Programs Blog

Author: Jennessa White, C Watch, Muhlenberg College

Ship’s Log

Noon Position:
10 33.04′ N 160 06.874′ W

Heading:
Hove to

Ship Speed:
1.6 knots

Taffrail Log:
849.5 nm

Weather/Wind/Sail Plan:
Cloudy Skys, relatively strong breeze in the air keeping us all cool so close to the equator, we are currently heve to until tomorrow then we will be back underway.

We are currently west of Ironwood Seamount.

Souls on Board

Today was a very eventful day aboard the Robert C. Seamans! My day started off with a watch meeting, which was held on the head rig of the ship. While hanging out, C Watch checked in with one another on how things are going for us so far through an exercise called “high and low tide”.  We all shared what has been going well for us and what hasn’t. It was refreshing to hear that we are all on the same page regarding getting used to life on the ship!

Additionally, we all shared that we are very eager to reach Palmyra and see what the Atoll has in store for us. We have been making our way there relatively fast, with a rough average of 7.5 knots an hour! To slow things down a bit we heved to (stopped the ship) at 1430 to conduct our first field day!

Field day aboard the Seamans takes place during class time on Saturdays and entails a great amount of both cleaning and singing. This event involves a very deep clean to the entire ship: cleaning every inch of the galley, the heads (toilets), all vertical surfaces, the soles (floors), and even ourselves! To make the day even more exciting, our field day was concluded with a shower on deck with the ships fire hose!

Life Aboard the Ship

Since being aboard the ship, now a total of 10 days, I have learned so much new information and I am sure that my peers can say the same. We have learned so much about navigation, different creatures of the Pacific Ocean, sail handling, and especially how tough simple tasks can be when constantly rocking. When underway, all things on the ship are moving at all times- both objects and crew! At all times there are at least 9 of us awake on watch, serving for there never to be a dull moment. There is always something new and exciting to hear about when awake on the ship. Either our stewards Cat and Gracie are cooking up something that smells delicious, fun creatures are being brought aboard via neuston tows from the lab, or interesting stories about constellations are being shared while hanging out on deck at night.

I can truly say that I have learned so much about the ocean and myself as a person since being here and it as only been a little over a week! This experience has given me the opportunity to see bright starts when on dawn watch (0100-0700), shooting stars, bioluminescence, and not seeing any land whatsoever (something I never thought I would say). I can’t wait to see what both the Robert C. Seamans and the Pacific Ocean have in store for S302 in the next upcoming 28 days!

Hello from the Pacific Ocean!

Hello to everyone at home! To Mom, Dad, and Jaz thank you so much for letting me have this amazing experience and pushing me to go out of my comfort zone (please give Prince a hug for me). To James, I miss you so much I can’t wait to see you in Hawai’i!! I love you all SO MUCH and can’t wait to tell you all about my amazing experiences!

Jennessa White, C Watch, Muhlenberg College

Contact: Douglas Karlson, Director of Communications, 508-444-1918 | [email protected]