I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Hugona Kołłątaja

We would like to keep you enthralled for a little while longer so we have asked some of POGRIA cruise participants to share their reminiscences with us.

Zatrzymajmy się jeszcze na chwilę przy przygodzie na POGORII. Dwie uczestniczki rejsu dzielą się swoimi wrażeniami i wspomnieniami z podróży – tym razem in English.

An account by DOROTA DOPIERAŁA , class 1D.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT VOYAGE.

Between 10th and 19th April I took part in a voyage around Corsica on a yacht called POGORIA. Those days were one of the best of my life. We were living like sailors. The whole crew was divided. There was 4 groups and every group had an officer, and a plan for pursuit. But we had a lot of free time so we were playing cards and singing. We visited 5 harbours. The first was Imperia. We came there to get some fuel, so we didn't stay there long. After this we sailed straight to the Harbour of Calvi on Corsica. This one was amazing. We visited a beach with many shells and took photos, but the water wasn't very warm so we spent more time sightseeing. The next harbour on our journey was Bonifacio and I am crazy in love with this city. We were sightseeing this city for the whole day and my legs hurt because of this, but this city was so beautiful that I was really upset that our stay there wasn't longer. That was the last harbour on Corsica, then we sailed to Elba. When we arrived there the wind started to blow. In Porto Ferrario on Elba we visited Napoleon's Museum and it was a good lesson of history. After this we sailed back to Genove. Between sightseeing, when we were on the ship we had to work, and of course it wasn't hard work but we were tired enough. The worst of all jobs was navigation time from midnight to 4am, when we had to wake up and stay on the deck to watch the sea. If we noticed lights we had to tell our oficer. It was boring and everyone wanted to sleep because breakfast was at half past seven. One of the best things there was food. We were eating much more than at home because it was so good. And the funniest thing was that every dish was made in some part of garlic everyday and it is strange that everyone was happy! At the end I'd like to say that I wish I could take part in the next voyage on POGORIA.

An account by KASIA SZCZEPAŃSKA , class 2 D.

THE  BEST  ADVENTURE  OF   A LIFETIME

In April 2015 a group of students from Kołłątaj and high schools in Bełchatów and Piotrków Trybunalski took part in a cruise on Pogoria. We spent nine days on the sailing ship full of adventures, experience and emotions. We were travelling through the Tyrrherian and Liguarian Seas, visited a few ports on Corsica and Elba (f.e. Bonifacio, Portoferraio, Calvi).

Our adventure started on 10th April, when in the evening we went by bus to Genova, Italy. The next morning we arrived there. We were welcomed by the captain and the constant crew of Pogoria. We were divided into four groups. On Sunday we left the port and started real sailors' life. We had to accept a daily schedule. We were obliged to do the bosman's work like repairing, cleaning, impregnation of wooden elements. We were also preparing all meals. The most responsible task was to navigate our ship. We were steering, gathering information from monitors and radars, controlling changing conditions and we were „Pogoria's eyes”. It means we were observing the horizon to avoid any problems. We were setting the sails. There was also a possibility to get on a sway, it was really breath-taking. During freetime we were relaxing. Some of us were reading books, playing cards, others were talking to the captain and all the crew. One of enjoyable accents was singing sailing songs together, we could better know new friends. On 17th April we came back to Genova. We spent there one day, then we started a trip to Poland. On Sunday we successfully finished our adventure in Krotoszyn.

This cruise was for us a huge experience. We had an occasion to cooperate with unbelievably honest and helpful people. In the short time we made contact with other students. This trip was an occasion to see a piece of world and check our abilities. We gained some experience in sailing. Memories which we have collected will stay in our hearts forever. For all students it was definitely the adventure of a lifetime. We want to thank organizers and of course our parents who made it possible for us to travel.