Hello from somewhere in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean! We are at about the halfway point, and wow we are so busy! Our little world onboard the Robert C Seaman’s is always moving (in all ways imaginable). Students are busy with projects, crew are busy teaching (and with their own projects), and everyone is always busy learning.

Life at sea on the Corwith Cramer can often feel like a flurry of watches, food, and some sleep in between. Students are often seen flitting about between the lab, library, and the main saloon busying themselves with research work and nautical science assignments.

Aboard Seamans, my world has been pretty thoroughly tilted, both literally and figuratively. On the literal side, the wave swells have been rolling the boat side to side nearly constantly, which makes standing up straight… an event. More figuratively, however, this ship has offered me a vastly new perspective for self-reflection.

KINGSTON, R.I.—April 11, 2019—A former congressman who led the fight for health insurance parity for those with mental health and substance use disorders, an educator who uses tall ships as platforms to educate college students about the ocean and environment, the founding director of the leading international engineering program, a renowned musician and philanthropist, and a former college president will be awarded honorary degrees by the University of Rhode Island at its 133rd Undergraduate Commencement Ceremonies Sunday, May 19.

We have been on the Seamans almost two weeks. It is crazy how quickly the time is going by.  I have learned so much in such a short amount of time, and it has been so much fun.  It feels like we have been here so much longer than we actually have.

“Take it to the pin and sweat it!” is a phrase heard often setting sails on the Corwith Cramer (and one you may dread if your hands are on the fish halyard).  On a tall ship, sweating usually has a different meaning than it does on land. Sweating is what you do to get a sail the last little bit of the way up. On the Cramer (especially for me), both connotations of sweating apply.

Today marked 1000 miles sailed and we have made it far enough North that it has started to get warm. People are hanging out in t-shirts and shorts and the boat is alive in a way it hasn’t really been yet. The fore deck gym is in full swing, with people attempting to do as many push-ups as miles we’ve sailed.

Today is my busy day. I had watch from 0100 until 0700 and I have watch again from 1900 until 0100. Which means not a lot of sleep, but I get to watch the sunrise and the sunset! This morning during watch I was on lab duty, so I processed a Neuston tow with Rose and then completed a DNA extraction for my group project on Sargassum shrimp parasites.

We are going into our second week here on the Seamans since we left Lyttelton. But it feels like we have been here for months! I have learned so much and been tested in various ways already.

Today we decided to approach another big mat of Sargassum and take some samples from it using our small boat. Mats of Sargassum are very rare to see.  For example, our Captain Jason has sailed this cruise track north six times while it’s the first time to really encounter such large mats of Sargassum with such consistency.