Programs Blog

Friday, 28 February, 2025

Location: 37° 41.1’ S x 177° 39.2’ E

Log: 531.3 Nautical Miles

Weather: Grey skies with light rain and Northwesterly winds

During my first days on the Seamans it felt as though I was a cat attempting to unravel all the linguine in Italy. A fun task, but impossible nonetheless.

In the days gone past, however, things have slowly begun to untie themselves. Sails are called to be struck and I find the right line amid the sea of lines, Ph values become more consistent, engine checks go faster, my baseline of skills is growing larger.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not as though there is less to learn. Each day we seem to be faced with a new infinitely large mountain of knowledge that is replaced each time we chip away at it… but this is why we are here. A uniquely enjoyable Sisyphean task where the goal of the process isn’t the final result.

When not faced with the brunt of my own ignorance I have time to look off and around the ship, here are some highlights from the last couple days:

1. An active volcano – we sailed by at sunset while it spewed clouds of steam into the orange tinted sky above
2. A calm sea and petrels – almost as in a dream, the sea was a mirror as far as I could see and around the ship floated over 30 petrels brought down from the sky due to the lack of wind.
3. Hoisting the Raffee sail – known affectionally as the ‘party hat’ it sits above all the other sails and is fiendishly difficult to set, but it catches wind that is too high for the others to reach.
4. The many incredible meals from our stewards – resting your weary bones in the galley after a long watch and gorging yourself has to be one of life’s greatest rewards.
5. Examining our neuston tows – under the microscope the ocean takes on a new form. The complex zooplankton structures display a world completely new to me, beautiful, weird, colourful and alive.

Aotearoa’s coastline is stunning, the sunsets and stars have no rival, and I have no excuse to complain.

Ira Reinhart-Smith, B Watch, College of the Atlantic

To the family:

Miss you bunches, I’ll send ya postcards at the next port stop. Esme, savour Turtle Lake while you have it. Hannah, I got you a t-shirt.