News

Wednesday, 5 August 2026
Noon Position: 41°22.9N x 070°51.3 W
Ship Heading: 145°
Ship Speed: 3 kn
Log: 62 nm
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: Clear weather/~10-12 knots of wind/Four lowers and jib tops’l
Steering south of offshore wind turbine installation (~5.5nm away), Southwest corner of Martha’s Vineyard is 23.5 nm away

Today was our first day away from land. At around 9:30-10AM we began prep for disembarking from the dock. We detached lines for electricity, inflated buoys called fenders that were our buffer in between the ship and the docks, and much more. Once we actually left the docks and began to get going, the ship began to rock more than it did when we were at dock. A lot more. Often I found myself grabbing onto a railing or a solid surface for stability. As we were in the first half an hour of leaving dock, the first watch began. There are three watches (A,B,C) and they take turns doing different things like boat checks, science in the lab, various chores/tasks like helping wash dishes, be a lookout for other boats, fishing nets, etc, being at the helm (which means you get to steer the boat), etc. Each watch is on duty for six hours at a time before they get twelve hours off and the process repeats (watch timeslots are 1AM-7AM, 7AM-1PM, 1PM-7PM, 7PM-1AM). C Watch (I am on C watch) began as the first shift. 

The first job I had was at the helm for around an hour: it was great. There is a compass in front of the steering wheel so that you know where you’re steering based on the navigational instructions and you just try and keep the boat on course. Being at the helm feels like you’re in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. After boat checks and more were completed, our shift was finally over (we had a short shift due to departure and only had around three hours of shifts). After we handed over watch duties to A Watch, we went straight to lunch as it was 1PM. Knowing that we had the Dawn Shift (1AM-7AM) which is also known as the “Graveyard Shift”, I took a nap. I don’t know if anyone else was napping since I was simply in too deep of a sleep. Slightly before 2:30pm, I was awoken and as much as I wanted to fall back asleep, I got up, got ready and headed over to the quarterdeck for our science presentation of the day. Later that day, after dinner, I fell back asleep, aided by Deep Sleep tea that Sebastian and I drank. I was awoken by one of my shipmates at around 30 min until our shift started. As he was letting me know about the temperatures/weather outside, I was still half asleep. I had been napping throughout the day in preparation for this.

As I was awakening from my previous four hour nap, I proceeded to get ready, put on a fleece, shoes, and harness, brush my teeth, and then I headed on up to the deck where we proceeded to start the handoff from B Watch to C Watch. For this particular morning, I was assigned to the science lab for my shift. As we proceeded to work on science throughout the night, I learned a valuable lesson: I had never been up this late before and I never want to again. As I’m writing this at 5:30AM after a long and extremely foggy night, I can safely say that I will be ready to do it all again when I wake up in the afternoon which is probably when I’d be waking up if I was at home anyway.

C Watch: Suren (author of today’s blog), Aj, Tad, Sebastian, Charlotte, Ethan, Sky.