After a long night of watch with varying weathers, people woke up to the sound of the infamous triangle that Grady plays to mark that breakfast is served. Some managed to wake up for pancakes and sausages while others had dreams that can only occur when on the high seas. Once people finished eating and managed to wake up, they went topside to a chill breeze that made it pleasant to stay on deck. Some people focused on work, others worked on their journals, and some caught a glimpse of flying fish alongside the ship’s hull.

We made it through our first night aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer. We were all assigned an hour for anchor watch throughout the night. Anchor watch consists of making sure our position in the San Juan harbor did not move.

Welcome to the SEA Penn State program blog! I am happy to report that all 24 Penn State participants (22 students, their professor Monica Medina, and TA Aki Ohdera) safely arrived in San Juan and boarded the Corwith Cramer at 1100 this morning.  After a quick muster on the quarterdeck for introductions, we transited the ship to a nearby anchorage in San Juan Harbor, blissfully leaving the noisy harbor behind. Orientation to the ship began almost immediately after anchoring and an All-Hands lunch.

Gretchen Beehler, of Purdue University, describes snorkeling the coral reefs around Barbuda as part of SEA Semester’s Caribbean Reef Expedition.

The crew of the Corwith Cramer has arrived in San Juan to mark the end of SEA Semester’s first Caribbean Reef Expedition program.  All hands had a great time snorkeling and sailing in the waters of Grenada, St. Vincent, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, and the USA. 

We have spent the last couple of days sailing our way to Puerto Rico. Last night was our last dawn watch for C-watch and the last watch we will ever have on this boat L. Dawn watch is always difficult but we kept ourselves awake with puppy chow and just making each other laugh. After six hours of making up songs and just being loopy, all our dreams came true when at 0640 a bunch of dolphins came to play in our ship’s wake!

Today is the day, we set sail but this time not on a six-week adventure in the South Pacific, but instead we set sail back home, returning to our universities, transferring to new universities or starting Basic Training. No matter where we are going, we, the students of S-276, will always be taking the memories and experiences with us in ways we have never known coming into this before.

“Wire ready!” I shout as I stand by the hydrowinch and prepare to lower two pantyhose stuffed with decorated Styrofoam cups into the ocean. It may not sound like it, but our last science deployment of the voyage is quite an emotional event. Students and crew alike spent the last day adorning their own cups with depictions of various sea creatures, coral reefs, beautiful Caribbean sunsets, and treasured memories from our journey

Aboard the Corwith Cramer travelling by sea, her lovely crew and I have seen Grenada, Tobago Cays, Canouan, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda. This past month has been filled with countless adventures and breathtaking moments too profound to ever forget. The feeling of sailing in the dark on a moonless night is amazing.

Hey there!

Lindsey here, reporting from the deck of the good Robert C. Seamans and fresh from lone 2200-2300 anchor watch. It was a quiet watch tonight- today marks the end of all of our schoolwork with a final round of research presentations, and the students are finally free from the stress of getting those last few leadership journal entries written down and the final paragraphs of their MHC paragraphs reviewed and edited.