Amelia Earhart was from Atchison, Kansas; a hilly little town on the Missouri River, where they say she spent days looking out over the river and dreaming of flying. It’s also considered the most haunted town in Kansas but her final resting place - Nikumaroro—might be even more haunting.

Last night we sailed away from our second port stop, the island of Orona. Of the past 10 days, 6 have been spent snorkeling, swimming, or exploring Orona and Kanton. After a group of snorkelers returns to the ship, one of the first questions always asked by those already on board is “Did you see anything cool?”

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.

The people of Kanton are unlike any I’ve met. I know Nate talked about the reception they held for us, but there cannot be enough said about that evening. Their musical performances were as humbling as they were spectacular. While the women and children sang the words of a language we do not know, the men harmonized perfectly as they beat a large, shared drum to the slow rhythm of their chanting.

Mauri friends and family of the 2018 SEA PIPA Expedition,

Our little world shrunk to 34 people when we boarded this ship in Honolulu, but our world began to grow when we started trawling for zooplankton below us and realized we were far from alone. Our little world just grew again today.

Land Ho! After 2 weeks aboard the Robert C. Seamans we have laid our eyes on land. The Enderbury Island was used in the 1800s for mining guano. This guano was then shipped off to make fertilizer. After the discovery of less isolated location with just as much guano, the island became uninhabited, and has remained so ever since.

Hi Everyone! Makaila Lyons here to get you through the 5th, and still very exciting, blog post of our journey thus far. We’re steadily sailing around 6-7 knots towards PIPA, riding on some pretty hardy winds that have thankfully died down a little since yesterday.

July 7th on board the Robert C. Seamans, Southwest of the Hawaiian Islands. For a few hours now, we’ve been sailing at steady 8-9 knots with a fine trade wind on our backs. Squeezed between the tall Hawaiian Islands, the winds funnel into the jets that are now speeding us along toward the Phoenix Islands. With 25 knots of wind come commensurate seas, and the Seamans is lunging down some waves as the bigger ones catch our stern and we accelerate away.

As I sat there yesterday on the bowsprit, looking out at Nikumaroro Island as we left, my mind began to wander to the events that have taken place in the last month. We arrived on the ship a month ago today in Pago Pago, American Samoa, knowing only the other students. We were thrown into this crazy community that we have all come to love. One of my favorite experiences happened sometime during the first week, just after we had entered PIPA waters.