Well today was field day, and for all of you who instantly thought of elementary school races and water balloon fights, think again!  Field day is a day of cleaning the whole ship (which we do every day) but more!

Yesterday we left the Chatham Islands and our last sight of land for a while. We got to enjoy the calm seas in the port for a little while and we all got to sit up on deck and enjoy the sun! Some people even climbed up the foremast as we were leaving and got some great views of the islands.

It’s the first April 6th here on the Robert C. Seamans! We will cross the international dateline and move back a day at one am our time tonight. I am a part of A watch here on ship, and today A watch had morning watch from 7 am to 1 pm and will have watch dawn watch at the time change, from 1 am tonight to 7 am tomorrow morning—the second April 6th!

We have now been at sea for four days! Everyone is starting to get in the swing of our watch schedules of 6 hours on and 12 hours off. Slowly but surely we are beginning to stop crashing into walls every second, hitting our heads everywhere we go, and learning how to not have everything spill off the rolling tables at meals.

It’s our third day at sea! After the initial shock of getting used to the constant rolling waves, and the many subsequent donations made to Neptune in hopes of a safe voyage, it seems as though people are starting to get their sea legs.

Today, after a two-day weather-delay, the crew of SEA Semester Cruise S285 departed Lyttelton Harbor, New Zealand aboard the Sailing School Vessel Robert C Seamans.

The students of SEA Semester class S-285, Oceans & Climate, have all arrived safely in New Zealand and are now settled in aboard their home for the next five-and-a-half weeks, the SSV Robert C. Seamans. Be sure to follow their voyage on this blog.

The students of Class S-285, Oceans & Climate, join the SSV Robert C. Seamans in Lyttelton, New Zealand on March 28th. The voyage ends in Papeete, Tahiti on May 4th, after port stops in the Chatham Islands and Raiatea.

SEA Semester in the News
by Emily Duggan, Staff Writer, The New Hampshire

Ella Cedarholm, a University of New Hampshire student, always knew she wanted a “unique” study abroad experience, but never thought she would do so on the SSV Robert C. Seamans, a 134’ tall ship.

From Lee, New Hampshire, Cedarholm has sailed all her life, both competitively through the UNH sailing team, and with her family up the coast of Maine on their 26’ Bristol.

Read the full article here.

We, class S-278, have reached our final day here on the SSV Robert C. Seamans. And what a day it has been! This morning, we anchored in Moorea, an island so insanely beautiful it adorns the French Polynesian currency. After a long day of scrubbing the boat, we were rewarded with a swim call. Amongst the stark mountains and intermittent downpour, our lives hardly felt real.

And that has been a common theme throughout this trip — beauty, emotions, and experiences that are so rich and complex that they defy reality itself.