The weather over the past few days has been either one of two extremes: sunny or stormy. Two days ago was the first time in a while where there was hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun was in full view most of the day. I learned first-hand how powerful the New Zealand sun is, because after being outside for watch and class, sunscreen can only help so much.

Welcome to the SSV Corwith Cramer!  The students of class C283 could not be more excited.  True, they have enjoyed their time in Grenada, but this is what they signed up for.  The opportunity to join the crew of the Cramer and sail through the Caribbean; and all the while, learn about the coral reef ecology of each island we visit.

Today was beautiful and sunny as we sailed away from Raoul Island towards McCauley Island. This morning B watch had “mini class,” which consisted of myself, the four other students in my watch, and Rich (our history professor) sitting on the deck reading aloud from a story by Herman Melville.

If you’ve read all of our posts diligently, you may have noticed that we students have become much more than classmates. We often revel in the miracle of having met, wondering what it would’ve been like if we had chosen a different SEA program, or chosen a different way to spend this semester altogether.

Today we got to loudly proclaim the super sailor-y words ‘land ho!’ as we spotted Raoul off our starboard bow. Raoul marks our turning point for the two-week trek to Napier via the Kermadecs and possibly the only time we’ll see land during that time. The feelings on board can only be described as mixed.

I am writing this blog post right after dawn watch from 0100-0700. As many of my shipmates have already written, our lives are basically just eat, sleep, stand watch. Yesterday one of our professors told us that pretty soon we will get into a rhythm and we should find time to fit in school work when we are feeling good.

Waz up yung dogs of erth,



Hello and happy belated Thanksgiving! There was an awesome amount of gratitude expressed throughout the weekend and I’d like to take this opportunity to send some home!

Today was the real deal.

Eight weeks of early mornings and long nights studying coral, fish, and invertebrate identifications, along with many classes dedicated to practicing survey methods, led to this day: C-283’s first coral reef survey.

Today we are sailing happily out towards the Kermadecs. Out on the open ocean with no land in sight, we are experiencing something that most people can hardly even imagine. This fact is not lost on me, nor on my shipmates, and as we cruise ever farther from the North Island of New Zealand and towards the Kermadec islands, we live in awe of the incredible ocean-scape that surrounds us.

Today started out with a ride to St. George’s University where we met up with Zoya Buckmire, an SEA alumni. She’s from Grenada and started an NGO with her father called the Grenada Fund for Conservation (GFC). The organization works on conservation around Grenada, primarily with mangroves.