Programs Blog

Saturday, November 1^st, 2025

Noon Position: 19°39.8’N x 62°13.3’W

Ship Heading: 235°

Ship Speed: 5.5 kts

Log: 2707 NM

SE wind force 3, seas are 3ft, under a deep reef Mains’l, the stays’ls, and the jib

Description of location: 56NM from Anegada Passage

HAPPY NOVEMBER! Today started a little weirder than a normal November morning, I was awoken in a pile of sweat, trying to angle my bunk fan in the best position so I could cool down. This has been a routine occurrence while I’m sleeping which is weird for the middle of fall. While we have been approaching the Caribbean the temperature has RISEN! However, I’m not complaining because the warm weather has been amazing on deck, and it feels like an extended summer. I woke up around 1000 because that previous evening I had been on watch till 0100 (AKA 1AM). Once I was awake and changed, I went up on deck and enjoyed the fresh air while my fellow shipmates (C watch) were on watch. For most of the morning I was able to journal about the Halloween festivities and read my book, I don’t usually have much time to do this between watch and catching up on sleep so when I get the chance it’s super nice. (Don’t worry Mom, I am still journaling every dayJ). Around 1200 I went back to my bunk and started to get ready for my watch. At 1220 I got to eat lunch with my watch (A watch), lunch today was sandwiches, it was more of a basic meal since we had field day this afternoon.

A watch had afternoon watch today which is 1300-1900 (1pm-7pm). This 6-hour watch is not usually my favorite watch because it feels really long but today it went by so quick, I didn’t even check the time once! I was in lab today with Wells, Riley, and the best marine tech ever, Raechel– it was a GREAT group in lab. Lab is the rotation where we get to do processing of data, deployments of science equipment, and identification of zooplankton, phytoplankton, and other sea creatures. I really like being in lab because we are always doing something really interesting or active.  Today we did not have a science station since we were in afternoon watch so we didn’t deploy any equipment over the side, but we did get to process a Neuston tow that C watch did in their morning station. A Neuston tow is a net that we deploy over the side of the ship that collects zooplankton and other small organisms off the top of the water. In the processing we take out all the sargassum that you can see (there is A LOT of it), this usually takes the longest so we had many people working on this tedious task. Once we finished that, we got a break and had to go to an all ships meeting on the quarter deck. Today in class, it was FIELD DAY! I know it might sound like a game day with corn hole and tug of war and some might say its similar but it is an all hands cleaning day on the ship.

My watch was assigned to cleaning the galley, or the kitchen. We started with a fire line of all the stuff that needed to be cleaned from the galley, this included galley mats, containers, pots, and pans. I was assigned to cleaning the pots and pans, this I was thankful for because last two field days I had to clean the galley mats and let me tell you, you do not want to be doing that. After about an hour, everyone had finished their jobs and all hands met back up on the quarter deck. At this point I was really sweaty and gross from all the cleaning we had to do, almost like I needed a shower *wink* *wink*. Sara, our chief mate, told us we can have a fire hose shower again!! This seems like an unusual thing to be excited about, but on the ship, any shower feels amazing! We all got ready for the shower while Ben (Program Assistant and Deckhand) started up the hose. The cold water felt so good on such a hot day. The fire hoses are made for fighting a fire so the water pressure is a little harder than you’d expect but you get used to it quickly. After we were done, A watch had to go back to standing watch which meant back to the lab for me. Raechel, Wells and I started separating the sargassum by species while Riley started on the 100 count of zooplankton. That took about an hour but at this point it was about 1730 so we were already a decent way through our watch. We cleaned up the mess we had made with the sargassum then started doing wakeups for B watch. Wakeups is the way we tell the next watch, when they are going on watch, when their meal is (in this case dinner), and what the weather is like. We can’t forget to do wakeups because then if the watch after us isn’t prepared we will end up standing watch for even longer. So Wells, Riley, and I made our way around the ship waking up any B watchers to tell them “your dinner is in 20 minutes, you have watch in 50 minutes, and it is hot outside with a bit of a breeze.” After this we go back to the lab where a lot of people had gathered because Raechel was doing clicker wars. Clicker wars are a challenge between two people to see how many clicks you can get on the 100 count clicker in 30 seconds. I didn’t get to do one but I can tell you that Raechel beat everyone. Finally, B watch came to the lab to relieve us from watch. Then we had dinner, which was ravioli and garlic bread that was soo good. After dinner, Caroline and I helped clean up then went on deck with Avery to enjoy the starry night sky and the cool breeze. It is so amazing to lay down on deck during the night and stare up at the night sky. Caroline, Avery, and I talked about what will be the first things we will tell our parents and friends when we get to contact them. There is so much to tell and share about this amazing journey. After a little bit, I decided to go to my bunk and journal and eventually drift off to sleep because I have morning watch tomorrow.

So far, I have been having such a fun time learning new things and experiencing things that I would never have before. While yes, there are times where I would rather be at home eating buffalo chicken dip and a warm brownie instead of digging my hands into a chunky dirty sink of water or when I was seasick and the only thing I could eat were saltines or else I would throw up. But all of the hard and challenging times were so worth it to be where we are today. It is an awesome feeling to be able to be on lookout and the only thing you can see is the deep blue sea or the excitement you get when you go out onto the head rig and lay there talking to your friends, or during the middle of evening watch when you’re on lookout and you look down and see bioluminescent dolphins jumping around the ship’s bow. All these things I would never have gotten to experience without some challenges and rough swells.

Brooke B., A Watch

SHOUTOUTS: Thank you Mom and Dad for giving me and Avery this incredible opportunity of a lifetime! We are having so much fun and cannot wait to tell you everything! Thank you Ollie, Grace, and Jackson for supporting and loving me through this awesome time, You are missed so much constantly! J Also please tell Rosie I say hi!