Programs Blog

Monday, 18 August, 2025

Noon Position: (Lat and Long): 42 degrees 10.667’ N, 70 degrees 18.813’ W

Log (nm): 66.1 nm

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan (from 1300 Watch Change): Cloudy / 5 kts / JT and four lowers: main with single reef, main stays’l, fore stays’l, and jib

Description of Location: Near Stellwagen Bank

At 6am yesterday, C Watch got up for chores and our first boat check, then got on with our first day at sea. We started it by getting off the boat and driving inland to WHOI’s Quisset campus, where we visited the engineering space formerly known as AVAST. Upon arrival, we got to look at some ongoing and finished WHOI projects, the highlight of which was the Neried Under Ice. We had the privilege of getting to see it with Molly and Andy who explained the design process and techniques they used. From there, we went upstairs to the main part of AVAST, WHOI’s maker space and machine shop. We got to look at and learn about several top-of-the-line tools and some ongoing projects.

After our visit to WHOI, we finally got back to the Cramer, where the pro crew was preparing to set sail. At that point, most of us helped out with the departure, while the others got set up below deck. The wind was blowing at about six or seven knots which made our journey quick. We motored our way out of the harbor and along the Elizabeth Islands while drilling for fire, flooding, abandon ship, and man over board scenarios. This fortunately meant having to wear some tuff survival suits. After all that was done, we anchored in Buzzards Bay for the night, and C Watch went to bed in anticipation of today’s dawn watch.

Dawn watch today was done at anchor, which gave us less work to do and therefore was done in three shifts: 1:0 0 – 3:00, 3:00 – 5:00, and 5:00 – 7:00. The first two shifts did regular boat checks and constantly monitored the location of the ship and anchor. The third shift had some fun, though, since they got to lift the anchor and get underway, heading through the canal. The weather was very calm which made the shifts easy, especially the demure waves.

Shout out to Katherine and Bethany, our chefs and saviors, they cook fantastic meals every day.

P.S. Ross, please do my Duolingo and Allison if you see this tell him to do it. Sophie, keep our streak alive and get your screen time to ten hours for me. Finally, thank you to LeBron for being my sunshine and guiding me through hard days.

From your Sigmas at Sea,

C Watch: Lucia, Phil, Katie