Programs Blog

Friday, March 7, 2025

Position: 42° 40.828’S  X  175° 51.005’E

Ship Heading: 137° / Log: 1350 NM

Ship Speed: 6 knots

Wind Speed: 9 knots

Family, friends, faculty reading from time zones away, kia ora!

It’s been over a week at sea now and while I would expect to have become rather stir crazy at this point, I can’t say I am in the slightest. After a post evening watch (1900-0100) deep sleep (the easing of the swells has me snoozing so hard, no longer awoken by a roll causing me to do a 180 turn in my bunk) I awoke early, eager to enjoy some down time on deck, there hasn’t been much of that the past few days!

I prepared my cozy cup of earl grey and played my favorite game of “can I get this scorching hot cup of tea up to deck without a spill?” After much trial and error I can say I now have a pretty good strategy. Side note, the fact that my choice of beverage this morning was tea and not coffee shows just how much self-growth is really going on here.

On deck, there was laughter and sunshine, easily two of the best things to wake up to. A third best thing, albatross! Not just one, but five all at once! I had never seen an albatross before this trip; I had never expected to see five at once in a lifetime.

Although I woke up early for the lazy watch standards, I didn’t quite make it to breakfast. But there was no reason to go hangry, I had been blessed by the hutch gods with a leftover bagel, and my goodness that bagel really hit the spot.

Shortly after my bagel it was time to eat again (we do so much of that, truly spoiled by our beloved chefs) and time to prepare to my afternoon watch. Lucky me, it was my turn to run the watch. I learned so much about the behind the scenes of our watches, making notes in logbooks, preparing for turnover, and keeping a strong internal clock throughout the shift.

When I was on the helm I was treated to some tunes, Ira on the fiddle, Eric on the guitar, Caitie on the bongos, and a choir of nearly ten of us. I was taken back to driving on the highway with the radio blasting; this was similar, only I was driving a 134-foot brigantine in the South Pacific Ocean. Once again, some serious self-growth.

Shoutouts!!!

The Family – Mom, Dad, Garrett, I miss you all so dearly! I hope you know that I am keeping a list of all the things I’m looking forward to telling you the next time we get a chance to call. Grandpa, Nicole, Alex, I will let you know I am brushing up on my French with some language books leftover in the library from the RCS trip to French Polynesia, bisoux! To the family in Austria, I am trying my best to make a detour through Vienna on my journey home, I hope to see you all very soon!

The Pals – You guys are placed quite literally all over the world right now, each on a journey of your own doing your own badass things. I hope you are collecting stories to share when we meet again. Perhaps in Melbourne, perhaps in Seoul, perhaps in Syracuse, I can’t wait to squeeze you all so very soon.

The Neighbors – Living in a tight knit community here on board has taught me a lot but coming from the Potts Pond/Indian Waters crew makes me feel like I started with an advantage. I’m thankful more and more every day for the place where I grew up and the people that made the place.

Peace, love, and boatloads of hugs to you all!!! <3

Izzy Kaufman, A Watch, Syracuse University