning the rust off of the ship. After all this, I had a quick powernap which is sooo nice with the rocking of the boat.

Then it was time for dinner with a lot of laughter, after which we all wrote down our hopes and fears for the trip. A lot of people wanted to see whales and swim in the sea, which I am also very excited for. Now we’re ending the day with a watch from 20 till 24, in which we already saw the beautiful sunset and had a gorgeous private concert on the guitar from DJ… perfect ending of the day!

Writer: Asger (Danish mentor)

On day 3 we started our watch at 12-04 in the morning. There was a really good atmosphere, and I can already feel the team working really well together. We spoke a lot about some really random facts to get a common ground to stand on, and we had a lot of fun. As a whole, a really good watch with a lot of tacking, both on the front deck on the jibs and on the back. Then we had gathered feedback when the watch was done at 4:00 and finally we went to bed.

We had our next watch from 12-16 but unfortunately there was not a lot of wind, so we’ve been assisting with the cleaning of the ship and that was basically it for the watch.

Anastasija and Shauna held a hopes and fears workshop. Many people are afraid of getting seasick (again) and also there were concerns about being excluded from the group and not having enough energy to participate in all the activities. Many people hope to have a swim moment and create long-lasting friendships.

2nd Manta Trawl with TOM. Analysed the samples in the evening, 12 pieces found. As the wind died, we took down all the sails and started motoring.

Day 4

Writer: Maartje (The Netherlands)

Today was a very fun day! We had the watch from 8 till 12 and again from 18 till 20. We didn’t have much to do because we were using the engine.

We started a murder game with everyone on board. I already got killed after 2 hours.

Today, we’re headed to Ostend where we’re going to stay for a few days. In the afternoon, we had a quiz about plastic. This was very interesting and really gave us some impressive insights.

We had time to read a book on deck in the sun. In the afternoon, we first had to wait in the lock before we could moor in the port of Ostend. It was super cool to do this with such a big ship.

Writer: Anastasija (Latvian mentor)

Still not much wind, so we spent all day on engine and sunbathing. We launched the Manta Trawl for the 3rd time. Our scientists from The Ocean Movement held a quiz about plastic. Some of the answers about plastic soup and waste were hard to believe.

We almost found a moment to swim in the afternoon but that eventually didn’t happen. Some issues with the engine appeared. In the evening, we had a funny and useful knot workshop and solved some knot riddles.

Day 5

Writer: Nikita (Denmark)

At Breakfast we sang a birthday song for Asger, six times (in multiple languages). After breakfast we got a big group together and took the ferry towards the city. We got hungry, so we found a place where they sold Belgian fries, which Lucas recommended. We bought a little but good amount. Afterwards we rolled back to the ship after eating a Himmelbjerg of fries.

After waking up from a nap, it was time for a delicious Latvian dinner. Asger got so tired from all the food so he fell into a food coma and slept like a baby for the rest of the night.

Day 6

Writer: Britt (Belgium)

We started the day as always with a lovely breakfast. Afterwards, we were on toilet and shower cleaning duty.

Josien and Isa organised a beach clean-up. We divided ourselves in groups of 5 and started the hunt for trash. My group ended up with a bag 9.4kg. Sadly, we didn’t win any prizes but we had a lot of fun.

During our lunch in the teagarden, Fred surprised us with some leftover fries. With a full stomach, we headed over to the ferry to get to the city centre. On Friday, the Belgians will be giving their presentation, so we needed to get some typical snacks. This got us very tired, so we met up with the Dutch girls afterwards for coffee.

The Danish blessed us with a very nice dinner, including a lot of vegetables.

The rest of the night was very chill and funny while we finished the PowerPoint for the presentation of Belgium.

Day 7

Writer: Tomas (Ireland)

Dear logbook,

Today was a SUPER day. We, yes, WE, yes ALL OF US, set sail! However, before that could occur, there were errands to run.

First and foremost, we woke up, bright and early at 0754 to eat a SUPER breakfast.

First thing on the agenda: a visit to VLIZ (the marine research station in Ostend). We walked around and learned much about robotics, plastic, and Ocean scenes.

In the plastic there are long chains of many different types of molecules we call “monomers.” When one puts many “monomers” together they become SUPER long “polymers”. The research centre had many different types of polymers on display. Such as fishing ropes, polyethylene, polyethene, and polyvinylchloride. Moreover, the scientists utilise the power of infrared spectra to analyse plastic samples and then document and put together data.

