Programs Blog

Wednesday, 6 August, 2025

Noon Position: 19°10’15.2″N 155°55’16.6″W

Ship Heading: Anchored, but heading back towards Honolulu later today

Ship Speed: Zippo knots

Taffrail Log: Somewhere in Milolii, Hawaii

Weather: Sunshine!

Ava’s most desirable activity to do on her birthday is to be on a boat. Oh, how she got her birthday wish, currently on a huge sailboat! I never would have thought of spending my 21st birthday on a huge research vessel in Hawaii. It’s surreal since she’s been wanting to learn hands-on about coral while swimming with it (bonus!) since she was eight years old.

This experience shocked me to my core and wasn’t what I expected it to be, to say the least. I’m extremely grateful to have gotten the ability to snorkel, learn about coral and sailing, swim with dolphins and turtles, and gain tremendous respect for everyone who boards SVV Robert C Seamans.

Working on a boat is physically exhausting: being on your feet all day, working in the hot and humid sun, finding precious sleep whenever you can, being woken up at sporadic times throughout the day and night. Not only was this draining, but it was also mentally grueling. The mind takes you to dark places when it’s in an unknown place, away from loved ones, away from home, and sleep deprived. Being around essentially strangers for a month was tough for Ava. She was shocked by this because usually, she loves new adventures, jumping into the unknown without hesitation, and surrounding herself with opportunities among fresh people. That’s a quality she has always had and prides herself on. This time, it looked a bit different. On this trip, Ava got extremely homesick for most of it and was constantly wondering why. Part of me thinks she figured it out.

Up until now, Ava has despised commitment and had a bone to pick with the mere thought of it. Commitment of absolutely everything: from finishing a book to the last page (getting bored a few chapters in), pushing through and picking one topic to research on (wanting to choose all of them, afraid that she’ll close the door on one), and being in a committed relationship (never prioritizing commitment). I loathe all these things and more. That’s only a start for things that I will dip my toe into the water, but never fully submerge into. Now, she’s been going through this uncomfortable growing pain in longing for more commitment. Surrounding herself with people she’s loved for a long time, committed to nurturing her relationship with, sounds like a better environment. Ava thinks this growing pain of inconceivable (shoutout Princess Bride) homesickness was rooted in wanting more security. I keep thinking about when my mom kept saying, “Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold.” I wanted to ditch all my high school friends when I made new ones at the start of college, and she kept saying this. Oh, honey, do I wish I had listened to my mom! I still have friends from high school, thankfully. I don’t talk to many of the ones I met at the start of college anymore.

Nonetheless, with this unfamiliar habitat on a boat with thirty-something people, after some time, those strangers start to get a little more familiar, sharing special and not-so-bright memories together. Shared memories make my heart grow bigger and make me feel less alone. I’m grateful to have shared such extreme high and low memories with all of you, crew from S323. Thank you for making my 21st birthday radiant and one I won’t forget. I cherish all the memories I spent deliriously laughing on the quarter deck with Trinity, Zadie, Faith, Sara, and Juliet, quiet time reading with Amira, who-can-flip-off-the-best competitions with Zadie, Lake, and Matt, crying laughing about The Lizard with Hudson, watching dolphins swim underneath us with Erin, and so many more memories shared with you. Thank you, and I will not forget any of you.

-Ava Afonso, University of Washington, C Watch