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.

The Freshness of Dominica:
When you find yourself in the natural harbor of Portsmouth you cannot ignore the dense wall of green the volcanic mountains created by Dominica. They scream to the weary sailor, “YOU ARE HERE AND YOUR TOILS HAVE PAID OFF!” Dominica is not the kind of country I was expecting at all. It was so lively; within five minutes of being on land I saw a scooter doing wheelies in the street. A small insignificant event to probably everybody around me but for some reason it warmed my heart.

Today as I start my blog post, I think back to our amazing port stop in Dominica. This was not an island I had heard of before I came to SEA Semester, but while on it I fell in love with its mountainous terrain and natural wonders. I was walking with a group of friends, Michaela (Big Mike), Maddy, Lukas, and Will, when a man came up to us and offered us a tour to go see a waterfall. Maybe it’s the atmosphere of being in an entirely new place, but on a whim our group accepted the tour of this licensed guide.

Three days in port, now once again the crew of the SSV Corwith Cramer is taking turns standing watch on deck as we sail our ship towards the French Exclusive Economic Zone off Guadeloupe. The port stop in Dominica was rich in many ways. The locals opened up to the students allowing them to acquire valuable information for their projects and gain unique insight into the lives, economy and culture of this Eastern Caribbean nation.