It’s a hard thing to describe accurately, but it is strange and difficult to acclimate to living situations that never stop moving. I’ve always been sensitive to listen to any crashing or colliding sounds, which often mean something’s broken, especially in the kitchen.

When a member from C watch gently woke me at 0515, I knew it was going to be a good day.

The students of S-287, Protecting the Phoenix Islands, all arrived safely aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans in American Samoa, and spent a very busy several days conducting safety drills and getting to know the ship before departing Pago Pago. The ship is now underway, and we look forward to receiving student blog posts, which we will share as soon as they are received.

Today is the first day that we have a peaceful sea! Woken up by our B-watch friends, we came on deck around 0050. It was cool out on the deck. Mild sea breeze gently blew our last bit of sleepiness away. The wave has largely decreased, too. We can almost stand by ourselves without holding onto anything else.

The majority of SEA class S-287 was arrived in Pago Pago two days ago, late at night. We took a bus from the airport to the ship, and because the speed limit in Pago Pago is 25 mph, (and because the bus driver was really jamming the entire way to the Seamans) we were able to catch a few snippets of what life in the American Samoa must be like.

Students all arrived safely last night. 1st assistant scientist Janet and I went to the airport to greet the students and take them to the ship.

The students of S-287, Protecting the Phoenix Islands, will join the SSV Robert C. Seamans in Pago Pago, American Samoa, on July 3rd to begin a six-week round-trip voyage to the Phoenix Islands.