News

Sailing Under the Stars

October 15, 2026
Cramer under sail at sunrise.  Much harder to get a good photo at night!

Wednesday, 14 October 2026
Noon Position:: 38° 28.06 N x 067° 34.75 W
Ship Heading: 120°
Ship Speed: 7.6 kn
Log: 360.1 nm
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: The weather was warm, sunny, and windy, with beautiful skies.  The wind was blowing southwest, with a Beaufort force of 5. At 13:00 we were sailing under the 4 lowers and the jib tops’l.
Location: Nearing the Gulf Stream!

This morning B watch began our first dawn watch at 0100! We were woken up at 0030 and this was hard. I didn’t get much sleep because I was so hot but I got ready quickly and reported for watch at 0050. The second I stepped outside of the doghouse (nav/chart house) I was amazed by the stars and suddenly felt very aware and awake. A small group of us then took over the deck and began watch while others went to the Lab for watch. We have a set watch rotation and I began on standby for boat check. I then stared at the stars for 30 minutes before beginning my boat check. This consists of walking around the deck and then going below before going to the engine room. This process is to catch something unusual with the Cramer. I enjoy boat checks.

Silja, Piper, Lela, and Shuggy hauling the jib downhaul.

Once I was done I relieved Ezra at the helm. This was my second time at helm and I was definitely nervous because it was dark but I ended up discovering that I could choose a star that matched our heading to rely less on the compass. I thought this was super cool. Then after an hour I was relieved and went to take the hourly navigational data. After that I came back out and looked at the stars. If you can’t tell I was incredibly interested in the stars. After another hour I went to lookout to look for any traffic. (Hint, there was none because we are in the middle of the ocean).

Piper, Baker, and Cian on the headrig furling the jib.
Piper and Baker presenting the navigation report during the all ship meeting/class time.

This rotation process happens for the 6 hours we are on watch. Once we hit 0600 and had only an hour left of watch I thought I would be tired but I was very energized. I took the helm as the sun was rising and was just so incredibly happy to be where I am (as Tami says, “you’re sailing a tall ship in the middle of the freaking ocean!”).

Piper, B watch!

PS – Hello Mama, Dad, Riley and Tess! I miss and love you all so much! I hope you aren’t too worried about me out here because I am having the Best time! I haven’t been sea sick at all! (knock on wood) and I am just loving (almost) every second of this trip! I hope you had or are going to have the best Canadian Thanksgiving (sorry I don’t remember the date) and obviously I wish I could be there. Say hi to the Oma’s for me and let them know I miss them. Love you all SO SO MUCH! With Love, you’re Piper.