Q&A with Liz Maloney, W-162, Administrative Assistant for the Dean and Faculty. Liz helps manage the remote shore components that play an important role in many SEA Semester programs.  She recently returned from two weeks on the South Island of New Zealand, where she worked with students of class S-289 as they participated in a shore component prior to their voyage.

Today we left Great Barrier Island and sailed back to anchorage just outside of Auckland, marking the end of our trip. For our blog today we have decided to share 31 things (for the 31 people on board) that we and our shipmates have learned about life aboard the SSV Bobby C. along the way:

Hello land people, it’s Mathilde! This morning we anchored the boat in another bay at Great Barrier Island with more civilization. Lots of people went ashore for hiking and French fries though I stayed behind to savor the boat in our final days on board the Robert C. Seamans.

Amalia from C watch here! Happy to report on the beautiful day we had anchored in a bay in the Great Barrier Island. Summer vibes on this part of the world! (Or at least they look like summer vibes to this tropical girl) and seas as calm as a mirror.

Naomi from C-Watch here!

I believe that homemade bread is the purest form of love. Our lovely stewards, Ashley and Kylie, are always spoiling us with it. For this blog, my initial idea was to write a short story but as I looked at the calendar I realized how little time is left before the trip ends, so instead of my original idea, I’ve decided to take a more reminiscent route.

Ahoy! Jessie from C-watch here, writing from our on-board library which is back to its usual rocking and rolling since our departure from Napier this afternoon. The day began with a deck sweep for C-watch. One aspect of sea life I hadn’t thought about before this semester is that the accumulation of dirt is rather dependent on our greatest dirt source: land! Following the sweep, we had the morning off to head into Napier for last minute errands.

Today was a day of celebration, as not one, but two shipmates had birthdays today, Jessie, and Jeff! We just rounded out the day, which was sunny and warm, with carrot cupcakes and a couple of rounds of Happy Birthday singing, including a Danish rendition by our resident Dane, Amelia.

Hello bloggies!

Natalie here from C Watch. Today was a wonderful day. We had some free time this morning to explore the art deco-d streets of Napier and do some laundry (yay!). Later in the afternoon, we went a winery and learned all about the effects of climate change on the winery industry.

Greetings! Amelia at the helm

The day we had today was unlike any other. With an early wakeup to chocolate chip pancakes (Ashley and Kylie, our beloved stewards, are the best <3), still being anchored in the Bay of Islands, we prepared to make the trip to Urupukapuka by 0900.

Day 4 consisted of an exciting, new, and breezy series of events. We started the day early, with a delicious breakfast made by our stewards before morning chores, getting into the routine of eating, cleaning, and taking care of the ship (our home for the month) together.