Today, C watch was woken up at the tender time of 6:00, with the scents of breakfast sandwiches wafting through the lower deck. We were motor sailing from the Continental Shelf to the canyons, at a speed of 4.1 knots, over raging waves of 4-5 feet.

We woke up this morning surrounded by a thick layer of fog. B Watch had the morning shift so we were all on deck early.

Hello all!  We are a few hours from hauling back the anchor and getting underway once again.  Orona has been incredible.  From jumping off the bowsprit and getting to climb aloft, to exploring the atoll and snorkeling in the lagoon, the adventures we have all experienced here have been some of the best of our trip.

Excitement from our recentt port stop still remains aboard the Seamans. We have completed our first day back at sea, and are on our way to the small atoll island Orona (4o 30’38.88” S x 171o 10’37.92” W for those that wish to find it using Google Earth.

Good Morning! Thursday got off to a great start with beautiful weather and hash browns and sausage for breakfast. B Watch completed a busy morning watch, including working on projects, setting the JT sail, and sailing towards Stellwagon Bank (a marine preserve.) We left the open ocean and saw many other boats for the first time in days. Soon the shores of Cape Cod were visible, and for a bit we sailed along them using no motor.

We continue to draw nearer and nearer to the equator-news that Sadie mentioned yesterday and will probably continue to be repeated until we actually cross (estimated to be sometime on Tuesday). We aboard are all preparing our “rituals” for the crossing: in some sailing traditions you shave your head when you cross the equator and in others a musical “offering to Neptune” is given by those who have not sailed across the equator before (the students and not a small number of the staff!)

Ahoy!

Day four here on the SSV Corwith Cramer.  Today we finally left anchor, and are taking on the open ocean!  A relatively relaxing day here, filled with sunny skies and a gentle breeze from the south-east. After a fantastic breakfast of cheesy grits and a spread of fruit, we embarked on our daily watches and learned all about Neuston Booms with J-bear (our first scientist).

Hi Everyone! My name is Rosie Wigglesworth and I’m bringing you the 6th installment of the S-281 blog series!  We’re almost a week and a thousand nautical miles into our journey.

Some of the most beautiful parts of sailing in the equatorial Pacific cannot be captured well on camera. On dawn and evening watch today I could see stars both above and below us. Above us the sky lights up with more stars than most of us students have ever seen.

I started today at about 3 in the morning, when I failed to wake up on time for my watch. I eventually got on deck in time to catch the briefing from the previous watch, and was subsequently assigned to clean the dishes from last night’s dinner. (This wasn’t a punishment or anything - I was scheduled for dishes duty today). After scrubbing everything clean and brewing a fresh pot of coffee, I went back to help out on deck.