Programs Blog

12 October 2024

Location: 13˚ 23.8′ S x 176˚ 58’ E

Weather: Wind out of the Northwest, Force 4, cumulus clouds  

Hello from Robert C Seamans, also referred to as “Bobby C”! My name is Talia Felcher, and I am the program assistant/medical officer on S-318. I sailed a few years back as a student on the Plastics Expedition with our same captain, Rick Miller. I also spent this past summer on the Ocean Policy program sailing from Tahiti to Fiji, so I’ve become familiarized to life at sea and life on board Bobby C. There’s something beautifully simplistic about being at sea. The joys of morning sunrise, ocean breeze, stargazing, marine life, and good community are all elevated. My appreciation for the world around me and the vastness of the ocean greatly increases.

I have been living on campus in Woods Hole with all the students these past 6 weeks getting to know everyone and build our group relationship before heading to sea. A few days ago, we all embarked on a long, long travel journey to Fiji to meet the staff crew and Bobby C, the sailing vessel we’ll be living on for the next 6 weeks. I say staff crew because from the second you walk on this ship, you become part of the crew, not a passenger. Therefore, the students are all part of the crew.

On October 9th, we finally sailed out of Port Denarau, a long-awaited departure, which was two days late due to immigration and customs communication. We’re now heading north straight for Tuvalu which we’ll plan to arrive at on October 15th! As we passed through the reef sailing away from Fiji on our first evening at sea, a pod of dolphins swam around us, leaping out of the ocean. That was a great start to the voyage!

It’s been quite exciting seeing everyone I got to know on campus join the ship and transition from life on shore to life at sea. While it’s not always a smooth transition, everyone has stayed quite positive and eager to learn and join in on sail handling and deck duties like boat checks, lookout, and steering at the helm. There’s always an adjustment to life at sea, with the main barrier being seasickness. Often within the first few days of the program, students will stay above deck with their eyes on the horizon, breathing in fresh air. Everyone is better now and despite the now past unpleasantness of seasickness, morale is high!

We have begun full watch rotations, which means students have 6-hour watches then 12 hours off to sleep, eat, etc. During evening watch last night, we had a decent squall with strong gusts of wind and dumping rain. C watch and anyone else on deck rallied to quickly handle the sails, including striking the mains’l and jib. Everyone’s learning fast! Today, we start science deployments, which will occur twice a day for the rest of the voyage.

An extended shoutout/hello to friends and family back home! Thinking of you all and can’t wait to see a few of you in Aotearoa <3