Let’s count off. Who’s here? One-two-three-four.seventeen-eighteen! Alright, we have everyone. Every shipboard muster begins with a count off, a count up or count down to ensure that all the students and staff are present. One through eighteen for the students and interns and then by department for the crew. Here are some more important and interesting numbers from the trip.

Today we ventured ashore for a tour of Grenada with our outstanding guide, Mandu. Our journey began travelling north along the west coast of the island with picturesque views of tiny bays and harbors and a narrative of the island’s complex history. The bus chugged up the steep volcanic hillside and brought us to our first swim call (aka Sierra Charlie) at a waterfall! The already high spirits of the group lifted even further as we played in the cool, rejuvenating mountain waters.

Here we are at anchor in St. Georges, Grenada, our final destination.  It’s quite amazing how far we’ve come in the 29 days since leaving the dock in Woods Hole.  There is excitement in the air as the students are getting ready to go ashore and maybe a little unwilling recognition that the trip is almost over.  The final port call is a bittersweet moment as one has spent the whole trip heading to this point (storms and dolphins, rain and rainbows, crepuscular rays and beautiful sunsets) and yet this community and home we have built is almost over.

What a different way to wake up for the crew of the Corwith Cramer this morning. Drawn from its slumber by Rachel’s singing voice, the entire ship’s company got a wake up at once - something unheard of underway when an entire watch is awake and working at any given time. New sights and sounds greeted the early risers as they stepped onto deck: a risen sun behind a verdant hill dotted with houses, high frigates already soaring in the air, a barking dog, stately pelicans grazing the flat water surface with their wingtips.

After a brief five-day break, the Caribbean Reef Expedition students are back together! The next chapter of our voyage has just barely begun as we gathered at our new island home, the True Blue Bay Resort in True Blue, Grenada. This will be our base as we set about exploring the reefs and the landscapes of this beautiful island in a series of field trips in buses, and in boats, in shoes, and in fins.

In the words of Anna yesterday, “Here we are.” This evening, however, that phrase has a whole new meaning, and we aboard have the firmest sense of where we are yet. Land! Sighted early this morning as distant flickering lights 38 nm away, then rising out of the gloaming as the sun comes up and gives us colors to behold; then we are between two islands and in the lee and the smell of the land is overwhelming. Wet dirt, fresh wood smoke and an entirely new array of ocean smells not encountered in the open ocean.

Hello from the Corwith Cramer! We are well and busy here – let me catch you up on the last couple of days aboard the ship.

Only a short time after our excellent port stop in Santiago, we reached a quiet, peaceful island called Great Inagua on the southern side of the Bahamas. Rather than the white sand and coral rubble it is made of, the cool waters surrounding the island is where we spent most of our short stop.

Going where the wind takes you took on new meaning this week. 15-20 ft swells aided by force 9 winds made docking in Port Antonio more difficult than docking with the ISS. Captain cited something about trajectories, momentum and wind making entering the harbor too dangerous. I wasn’t about to argue as I clung to the railing and looked up at waves.

Hello internet world, family, and friends!

It is day 16 of our trip and it has been a rollercoaster of a time! Today is our last day anchored in Samana Bay, DR and also the official start of Phase II for the student crew. Phase II is when students are given more responsibility in lab and on deck during watches. Out watch leaders will start taking small steps back and show us how they make decisions and why those decisions are necessary.

I am not going to lie when I say that I don’t know where to begin with this post. So much has happened on the Cramer and at port stops that it is difficult to focus on something super memorable.  So I’m just going to write about my initial impressions about being at sea for such a long period of time. I also want to write this post in honor of our visiting artist Peter Stone, who sadly was not able to join us for the rest of this trip.