SEA Semester® in the News:
“Weston resident studying abroad on tall ship”
Weston Crier | July 25, 2015

Miranda Burrage-Goodwin of Weston is enrolled in SEA Semester: Historic Seaports of Western Europe, a summer study abroad program through Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, while away from studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Read the full story here.

Living on a tall ship requires a certain amount of flexibility. Once you leave the dock, you are prone to a lot of involuntary motion. For example, sometimes the boat and waves dictate that you wanted to be on the port side of the salon even if you had intended to climb into your top bunk on the starboard side.

To climb into your upper bunk:

This morning we were awoken to the sound of crows outside saying “Good morning!” Our wonderful cook, Marissa, served us some fresh bananas and toasted bagels. It was delicious! Then we trudged up the hill to the Madden Center to start classes for the day! First, we had Maritime History and we designed ships with our amazing and always informative teacher, Carl. Some students had very original ideas such as a float in movie theatre and a boat with a glass hull to observe coral.

There’s something to be said about celebrating your birthday on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It will probably serve as one of my most memorable, especially because it included chocolate cupcakes with fish-shaped sprinkles.

Today as I turn 20 I realize that I’ve experienced incredible things on this voyage. Just to mark a few:

The days here on the Cramer are getting brighter and brighter! The sun is out; everyone is lathering on sunscreen, and pulling on the shorts we have kept packed up for so long. While the sunshine will probably be short lived, we have been using it to our full advantage. Yesterday, B watch did aloft training. We put on our harnesses, that started around our waist and strapped across our chest to keep us safe while we are above, and listened as they told us all of the rules about going aloft.

After a filling meal of cereal, we sat through our morning lectures of marine mammals and fisheries history. Stuffing our faces with macaroni and cheese, we rushed to put on sunscreen and cram into the vans as we embarked for the Coast Guard station. After arriving at the base we anxiously anticipated the arrival of Carl, our maritime history and culture teacher. Surprisingly, the Coast Guard members were laid back and welcomed all of our questions.

Blue is her color
Blue is the color of the woman who controls the winds,
The winds that blow fiercely, churning the midnight blue waves that crash the bow,
The bow that splits the midnight waters from the sapphire blue sky that is the canvas of the winds,
The winds that bring her tales of wonder past the twinkling stars,
The stars that shine their light on both her and me,
Me who looks out over the wide, separating expanse, thinking about the woman whose color is blue.

Almost every decision I have made in life has been influenced by my inner voice calling out; “are you sure? What if…..? You could be….xyz. But maybe….....”. That’s just how I am wired. It could be described as indecisiveness or fear. I’m not talking about the decisions that I’m required to make as Captain of this vessel. Those decisions come quickly and with confidence. I don’t mean decisions that were made for me by my parents, educational institutions or persons of authority on the ships I have worked aboard.

This has been an amazing and exciting experience thus far.  The work is tough, but days like today make it all worthwhile.  Today I stepped foot on Kanton Island for the first time with some of my shipmates.  We explored part of the island that still carries ruins of relatively recent human occupation.  This used to be an airfield for PanAm airlines, as well as a hotel site, and some of the remains are still on the island.

Today we woke up to the smell of bacon, cooked by the wonderful chef Marissa. We were then full and focused for the lecture by Dr. Susan Humphris, on Hydrothermal Vents and spent the morning soaking up Dr. Humphris’s imense knowledge. After the invigorating lecture, we learned all about the difficulties of creating fishing regulations and what their impacts can be. Once finished with lunch, we used our cleaning abilities.