The students of Class S-285, Oceans & Climate, join the SSV Robert C. Seamans in Lyttelton, New Zealand on March 28th. The voyage ends in Papeete, Tahiti on May 4th, after port stops in the Chatham Islands and Raiatea.

Field Day! Today was long and productive. I work as assistant engineer, and on Thursday our regular preventative maintenance routine is to exercise fifty or so valves, and lubricate ventilation dampers. It is not generally the favorite chore. This morning it was made easier with the excellent help of Olivia, one of the sailing interns. Valve day ended up only taking all morning, which is pretty good, considering.

Our second day underway to Fiji from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai has been an exciting one weather wise. Long gone are the days of motor sailing under the stays’ls on smooth, glass-like waters. Last night on evening watch, 1900-0100, the wind was blowing force 5 and force 6 with gusts at 7.

This morning we left the volcanic island of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) at 0530, setting our course for Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Unfortunately the winds were too weak to sail so we had to use the engine to close the 35nm gap between HTHH and Nuku’alofa. However we still had the fore’staysl and the main’staysl raised on the port tack to help us along.

After a day of anchoring near Mala island, and a day of motor-sailing around the Tongan sea, we arrived at Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai. This is the world’s newest island, formed by volcanic eruptions from within the ocean. Scientists thought that the volcanic matter was not going to stay out of the water, but it did, and that’s how the island was created!

Early morning here on the Robert C Seamans with a full morning of activities ahead of us. ‘A-Watch’ started early swabbing the deck (regardless of the fact it was pouring rain) and morning chores were in full swing. This morning we mustered on the quarter deck to gather snorkeling equipment and flippers.

Yesterday we started our journey through the South Pacific. However, many little things matter when getting the ship in motion. We start by going over drills for the various emergencies that can occur while we are underway – man overboard, fire in the galley, and prepare to abandon ship.

Hello to all following the journey of S-282! This is your first student blog post, I hope you’re excited. We are currently still docked in Pago Pago, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t action on board. We spent all of yesterday learning our way around the ship and all that we will have to do on board when we are underway.

We are now somewhere between 10 and 30 days into this journey. There’s no hope for me to pin down an actual number because time distorts itself in peculiar ways when 24 hour days rotate around 18 hour schedules. Each one of us has become familiar with the unusual rhythm of the vessel, and life at sea has become typical.