Voyages

Thursday 16 May 2013
Position: 18° 06.5’N x 064° 37.‘W
Description of location:  NE of St. Croix
Heading:  N
Speed:  4.0 kts
Weather / Wind:  E wind Force 4

Image Caption:  C watch members (L to R) student Annie Osborne, student Kat Lipp, Asst. Scientist Chrissy Dykeman and student Rachel Green ready to get underway from St Croix

What a busy time the last 24 hours have been!  Since leaving Gallows Bay we have been working the Cramer East into the trade wind.  Since we can’t sail the ship directly to windward, that involves sailing as close to the wind as possible in one direction, then the watch on gybes the ship around to the opposite side of the wind.  That process takes us many miles through the water, but only a few miles each leg in the direction we want to go to windward.  Over the last 24hrs we have sailed close to 100nm but, have only gained 35 miles to windward.  All in all its great practice in shiphandling and giving all of the “green” hands a chance to see the challenge of making a tall ship sail into the trade winds.  We have already had our first all hands class at sea.  The topic of the class was a demonstration of how to heave the ship to for a hydrocast.  The students got to sit back and watch the staff perform a double gybe, then had a chance to ask questions to help understand the theory and concepts involved.  After the ship was on station the staff then demonstrated a deployment of the carousel to 500 meters. Class ended with an all hands snack, and the watch on got the ship back underway.  The routine of the ship is starting to become less of a foreign language and more a part of life for all hands, sea legs are quickly being found and spirits are high.  We hope to make our way north through the BVI tomorrow and into the Sargasso Sea.  Wishing all the best to all of you following us at home.

Wednesday 15 May 2013
Position: 17° 53.8’N x 064° 41.2’W
Description of location:  7 nm N of Gallows Bay, St. Croix
Heading:  N
Speed:  3.0 kts
Weather / Wind:  ExS wind Force 3, overcast

Image Caption:  Students prepare to set the mainsail for the first time

After 24 hours of orientation and drills, class C247 headed out of Gallows Bay in St. Croix trailed by several Magnificent Frigate birds overhead. Instruments in the laboratory were turned on as soon as we cleared the dock and students began learning to interpret data from the ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler), Chirp sub-bottom profiler (sonar to determine water depth and sediment layers), and the logging system recording temperature, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence, and other environmental parameters. As soon as we were clear of the channel students set sails and soon the engine was turned off.

The ocean bottom drops off dramatically on the north side of the island and we are already in 3,800 meters of water (coincidentally the average depth of the world ocean). There is a steady gentle swell and some aboard are feeling the effects of the motion, but everybody is enthusiastic to finally be at sea. We’ve already seen flying fish, Brown Boobies, and our first clump of the brown alga Sargassum, the seaweed that the Sargasso Sea we will be sailing through is named after. 

The learning curve is very steep as everything is new and students begin to put into practice the ideas and theory they learned ashore: hauling on lines to raise sails that before were just names, completing their first boat/engine room check, observing the waves and clouds and feeling the wind as part of a weather observation, steering our 134’ brigantine by compass under sail, recording data for lab hourly observations, walking safely along a rolling deck, even using a marine head (toilet). Within weeks these strange new challenges will be mastered and become second nature as everybody aboard learns to work as a team to accomplish our goal: Safely navigate the Corwith Cramer over 2000 nautical miles to Woods Hole. As if this were not enough, they will also be collecting scientific data for group research projects and using this information to frame conservation policy for different regions of the ocean they are sailing through.

Erik Zettler
Chief Scientist

Tuesday 14 May 2013 1600
Position: 17° 44.8’ N x 064° 41.9’ W
Description of location:  Alongside, Gallows Bay dock, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
Heading:  NE (moored)
Speed:  0.0kts (moored)
Weather / Wind:  E wind Force 4 Clear skies

The students and crew of class C-247 have all arrived safe and sound aboard the Corwith Cramer.  The entire crew will be spending much of the next 24 hours participating in safety orientations before our planned departure for sea at 1400 on Wednesday. It’s an extremely busy time, charged with the anticipation of sailing, and full of all the information best processed before we undertake the larger challenge of taking the ship away from this protected harbor and out to sea. Topics covered in the next 24hrs include things like, how you check the fuel level in the day tank, how to adjust your safety harness, why we never coil a line counterclockwise, where is the computer screen that you read data from the acoustic Doppler current profiler.

Once we depart St Croix, our route will take us North East through the British Virgin Islands, then North into the Sargasso Sea towards a planned stop in Bermuda.  Upon departing Bermuda we will sail North West for a quick stop in New York City, before sailing East to Woods Hole.  The weather looks favorable for the next few days, which should help folks get their sea legs amidst relatively settled conditions. Scientific work will begin as soon as the ship clears the harbor.

Keep checking here for updates from our voyage and please share this blog with friends and family.  We wish we could take all of you along on our exciting trip, however we hope this blog is the next best thing.

Wish us fair winds and great sampling!

Captain Tom Sullivan

Thursday 09 May 2013

The students of C-247 have finished their shore component in Woods Hole, MA. They are scheduled to board the Corwith Cramer in St. Croix, USVI by Tuesday May 14th and will finish their voyage in Woods Hole, MA around June 17th.