Howdy friends,

Giselle here, SEA sailing intern, deckhand, and SEA alum, class S-269. We’re having a smashing first day underway here on Mamma Cramer. After sailing around Vineyard Sound, doing science stations and setting a couple staysails, we’re now headed out on Big Blue.

Emerging from the doghouse, I was greeted by a cool morning breeze that brushed from the port side of the deck. Having just completed the 0600 boat check, I found that the sunrise had begun while I was below deck. Moving to the rail, I fell into conversation with my 0500-0630 dock watch buddy Zuri, when I noticed a spot of white foam in the distance.

Under the moonlight of Friday, October 11, 2019, I eagerly trekked across Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) with a team from Sea Education Association (SEA) and NASA to complete one final mission: to measure temperatures around the perimeter of the volcano’s crater lake.

Since the formation of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in 2015, NASA has been keenly interested in this landmass as a rare opportunity to examine pathways of land formation and erosion in the time of 21st century remote sensing and scientific technology.

Today after spending a couple of days docked in Woods Hole doing trainings and waiting for a shift in the weather, we finally heard the words we had all been waiting for “All hands to the quarter deck…prepare for departure!”

Excitement builds as we spend the day preparing for sea.  All aboard our eager to head out to sea… however, before we cast off the dock lines the professional crew must pass along some important safety information and train our new recruits in the many customs and skills required of sailor-scientists.

Ahoy Mateys! Hello all the way from Nuku’alofa, Tonga! After a long day of data organization and ship cleaning yesterday, we set sail at 0500 this morning towards the capital of Tonga and arrived around 1330. It was all hands on deck as we helped safely get Bobby C. Seamans into dock.

Greetings from the SSV Corwith Cramer.

As we begin to wrap up our time here at HTHH, the data collection slowed down and we found some free time to enjoy the beauty and seclusion of the island. The day started late, with an 8:40 wake-up call, the latest we’ve been able to sleep-in in several weeks.

SEA Semester in the NEWS
George Washington University, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
“Environmental Studies Student Sets Sail”

For environmental studies student Frank Wenninger, learning outside of the classroom is taking him on an expedition of a lifetime. He is currently aboard the tall ship ocean research vessel SSV Robert C. Seamans as a participant in SEA Semester: Sustainability in Polynesian Island Cultures and Ecosystems—a study abroad program operated by the Sea Education Association (SEA).