Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog
Posted by Sten the activist
Life on a ship is special, there's nothing else like it.
You're thrown together with a small group of people in a small space, in a big void. In these conditions you get to know people much faster than you usually do in normal life. I've met a lot of people onboard who I really like, and I know I'm going to miss when I leave the ship. And then, of course, I've encountered one or two who I like a bit less.
I've visited places I hadn't been to before - Bergen and the Shetlands so far - and done the things I came here to do - bobbed around in a dry-suit in front of a trawler, holding a 'Cod in Crisis' sign to get the message out that the North Sea needs marine reserves.
I've seen dolphins and some pretty nice sunsets, and the day before yesterday we spontaneously did some Scottish dances in the hold. And then I've scrubbed the decks, painted, hammered away rust, been up at 7.30am every day except Sunday and worked till 5pm, cleaned toilets and felt seasick; things maybe not as fun but which indeed need to be done.
Although most of the time there sure is more fun stuff than bad or boring, I don't actually think it matters. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that fun is irrelevant in life. What I feel and what I think is that the purpose of our work and what we achieve through it, is fun enough, knowing that I'm making some difference. It's what we're doing it for that matters!
