• A group of 25 Dutch teens arrived home in the Netherlands on Sunday after a five-week trans-Atlantic voyage.
• The high-schoolers were on an academic cruise in the Caribbean, but border and port closures in mid-March made it difficult for them to fly house from Cuba as prepared.
• So the students, 12 team members, and 3 instructors stockpiled on warm clothes, food, and other provisions prior to starting a nearly 4,500- nautical-mile journey home.
• The ship docked at the port of Harlingen, where trainees strolled into the arms of relieved parents, all of whom were following social distancing guidelines.
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Coronavirus restrictions upended the travel plans of 25 Dutch high school students, requiring them to start a five-week trip throughout the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, they’ve lastly gotten back.

The group, that included 12 crew members and 3 teachers, sailed almost 4,500 nautical miles aboard a 200- foot twin-masted schooner called Wylde Swan, according to the Associated Press

The ship docked at the port of Harlingen in the northern Netherlands on Sunday, where they were greeted by overjoyed family members and family pets, flares, and a smoke grenade.

The teenagers, ranging from 14 to 17 years old, were on an academic cruise of the Caribbean, the Associated Press reported, where they had actually expected sailing for six weeks. Nevertheless, in mid-March, port and border closures enforced by the world’s federal governments in action to the pandemic made it difficult for the group to fly from Cuba to Europe as originally prepared.

So, they pivoted– stocking up on warm clothes, food, foul-weather gear, and other products before beginning the long trip home.

During a rest stop in the Azores, off the coast of Portugal, local authorities stopped the travelers from disembarking, Reuters said.

Floor Hurkmans, 17, informed Associated Press that the experience taught her the worth of being versatile.

” Whatever is altering all the time,” she stated. “The arrival time altered like 100 times. Being versatile is actually essential.”

Anna Maartje agreed.

” You have to learn to adjust, due to the fact that you don’t actually have any choice,” she said in a video interview shared with media outlets. “My very first idea was: how am I going to do this with the clothing I have, and exists sufficient food on board?”

The teenagers created a “Container List” banner and checked off crossing the Atlantic Ocean, swimming in the middle of the ocean, and enduring the Bermuda triangle, the Associated Press reported.

Hurkmans’ mom, Renee Scholtemeijer, told the Associated Press that she expects her daughter to miss her experience when she recognizes the effect of the coronavirus on life at house.

” I believe that after two days she’ll desire to go back on the boat, because life is extremely uninteresting back at home,” Scholtemeijer informed the Associated Press.

The cruise is arranged by Masterskip, which leads five such scholastic trips for 150 trainees throughout the year.

” The kids learned a lot about adaptivity, likewise about limelights, but also their regular school work,” he said. “So they are in fact far ahead now of their Dutch school colleagues. They have made us really proud.”