All you need to know about everyday life on board Belem. Plus photos and videos on the various aspects of a training trip.
A shared living space: the battery
Sleeping quarters
The trainees' living space, set out in the lower deck, is known as the battery. Trainees are allocated their individual navy style bunk (“banette”) for the duration of the trip. The 48 two-tiered bunks are fitted into four 12-bunk compartments including a women-only module. Each bunk measures 190 cm long and 60 cm wide and is fitted with a curtain for privacy; personal belongings are stored in a small cupboard (100x50x50 cm) alongside the bunk.
Washrooms
Well-furbished, up-to-date ladies and gents washrooms include built-in hand basins, closed shower cabins and toilets as well as an airing cupboard for towels.
The common room
The four sleeping compartments open into the dining area where trainees and crew take their meals together around the long dining table. This space is well equipped with 220V electric plugs.
Working to schedule
Taking an active part in life on board is what sailing on Belem is all about. On this basis, each passenger is considered as a “trainee” since each voyage is a form of learning, an apprenticeship. Trainees take part in all tasks essential to the proper functioning and maintenance of the ship by day and by night, except for the galley where food is prepared by two professional cooks. Belem can carry a maximum of 48 trainees. As soon as they board, they are divided into three groups, known as “tiers” or “thirds”. The First mate sets a preliminary timetable ensuring that each “third” takes their proper turn to work on the ship under the leadership of a referent sailor. The 16-strong crew, all professional Merchant sailors, is permanently present alongside trainees to give help and advice.
A day in the life of a trainee
Whether your trip lasts 3, 4, 5 days or more, your daily and nightly schedules are fixed from the moment you embark according to the number and frequency of the 4 hour watches you will ensure. The watches rotate so that every trainee can experience all aspects of nautical life by day and by night. Included in the watch are rest periods as well as learning periods when the Captain or a crew member will brief you on such subjects as the history of the Belem, the nature and function of her rigging, details of a particular manoeuvre... You can also take part in practical courses: seamanship, the use of a sextant, mapping out a nautical journey, climbing a mast to furl or unfurl the sails... Wind and weather permitting, the Captain will organise an outing in a zodiac and/or an overnight mooring out at sea. And shopaholics will be pleased to know that the Belem Boutique always opens for a few hours during a trip! All these activities are necessarily organised according to the demands and needs of the ship's manoeuvres and according to weather conditions. This is what makes every trip unique; the navigation plan cannot be fixed in advance – it is determined each day by the Captain and his First mate.
At the end of your trip, you will be offered a Belem trainee certificate: it has no official or professional standing; it is simply a symbolic reminder of the time you spent aboard Belem!
