Hello everyone!

I am currently sitting in the hot (but cozy) library of the Corwith Cramer, looking back at the whirlwind of events that have happened over the past couple of weeks.

As we have departed Bermuda, we’ve welcomed aboard several new shipmates. B Watch has been lucky enough to gain two new members, Mary Ellen and Steve. We have also been joined by our final faculty member from Woods Hole, Porter. This means we’ve resumed policy lectures, which are done with each morning watch.

This morning we sailed from the Bermuda exclusive economic zone (EEZ) into the “area beyond national jurisdiction” (aka the “high seas”) in deepwater (about 5,000 meters) on the Cramer. Our progress is marked by twice-a-day collections of ocean water as well as surface and deep-ocean net tows.

I hate waking up. It doesn’t matter how hard and long my day is, I always feel that the most difficult moment of any day is when I have to open my eyes and get out of my bed. I really like sleeping and I dread any alarm sound. I am therefore very happy that on our ship I don’t have to hear one every day.

Today was an exciting day aboard the Seamans. We had an all-hands class when the engineers taught us how engines and propellers work, we set a sail for the first time on this trip, and we had a surprise visitor!

There’s a lot of smells that happen on a sailboat, out in the middle of the ocean, with 35 people packed aboard like sardines. Salt and sea air, that’s pretty nice.

We have entered Junior Watch Officer (JWO) phase, meaning that we get a chance to essentially take on the role of a mate for a watch.  It has been really exciting to see how much we now know about the boat, as well as all the stuff we still have to learn.

What can I say except life is good on the Robert C. Seamans. Yesterday during our watch we hit 2000 nautical miles, we experienced the best sailing onboard yet-beating the trip record for distance sailed during a single watch with 35 nautical miles in 6 hours, and it was a full moon. I think A-Watch has finally relaxed from the mainstays’l tear and main boom snapping, both on our watch, literally.

Happy Passover! Tonight is the first night of Passover.  In my family that would mean that either my parents, sister, and I would be getting ready to go to my aunt and uncle’s for seder, or my mother would be cooking all day and we would be getting ready to have everyone at our house for seder.