Programs Blog

Thursday, February 26, 2026

17° 33.830’ N x 64° 56.577’ W

Course 180°  per ships compass

4 knots

35.29 nm

Wind coming from ESE, Beaufort force of 4, 26 Celsius

In view of Frederiksted, St. Croix

What’s up blog! After a wonderful week in St. Croix full of snorkeling surveys and tours with local partners, we are finally underway! We pulled up the anchor out of Frederiksted and are now heading to Dominica, a trip that will be about five days. Everyone was busy helping us pull the anchor and prep to sail out of the port, before breaking into our watch groups for our very first six-hour watches!

I had afternoon watch today, which meant I took a nap before a delicious lunch and was then on watch from 13:00 to 19:00 (just in time for dinner!). Shoutout C Watch: Koa, Maya, Riley, Eleanor, Eli, Bella, Sam, myself, our awesome 3rd mate Obie, and First Marine Tech Kayla! During our watch I was on deck (as opposed to galley help or lab) and conducted Boat Checks that include surveying the deck for anything amiss and going down below to check on heads, fire hoses, the reefer (fridge), and filling out numbers in the engine room – a job bestowed on me as many of my fellow watch members weren’t feeling their best on open water. I stood at helm and got a feel for the Cramer’s wheel and rudder fighting against the wind and waves. I’ve been working on learning weather and wind patterns, along with charting and, of course, mastering my knots! The six hours flew by as I was busy bouncing between helm, plotting, boat checks, and lookout. I love standing at the bow (harnessed in) on lookout feeling the rise and fall of each wave, and the occasional blast of the powerful ocean. Standing there looking out and seeing no land in sight makes me think about how tiny we are and how vast this ocean and planet is. We rarely see any other ships and it puts into perspective how small we really are and how important our Cramer community is. I feel so grateful to be here and have this wild experience. I’m excited to be off anchor and actually sailing! I’ve already learned so much from all the hands-on experience I’m getting. We conducted our first reef surveys yesterday where I got to do fish surveys throughout the reef, in one spot (or trying to be–there were some wild currents) and working along a belt transect we laid down on the reef floor. So far the coolest creatures I’ve seen snorkeling were a great barracuda, a ray, and a baby octopus!

Shoutouts: Love you Mom, Dad, Desi, Althea, Nana, Papa, Davida, Caitie, and Mookie!! And of course Dma today and always, she would love the stories I can’t wait to share! I hope Sienna, Chloe, and Nathan are all having a blast! (There’s no knots yet but Koa may have to cut my hair…ha!) I’m not addicted to caffeine yet either although the lack of sleep is potentially making me delirious… but I’m having a fantastic time!

Peace!

Mira Hill, C Watch, Santa Monica CA