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Saturday, 31 October 2026
Noon Position: 17° 43.2N x 064° 53.4 W
Ship Heading: At Anchor
Ship Speed: N/A
Log: 2435.0 nm
Weather / Wind: At Anchor, clear skies, wind out of the East
Location: Frederiksted, St. Croix, USVI

Happy Halloween from aboard the Corwith Cramer! Today was a day FILLED to the brim with activity. Laughs, sun, tropical fish, heights, cake, and of course some spooks. We are anchored in a lovely bay just outside of the beautiful and very quiet town of Frederiksted, St. Croix, right by a world renowned snorkel spot, so of course we had to celebrate Halloween in the Caribbean with some snorkeling. Endless tropical fish, sponges, sea fans, and coral cover the pilings of the pier nearby, and we were lucky enough to witness green sea turtles, tarpon, a massive school of fish, and rays! It was truly incredible; we were transported to a whole new underwater world. The students also took advantage of the option to climb the rig to go aloft and see St. Croix from a different perspective, from above! While everyone was safely clipped in the entire time, it was definitely an adrenaline rush- perfect for a Halloween activity!

We ended the afternoon with a costume party on the quarterdeck, complete with caramel apples, Halloween cake, face paint, and enough face glitter that I’m sure we’ll be finding little silver stars on deck for the remainder of the trip and maybe beyond (I saw one on the bilge hatch in the lower engine room on my last boat check). The guests to our party included pink tutu cowboys, 2 bananas, a pickle, a Yamaha outboard engine, Paddington bear, the very hungry caterpillar, a witch, the tops’l, raffee, and course ghost, a fairy, an Emjineer, and a gaggle of pirates! The Cramer costumes did NOT disappoint. 3 real life pumpkins even made the journey all the way from Cape Cod, Mass, and were carved by the 3 watches in Halloween spirit. And to top off the day, the ship was magically transformed into a haunted spooky Corwith Cramer. There were spider webs made with seine twine, cleaning rags hung about, a tarp maze in the main salon, fender obstacles, lines draped everywhere, and lots of spooky touches added. The students trick or treated through all the spaces onboard, each one decorated differently by pro crew! Notable mentions include Annie’s pro crew wanted signs, the Laz gremlin (Alec), Tami’s slimy fingers, Soren the forward pump room demon, and Audrey and me in the dungeon of doom (the forepeak- which was maybe just the sweatiest place I’ve ever been).

Halloween aboard the Cramer truly is like no other. We brought the spooky and the scary (and a lot of fun) to St. Croix with us, and I can confidently say it was the most unique Halloween I’ve ever had. I will definitely never forget it, and we hope the students won’t either.

Trick or treat to you all! Sending all of our love to everyone back home!

-Ila Pabich, Program Assistant/Deckhand

PS – Hi mom and dad and Max!! I miss you guys so much. Sending a lot of extra love from B right now and I am thinking about you guys like crazy.

Hi to my friends back home!! I hope you are surviving Halloween in Salem, I hope the tourists aren’t too insane this year! I can’t wait to see you all so soon and hear all about what I missed.

I haven’t forgotten about all of you!! Sending tons of hugs from the Caribbean!

XOXO- Ila