The students of C-254, Historic Seaports of Western Europe, will join the SSV Corwith Cramer in Cork, Ireland, by July 4th. After a brief shore component, they will depart on their voyage, ending in Cádiz, Spain, around August 2nd.

The students of S-254, Protecting the Phoenix Islands, will join the SSV Robert C. Seamans in Honolulu, HI by Tuesday, July 1st. They will end their voyage around August 11th in American Samoa, after an extended stay during their cruise in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area.

It’s very early on a gorgeous Saturday morning. We’re safely secured to the dock in downtown Cork, after a scenic transit of about 14 miles up the river from the Irish coast. We tied up at about 1730 yesterday, enjoyed a delicious All Hands dinner of pesto and fresh bread, and shared a final evening’s swizzle that showcased the many talents of our shipmates.

Hello! We’re comfortably at anchor off of the coast of Ireland next to a big cliff. There are small coves in the rocks where hundreds of birds were roosting earlier today. All day I’‘ve been getting used to seeing land on the horizon. It’s so strange to see land after so long. When we were further away, it was easy to mistake it as a very odd cloud. It’s very exciting to see so much green.

Aloha Family and Friends,
We are happy to report that the HPU-SEA Aloha ‘Aina cruise (S253) has been a resounding success.  The students, crew, and faculty are well and the SSV Robert C. Seamans is safe and sound tied up alongside Aloha Tower in downtown Honolulu, HI.  Our final task onboard is to give our home a thorough scrub and then students will move back to their familiar HPU campus home to clean themselves, I hope, before they meet with tonight’s guest speaker.

Hey y’’all, we found Ireland!  At approximately 0600 this morning we had our first sighting of land in just about three weeks.  Ocean ocean ocean ocean ocean ocean Ireland!  I woke up from my post mid watch ‘sleep of gender neutral royalty’ (also known as ‘sleep of Kings’) and immediately ran up on deck to find Ireland off the port beam.  It’s hard to describe the feeling of seeing Ireland after such an amazing journey to get here.  We always knew Ireland was our ultimate goal, but until we saw the rolling hills and epic cliffs overlooking the sea it was easy to forget just how far we have traveled. 

Ahoy S-253 Friends and Family!

Day four of our sailing voyage led us to anchor off the west side of Lana’i for the night before motor sailing to Manele Bay this morning. It’s hard to believe that our voyage is coming to an end already; it feels as though just yesterday we were coming aboard and learning the ropes (figuratively and literally!). In such a short amount of time we have bonded with the crew and each other while learning nautical skills including knot tying, sail setting, and steering. I believe I can speak for everyone when I say that we are truly grateful for all of the opportunities that this SEA Semester has offered to us, especially lifelong friendships and memories.

Hi everyone!
Liz Carter here, super excited it’s finally my turn for the blog! Life on the boat has been absolutely, completely, and entirely amazing. I cannot express in words how incredible this experience has been (but maybe I will make an attempt with interpretive dance at our talent show..) It took quite a bit of settling in and adjusting to, but eventually everybody fell into the swing of things and life has been great ever since. We have all learned SO much and come SO far, it’s hard to believe what’s been accomplished in just 24 short days.

Top of the mornin’! Earlier this afternoon the Cramer officially crossed into Irish waters, a bittersweet milestone as we sail (and motor) ever closer to our final destination at Cork.  Today the Atlantic was nearly

unrecognizable from what we’’ve experienced these past three weeks – the sea was glass and incredibly calm. 

Aloha Friends and family!

Wow! What a journey it has been!! I cant believe we are almost at the end of our sailing journey.  Over this short one week of sail time I have gained an experience of a lifetime.  From setting and striking the four lowers to collecting zooplankton from intense science deployments, this has been everything and more than I expected out of this program.

The last 24 hours has been the most exciting time on the ship.