Programs Blog

Not Long Here, Not Long Gone

May 14, 2026

Enjoying the last sunset out to sea!

Thursday, 14 May, 2026.

Noon Position (Lat and Long): 41 degrees 21.44’ N, 070 degrees 46.99’ W

Log (nm): nm

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: At Anchor! Foggy. Wind ESE Force 4

Description of location: Menemsha Bight, Martha’s Vineyard, MA

The final day. The last moment. A big inhale, a big exhale. All things begin to have an undertone of bittersweet. Both student and crew member linger a bit longer, laugh a little harder, and shed a tear or two.

Today is spent deep cleaning, followed by celebration. And tomorrow, the impossible shift will begin. Back to “normal life,” back to school, to families and friends, to assignments and worries about the future. What we’ll all soon realize is there is no “back.” You can only move forward. The journey that has unfolded over the last six weeks has planted a seed, and that itch for the adventure will find its way up and out of us again. Once you know the sea, once you meet the stars and the sun, the dolphins, the wind, the creaking sounds of the rig in the quiet early hours of dawn, you will never be able to forget. You are changed forever. And what a gift it is, a painfully hard gift at that, to close such an experience. Ultimately, however, this is what gives it such significant meaning, what causes the tightness in all of our chests tonight as we lie down in our bunks for one final night: The end. The end makes it special. Life is full of closings, endings, death. All of it brings the finite understanding of time. We’ve only got here and now, and we must make the most of it.

We arrived at Menemsha Bight, Martha’s Vineyard yesterday afternoon and dropped the anchor. It took a couple of tries to get it to dig in and hold, but the crew worked tirelessly to make our ship safe. Laughter radiated throughout the vessel as folks gathered to play cards, share homemade pizza, and savor the time together.

Today was our last full day aboard Cramer. It was a big day of boat love – scrubbing your bunk, the entire deck and all of the wood, the ceilings and floors, the nooks, undersides, and crannies. It’s a labor of love for our floating home who rarely rests. It feels good at the end of it all, to give care to what cared for you.

After some hard scrubbin’ elbow grease, the main event that we’ve all been waiting for… Swizzle! A party of all parties, a comedy show, slam poetry, art gallery, a roast?! Who’s to say what it is honestly. Swizzle is indefinable, and boy are we excited. Simon and Zara, our fearless MC’s are prepping their jokes, while the acts rehearse around the boat. No better way to honor our time out here then a celebration of all kinds. I can’t wait to laugh and cry with our family here.

It will be hard for each and every one of us stepping off to put into words what happened out there, what we saw and felt, and we ask that you’re patient with us as we process the whole of it. I’m certainly overwhelmed thinking about turning my phone back on and reconnecting into the world, having to come up with an answer to “how was it?!”. Give us a moment to steady up on dry land, to smell the trees and the dirt, and to close the adventure. But tonight we’re still here, surrounded by only our shipmates, savoring the last night of this precious life.

Gray George, Deckhand, A Watch