Teenage Dutch Students Wrap 5-Week Voyage Across Atlantic Ocean After Coronavirus Disrupts Plans

More than two dozen Dutch high school students who spent the last five weeks sailing across the Atlantic after coronavirus restrictions upended their return plans from the Caribbean finally made their way home this weekend.

The 25 students, ages 14 to 17, arrived in the harbor in Harlingen, Netherlands late Sunday morning, waving hello from their 200-foot top sail schooner to loved ones waiting on land, the Associated Press reported.

The kids, who were traveling with 12 experienced crew members and three teachers, were reportedly on an educational cruise of the Caribbean, and were originally supposed to fly home from Cuba in March.

But when coronavirus restrictions threatened their air travel plans, they decided to set sail on the Wylde Swan for the 4,350-mile journey, which took five weeks, according to the AP.

“You have to learn to adapt, because you don’t really have any choice,” said student Anna Maartje, according to Reuters. “My first thought was: how am I going to do this with the clothes I have, and is there enough food on board?”

The group stopped in Saint Lucia to stock up on supplies and clothes before they took off, as the students had packed for the warm weather of the Caribbean, and not a “deep-sea voyage,” according to the outlet.

They also made a brief stop in the Azores off the coast of Portugal, but were not able to leave the ship due to virus restrictions.

As the Wylde Swan made its way home, students held high a “Bucket List” banner they’d made that had checked-off boxes for Atlantic Ocean crossing, mid-ocean swim and surviving the Bermuda triangle, according to the AP.

Families greeted them with hugs and hellos, as well as flares and a smoke grenade the sent off orange powder, a popular color among the Dutch for things like sporting events and its annual King’s Day holiday.

Student Floor Hurkmans, 17, told the AP that being home will certainly be a change of pace, as the cramped quarters on board the boat meant she spent the last five weeks constantly being social.

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“I think that after two days she’ll want to go back on the boat, because life is very boring at home,” her mom Renee Scholtemeijer said. “There’s nothing to do, she can’t visit friends, so it’s very boring.”

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Christophe Meijer, director of the cruise’s organizer Masterskip, told the AP that the kids were monitored for coronavirus before they left in March, and that their hard work during the voyage is now a source of pride.

“The children learned a lot about adaptivity, also about media attention, but also their normal school work,” he said. “So they are actually far ahead now of their Dutch school colleagues. They have made us very proud.”

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As of Monday morning, there have been more than 38,000 confirmed cases and 4,500 deaths attributed to coronavirus in the Netherlands, according to The New York Times. The world, meanwhile, has seen more than 2.9 million cases and more than 201,000 deaths.

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