Programs Blog

Tuesday, October 29^th, 2025

Noon Position: 23°38.4’ N x 057°40.1’ W

Ship Heading: SWxW

Ship Speed: 7 kts

Log: 2298

Weather: SE Wind Force 3, sailing under Deep Reef Mains’l, mainstays’l, forestays’l, and jib

Description of location: 430 nm off the BVIs (En route to St. John)

Today was a great day. It started nice and early for me at 00:30 because I had dawn watch which starts at 01:00. Lucky for me I got a full four hours of sleep beforehand but also a few hours of sleep during the day. When I got up on deck to do my deck walk before the watch turnover I was surprised by how crisp the stars were. We have seen some amazing stars throughout our trip but right then the moon was hidden by a dark rain cloud which made the night much darker and the stars much more vivid. As I did my deck walk I saw three shooting stars which made me very excited for the next six hours standing watch under the stars. When I finished my walk and got to the turnover I was sent to relive the lookout. In my hour on lookout I saw many shooting stars, including a few that lit up the whole sky, and I even spotted another ship that I reported to my watch officer. Shortly after seeing the ship I was relieved from lookout and sent to relieve the helm.

On the helm I continued to watch the stars and I listened to Sara, my watch officer, communicate with the passing ship whose watch was clearly very bored and were happy to talk to someone. After the helm I did a boat check and got a few minutes to stand on the quarter deck and talk to the helmsman and look for constellations in the sky. The rest of watch went pretty fast and I cycled through the same three positions once more. I got to be on the helm as the sun came up which was really nice. As watch ended and other people started to wake up I was starting to look forward to getting into my bunk and sleeping for the first few hours of daylight.

When I woke up from my nap I was really hot and I grabbed my book and went on deck to try to find a shady and breezy spot to read. I ended up sitting on the lab-top under the shade of the main stays’l using the furled fisherman sail as a cushion. It felt great I had a view of everything that was happening on deck which included some science deployments, sail handling, and a few fellow readers scattered around. After a few hours reading and milling around deck I had lunch and then we had class where I worked on my project. Partway through my work I got interrupted by our steward Brooke asking if I wanted to help her throw old fruit overboard. After that was done I finished up my project and went to take a saltwater shower. It felt amazing and I stood on the bow rinsing myself with seawater and watched the sun start to set. I then hung out on the quarterdeck with everyone else to watch the sun sink below the horizon. I just finished dinner and I have evening watch about to start, and I can’t wait to spend some more time looking at the stars with my friends.

Sam Z., C Watch