Programs Blog

June 28, 2025

Location: Post-Marquesas

There is an irony in the vastness of the ocean; the blue stretches out for miles towards a horizon invisible on land. Yet we are confined aboard a ship no more than 135ft in length and 26ft in width. And so, what do those who have enlisted on this five-week voyage do in their free time, of which there is precious little? Sometimes you’ll find us sprawled out on the cabin top watching the sun rise or set, hoping to see the green flash – coveted by sailors. Or maybe trying our hand with a ukulele or harmonica whiling away the time with tunes as so many seafarers before us have done. Following our aloft training, should we so choose and weather permitting, we can climb into the rigging to look down upon the ship. Perhaps to watch the lookout gazing into the beyond, the helmsman with their eyes fixed to the compass or idle hands helping haul a line. Admittedly, this is what I imagine the view from the fighting top or the yards would be as I haven’t seen anyone take up this daring opportunity yet. For those looking for excitement of a different kind, just forward of the main saloon and forward of the galley one can find the Seamans’ library.

Entering, one is greeted by the hallmark of any modern library. Three computers affixed to the bulkhead serve as one of few remedies to the timeless trance our ship and the surrounding ocean casts upon us . Yet strangely these modern inventions can help connect us to the natural world; I’ve been enjoying using satellitium to explore the constellations of an unfamiliar sky. For some, these tools also serve as a link to the human world: the staff use them to read and write emails, much to the envy of the students. In the aft of the room hangs a map of the Pacific Ocean, at which I often gaze at wistfully, tracing our progress across this great ocean. Forward stands a table on which many a card game has been played. Above that, several bookshelves. Their topics range from sailing and navigational history to general fiction and cooking. Similarly as varied are the books the Seaman’s crew are reading – some taken from these very shelves, others brought from afar. To give you a sample, Isaiah is reading The Bone Season,  Flo – Playground, Amelia – Outlaw Ocean, Tessa – To Hove Or To Haux, Brian – The Soul Of An Octopus, and Beth – Peoples’ History of the U.S.A.. From the nautical fiction section, I chose Mutiny on the Bounty  – A thrilling account of an eighteenth century passage to Tahiti gone wrong. In the book’s pages I find solace in learning of the lives of seafarers before us, and appreciate the perspective they have provided to aspects of life at sea that I have found difficult (It should be noted such challenges have not been at the hand of a villainous captain – the Seamans’ Captain is quite the opposite). I must admit that this is the first book I have read for pleasure in a long time but am enjoying it immensely.  

In our isolation from the information age, books have taken on a renewed importance. With instantaneous access to answers to our questions revoked, we must now search for such answers with pain-staking determination – identifying the book, the chapter, the page that may have what we seek. Through this process though, we are exposed to the wider contexts that enable us to turn information into knowledge. Beyond the library, perhaps the slow (yet somehow exhausting) pace of our life aboard the ship too has value. We’re undertaking a journey in five weeks that could have easily been completed in five hours had we chosen a different mode of transport. But in taking the longer route we’re learning to engage with the world in a slower way.

Much love to Ceris, JJ and Beatrice.

Rufus, B-Watch

Amherst College

P.S. Please could my family book me three nights in dorm room (happy to stay in one with lots of people) of a hostel in Waikiki. Whatever looks nice on Hostelworld (or something). Thanks so much xxx