Today is special. It’s my 17th birthday! I was “lucky” enough to have the late night watch, which meant I was awake when the clocked struck twelve. My pals rushed me over to lab the minute it was past twelve to show off a new zooplankton they found, but all I found as I opened the curtain to a dimly lit laboratory was not a rare new breed of zooplankton.

SEA Semester students make discoveries while exploring Earth’s newest island, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai!

Note: All aboard Cramer are well today, riding out the storm at anchor in the Sakonnet River. Their plan is to remain at anchor tonight and get underway for sea early Friday morning pending weather updates.

Hello, landlubbers!  This is Lila; a deckhand (sailing intern), SEA alum (shout out to S-278!), and overall wind enthusiast.  I was lucky enough to join the crew a day before we set sail.

Hello all! Kim here from the galley of the SSV Corwith Cramer! The last few days have felt like a dream as we finally shoved off from Dyer’s dock and made it out into Vineyard Sound. My outstanding assistant steward (Sarah Witcher!), intern stewards (Jen, Justin, and Wika), along with countless other helpers and dish technicians, have made working in the galley a true joy!

Hello!

Today, we departed Nuku’alofa under a hot afternoon sun and fair wind. The dock where the ship has spent the past few days moored is tantalizingly close to the outer islands and light green coral reefs, so to find myself traveling back onto greeny blue water is a long-awaited treat. It’s a tall order to report out all that I have experienced in the past week, so to sum it up I will simply say I am humbled.

Howdy friends,

Giselle here, SEA sailing intern, deckhand, and SEA alum, class S-269. We’re having a smashing first day underway here on Mamma Cramer. After sailing around Vineyard Sound, doing science stations and setting a couple staysails, we’re now headed out on Big Blue.

Since the formation of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in 2015, NASA has been keenly interested in this landmass as a rare opportunity to examine pathways of land formation and erosion in the time of 21st century remote sensing and scientific technology.

Today after spending a couple of days docked in Woods Hole doing trainings and waiting for a shift in the weather, we finally heard the words we had all been waiting for “All hands to the quarter deck…prepare for departure!”

Excitement builds as we spend the day preparing for sea.  All aboard our eager to head out to sea… however, before we cast off the dock lines the professional crew must pass along some important safety information and train our new recruits in the many customs and skills required of sailor-scientists.

Greetings from the SSV Corwith Cramer.