Programs Blog

Wednesday, 15 April, 2026.

Noon Position: (Lat and Long): 23 degrees 48.151’ N, 063 degrees 37.684’ W

Log (nm): 680.1 nm

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan (from 1300 Watch Change): Very cloudy with occasional squalls, wind from the East generally, sailing under the 4 lowers

Description of location: Over the Nares Abyssal Plain, in the South Sargasso Sea

Hello to all back at home!

I’ve just come back from dinner after a successful watch, and I’m excited to share some of my musings from the last 10 days or so. I’ve been on deck for watch (rather than in the lab) for the past few rotations. I’m sure there’s been some fun stuff I’m missing there, but it’s just as well because I find the lab is not very good for my seasickness. Hopefully as things continue to settle in, I’ll be feeling up for the tasks there. For the last few days, it’s been rather dark and stormy. We’ve rolled past and through a good number of squalls and dark clouds, my foulies have been getting good use at the very least, and the humidity has kept all of my loose hair frizzy around my head. Today was pretty routine on deck though, I practiced some of my navigational skills, like dead reckoning and boxing the compass, and I spent some time sweating lines way over my head with Shel, the B watch mate. Sheeting in the fore stays’l in the middle of a squall really makes you feel like a sailor. The clouds did part just in time for a lovely sunset though, and we got to enjoy that before going below.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we divide our time here, and one of the things I’ve spent the most time considering is true free time. Not working, in class, sleeping, or eating. And I’ve come to the conclusion that most of the students gather at higher places for enjoyment. There’s definitely some evolutionary and psychological explanation for why this happens, having to do with safety and vantage point, but I just wanted to talk about a couple of the places I’ve felt I can find real enjoyment higher up on the ship.

The first thing that comes to mind is up at the bow. The very front of the boat is a great place to have some introspective time. It’s also physically higher than most of the deck. The headrig under the bowsprit was the host of a very exciting moment for me early on in the trip, when we got to jump into the water from there during the swim call. I think Sam a couple days ago already talked about how lookout during watch is a good time to reflect, and for me, lookout is a joyful moment of noticing, and quiet observation. That’s your job in that moment, to watch for vessels and particularly expressive clouds, but there are things beyond that in your hour at the bow that you can see too. I’ve compiled a short list of what I’ve seen that’s made me happy these past few days:

–        Spray off the crests of waves that glows whitish-green in the dark

–        The way a squall is raging on the inside, but looks like a gentle, silky curtain from a distance, drawing itself into the sea from the base of a cloud

–        Stars above, stars below. It seems like everything in the ocean is bioluminescent, and the Corey Cramer stirs up quite a bit of motion, so the swell sparkles beneath you

–        The way the wind etches fine arched patterns into the sea surface. They look like a thousand ginkgo leaves shaking in the wind, or the grain of Cramer’s bow under your fingers. Even this far away from them, I’m still thinking about trees

There are lots of other places to talk about (the lab top, the roof of the chart house, even aloft in the rigging), but the bow happens to be my happy place at the moment. On a separate note, there are plenty of things I’m missing from home. A good black and white shake would hit the spot, but mostly I’m thinking about baseball. Ten days without it has driven me quite mad, and I keep waking from a terrible nightmare where we’ve traded Roman Anthony to the Yankees for an unpromising pitching prospect, one day’s worth of dryer lint, and a half-eaten bag of maple bacon Cheetos (chip clip not included). I dearly hope for that not to be the case. My list of land things also includes a glass of water with ice cubes, a crispy energy drink, and a settled stomach.

I miss you all very much at home! And specifically for my family, please feed Ellington a small piece of bread or cheese or something that you all wouldn’t give him but I would.

Fair winds, and I’ll see you all soon!

Lyra Gold, B Watch

Me, very carefully easing the main sheet. Don’t worry mum I still have my glasses. They’re safely away in a drawer when this picture was taken because they had just gotten too rainy during a squall.

A rather contemplative ocean and sky you might see from a high place on the ship.