Programs Blog

June 17, 2025

Time: 20:20

Location: The Middle of the Pacific 

Weather: Morning squalls, clear and sunny afternoon, and a starry night.

We’ve finally made it to the middle of the Pacific! We’ve sailed past the Tuamotu Atolls and are a couple of days from Nuka Hiva. We have also shut off the engine and are officially sailing! We are seemingly completely alone in the ocean, except for once spotting a cruise ship and our radar picking up on a French warship nearby. All we see is rolling ocean around us. It is exhilarating and endlessly entertaining. You might think that the constant thrum and endless blue of the ocean could become repetitive, but it’s not. It’s magical. Especially when you stand on the bow during lookout in the middle of a squall, with the bow flying up and crashing down into the waves, it is the most incredible feeling in the world. The sky is constantly changing and the clear night sky is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Even today while serving as “Stew-Stu” (Steward’s Assistant), which was a blast by the way, the ships constant and sometimes violent swaying back and forth made the job even more fun, if not sometimes extremely difficult. Especially when you forget to secure a cutting knife and it goes flying across the galley or when I tried to make brownies and they baked in the shape of a wave, with one thin side severely burnt. Our dining tables are gimbaled, meaning they stay flush to the world while we do not. It is an incredible sight to see when I place my coffee cup down and the boat shifts moving the tables in angles that seem certain to spill everything on them, but the coffee cup remains perfectly in place and so do the contents inside. 

Last night we caught a mature tuna on one of our lures. Professor Jan prepared the tuna for the kitchen by killing, bleeding out, and gutting it. Today, we brought the tuna into the kitchen to begin fileting it. Firstly though, we all took a moment to inspect and admire the tuna. It is much larger and more beautiful than I expected it to be. With the help of Professor Jan, Vix the head steward and Gillian the assistant steward fileted the fish while I helped chop the meat into cubes for a delicious puissant cruet for dinner. 

For those who are curious we are split up into three watches, A, B, and C. We are constantly shifting through day one morning watch (7:00-13:00), day two afternoon watch (13:00-19:00), and day three dawn watch (01:00-7:00) and evening watch (19:00- 01:00).

Overall, life has been very exciting on board the Robert C. Seamans. We are constantly learning and growing as a group and I am looking forward the next weeks to come!

Madelyn Thorp B(est) Watch

UH at Hilo