In the afternoon, we left Belgium and set sail to IJmuiden. We sailed well and the wind brought us out close to England. For dinner, we had some delicious Dutch pancakes.

Day 8

Writer: DJ (Ireland)

Just like any other day, we started with breakfast and it was nice to eat knowing that our watches wouldn’t be starting until the night.

The captain came into the mess and announced that we would be putting the rib in the water and anchoring the Eendracht as it was finally time to have that swim we had to cancel earlier. Morale was good and everyone had fun jumping and diving into to the deep blue water from both the bow and the side of the ship. Me and 3 other of the lads jumped in from the bow and the feeling was amazing.

The rest of my day followed with relaxing in the sun, playing music with the guitar, surrounded by my friends. Dinner consisted of Belgique cuisine including wedges, sausages and various salads. For dessert we got what tasted like custard with a caramelised top. I then had a late night watch where it was cloudy, dark and drizzly. Still very fun.

Writer: Shauna (Irish mentor)

After our usual morning routine of breakfast, and then a happy hour led by the quartermasters, and helped by the deck team, we split up into our watches with the individual quartermasters to learn about setting sails. We launched the Manta Trawl, and one of the trainees, Lucas, took control of that. Everyone had such a relaxed morning. The Sun was shining and people were reading on deck, chatting and playing music. It was a really enjoyable way to spend the day on board.

We had tomato and leek soup, which was so tasty, for lunch. Everyone was in such a fun and excitable mood for most of the day. After lunch Capt. Oliver said we could go for a swim off the boat. The water was such a lovely, comfortable temperature. We could jump from both the bow and the side of the ship. Most people had a really fun time swimming, but not everyone wanted to swim. Then we relaxed in the sun to dry off and not wet the interior of the boat. It was a nice excuse to sunbathe.

We then were asked to get changed and get ready to set some sails. We started with the mizzen staysail, then the schooner, then the forestaysail and the main sail together. Lastly, we set the jibs. We were all very efficient after a few days of practice.

Then quite a few of us relaxed in the tea garden for a while. Afterwards we had the Belgian national dinner. For dessert, we had the most delicious creme brulée. The Belgians then provided us with some treats and gave us a very funny presentation. After dinner and all the cleaning was done, a few of us decided to make some Turk’s-head bracelets. It took a while to figure out how to make them, but then we could all teach each other and show everyone else how to put them together. It was very wholesome.

Day 9

Writer: Britt (Belgium)

The wind was in our favour so we were able to get in some nice sailing. Since we didn’t want to arrive too early in IJmuiden, we made some long tacks between Belgium and the UK. This was nice because we had a very active watch and could really practice the sailing and finding the right position for the sails.

At night, our officer gave us a presentation about meteorology. He taught us about high- and low-pressure fronts and how they influence our course. It was very nice to learn some more about this because it all made more sense on the map on which way we were sailing.

We ended the night with a beautiful sunset on deck and some card games with hot chocolate afterwards.

Day 10

Writer: Paula (Latvia)

Our day started at 12am sharp – Fred was waiting for us on the bridge for our last night watch. Sky was filled with stars; you could even see the Milky Way and an orange moon that was still raising. We did our last duties including deck and safety rounds, toastie break, steering and stargazing. Whole group saw together about 10 shooting stars!

At 12pm we had some brunch and got ready for our next watch. During this, we put down the sails. My duty was especially exciting – I had to take down and fold the outer jib. That meant I had to climb the jib. That was my Leonardo di Caprio moment. It was quite scary but I was really proud of myself. Together with Danny and Fred we managed to fold the sail.

After that, we had a deodorant and toothpaste making workshop. This evening we’ll have the Irish culture evening and maybe even a talent show. Looking forward to it!

Day 11

Writer: Britt (Belgium)

After our last breakfast onboard, we got instructions for the rest of the day. We had to pack our bags and clean the rooms. Every watch had their own area to clean; such as the mess, toilets, showers, deck…

We could see the shoreline of IJmuiden growing closer and around 11am we docked in the harbour. The festivities for SAIL Amsterdam were already ongoing so it was really cool to see many other tall ships.

We ended the trip with some group pictures and a nice speech from our quartermaster, Zoey. Shortly after noon, we had to say goodbye to everyone and go home.