Programs Blog

Monday, 20 October 2025          

Ship Heading: 165°

Ship Speed (knots): 8.2 knots

Log (nm): 1026 nautical miles

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: Slight Squalls, but lots of sunshine on afternoon watch

Description of location: 170 Nm North of Bermuda!!!

On Monday, October 20^th, we left the Gulf Stream and entered the deep, blue Sargasso Sea. As I exited my bunk that day, I was awoken by the beautiful morning horizon, the sun was out and it was the nicest day we have had on the ship so far!! Wells and I did a little morning yoga with a cup of joe to get the morning started off right, while we were underway for the Sargasso Sea.  The sea color changed from emerald green pastels of the Gulf Stream to deep blue waters, and it was so beautiful.  We had enchiladas for lunch, courtesy of Eliza’s cooking talents to kick off a great Afternoon Watch.

For the Sea component of Ocean Classroom we have 4 watch times, and 3 watches doing the rotations. The watches are Morning Watch (7am-1pm), Afternoon Watch (1pm-7pm), Evening Watch (7pm-1am), and DAWN WATCH (1am-7am).  During our watches, we are either on Deck or in the Lab. If we are on deck we rotate through hourly stations of boat check +weather, dishes, the helm (steering the ship) and lookout. In the lab we do a series of net tows and collect phytoplankton, zooplankton and process those organisms. On my afternoon watch during one of my stations, I was on lookout and standing on the bow of the ship, which is the very front, and all you could see for miles and miles was the ocean. Considering we are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, lookout is pretty mentally challenging because you usually don’t see any incoming vessels (or really anything at all haha). Although, lookout is my favorite because it’s a great chance to think and reflect on your day, while looking over the beautiful Atlantic.

Today on lookout the gales started to pick up, and it started pouring rain. I was initially annoyed because I had to stand in the cold rain for an hour but then I realized how lucky and grateful I am to be sailing across the ocean and getting this opportunity to do something as unique of an experience as this. About 30 minutes into lookout, I spotted seven dolphins under the head rig of the boat!!!! Just right below where I was standing, I shouted “DOLPHIN HO” and a bunch of my fellow watch mates + Danny and Colin who were taking a saltwater shower came running over. The dolphins stayed under the head rig jumping around in circles, and they even jumped in unison all together once! It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my life. The rest of my time on lookout was a joy, as I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face about how one bad situation like standing in the rain can be turned around so quickly to be quite the opposite. So far, Ocean Classroom has definitely been challenging with the lack of sleep and missing my family and friends a lot, but the people have really made this such an enjoyable time for me. I have made so many new friends and am so lucky to have started with the greatest of friends (Shoutout Mary, Brooke and Avery!!!! Love you guys). As we are about 170 nautical miles off Bermuda, I am so excited for the rest of my journey on this ship and to create even more memories!! J

Caroline D., A Watch

Shoutout the Fam!! Not a day goes by without missing you guys, love you Gator, Millie, Livvy, Mom, Dad, Piper and Jack