Emerging from the doghouse, I was greeted by a cool morning breeze that brushed from the port side of the deck. Having just completed the 0600 boat check, I found that the sunrise had begun while I was below deck. Moving to the rail, I fell into conversation with my 0500-0630 dock watch buddy Zuri, when I noticed a spot of white foam in the distance.

Dear Friends and Family,

We sailed offshore yesterday and all night, having spent two nights at anchor off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. From the deck, we could see the village of Menemsha, home to the Vineyard’s last fishing fleet and one of the main shooting locations for “Jaws.”

We started off our day this morning early with some cereal and coffee to wake us up and prepare us for the eventful day ahead. After packing up our bags for the day trip and putting on sunscreen we were ready to depart for our whale watch in Plymouth. Sadly, that same morning, was also the time our good friend and classmate, Diego, had to leave for Illinois for All States a week before the end of SEASCape.

What a day! The students on the Cramer began their first watch schedules. We had a great class on the sails, lines, including what the names of the sails on the Cramer are, and how they work, as well as securing and coiling ropes. We had our first oceanographic ‘super’ station to sample and collect scientific data on Stellwagen Bank. Our day even included “charismatic megafauna” sightings.

Today we woke up earlier than usual. We took the bus to Plymouth Harbor, embarked the whale watch boat, and joined a guided tour out to Cape Cod Bay.

You know you have made some great life choices when your dinner is interrupted by a surprise whale watching session.

We started a new phase in our watch-standing, having departed Port Antonio, Jamaica a little over twenty-four hours ago.  Now we begin what is called the shadow phase on board, in which a student is selected from the deck team to “shadow” the mate during the entire watch, listening closely to all of the information, as well as calling the set and strike of sails and other maneuvers (with some guidance). We switched the watches as well, so it is a big change on two fronts.

In the field of acoustics, a soundscape can be defined as the combination of all of the sounds that occur in, and make up, an environment. When we think of the ocean, we can categorize these sounds into three main groups: biological (such as whales or fish), abiotic (natural sounds such as wind or rain), and anthropogenic, or human-caused (such as vessel noise).

We departed Samana early this afternoon after our longest port stop thus far. Due to a departure delay, bonefish watch didn’t have a whole lot to do for the 0700-1300 watch so we hung out on the quarterdeck and drew things like the elegant pedestrian bridge that in its beauty and openness provided, perhaps, a metaphor for the warm welcome we received in Samana.

Today we got to loudly proclaim the super sailor-y words ‘land ho!’ as we spotted Raoul off our starboard bow. Raoul marks our turning point for the two-week trek to Napier via the Kermadecs and possibly the only time we’ll see land during that time. The feelings on board can only be described as mixed.