Ocean Classroom: Finding Their Sea Legs

Proctor's Ocean Classroom students departed Boston Harbor last week aboard the Sea Education Association's Corwith Cramer, setting sail for open ocean after waiting out challenging weather conditions at anchor. During their stopover, the crew explored Boston's aquarium and maritime museums before weighing anchor and heading south. The students are settling into life at sea - adjusting to watch rotations, anchor checks, and the constant motion of the ship, even celebrating a birthday with a "slightly angled" chocolate cake - while conducting science deployments and learning to sail. The challenges of life aboard are real, but as students are discovering, the enduring learning, friendships formed, and memories created will make the adjustment to life at sea worthwhile. Read about life aboard the Corwith Cramer over the last ten days in this edition of Ship's Log entries from Wells, Alex, and Magnus, plus updates from the crew!

Into Boston!

Wells '26

Sunday, 12 October 2025

Noon Position: 42° 21.9’ N x 070° 38.1’ W
Log: 224 nm
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: Today was extremely windy (Force 7), cloudy, with large swells and some light rain towards the end of the day. We sailed into Boston under two staysails before motoring to the pier.
Location: Fan Pier, Boston Harbor

Today, A watch had the morning watch (0700-1300). We sailed from our anchorage in Nantucket to a Boston dock. Originally, we were going to head straight to St. Croix from our anchorage, but we instead decided to dock in Boston to avoid a nor’easter. We had our first full 24 hours underway, with all watch groups rotating through a 6-hour watch. The morning watch was extremely windy, and taking the helm was harder than the days previous. Many students, and some crew became seasick. The deck was busy and fun, and everyone learned the true meaning of the splash zone. Those who were in lab deployed multiple types of nets, and took water samples to find chlorophyll-a content.

Down below, the students adjusted to the recently gimbaled tables while learning to moonwalk on the angled soles. It then turned to brief chaos when the tables bottomed out, and several things went flying. Everyone immediately went to work cleaning and made it into an unexpectedly fun experience. Once we docked in Boston, we had our afternoon meeting, where students presented and listened to the science, navigation, weather, and academic reports.

I don’t know how to articulate just how fun today was. We learned so much, experienced so many firsts, and it felt like everyone around me was there to support me.

~ Wells '26

Boston Field Trip

Alex '26

Monday, October 13th

Noon Position: 42° 21.9’ N x 070° 38.1’ W
Log: 224 nm
Weather: Today has had intense winds (Force 7) and it has been very rainy.
Location: Seaport District of Boston, Fan Pier

Today we had a great day. We started the morning off with breakfast and making lunches to go. Then we got ready to go on our voyage in the rain. Our walk to the aquarium was about twenty minutes and very wet. Most of us made the great decision of wearing our foulies, including me. As we ventured to the aquarium, we took advantage of the wet surfaces and slid across the ground most of the walk and some people even jumped in puddles.

The aquarium had many fish and marine animals, and we took time to look for information that could help with the work for our final projects. Jeff and Craig gave us prompts to help guide us through the exhibits. After the morning at the aquarium, we spent an hour and a half on a lunch break walking around Faneuil Hall. I wasted most of my time searching for a hoodie which I chose not to bring on the boat. Ultimately there were not many stores and I did not buy a hoodie, Magnus did not buy sweatpants and Claire did not buy socks. Although Faneuil Hall is not a great place to find clothes, they do have great food. Magnus, Nate, and I decided to have Chinese food at which we ate on a bench in the rain.

To finish off our day on land we had a fun walk of what felt like most of Massachusetts to explore a few museums on the Atlantic History of Boston and return to the Corwith Cramer.

Our current plan A for the next few days of sailing is as follows: Depart Boston harbor at 0900 where we will see 6–8-foot swells (instead of 15-foot swells if we had left today) and travel about 50 nm to Provincetown to anchor for the night in a protected area. Then, we will set sail into open ocean heading for St. John!

~ Alex '26

Weather Delays and Shipboard Adjustments

Magnus '26

14 October 2025

Log: 230 nm
Weather: More rain, some fog, but lightening winds
Location: At Anchor in President Roads, Boston

Today my day started with anchor watch from 0300 to 0400 which I spent asking my watch mates a variety of questions as an attempt to keep us all awake. After falling back asleep once my watch was over, I only had around 2 hours to sleep before breakfast. After breakfast we went into morning watch to prepare the ship for a 1300 departure. I spent my first couple of hours of the watch doing dishes in the galley with Avery, then went on deck to furl the sails before departure. Unfortunately I missed us leaving the dock because I was taking a nap in anticipation for dawn watch. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful because we anchored shortly after leaving the dock continuing to wait for the weather to settle down before we go into the open ocean. Finally during ship’s meeting, we were told that our water usage was too high and that we need to pause our schedule of showers and set up a more careful water-conserving plan.

Overall, the voyage has not been what I expected. It is much more physically and emotionally taxing than what I had thought. From the mid-night wakeups to the long watches and never getting a moment to myself it has been difficult. That being said, the friendships I’m making and the memories I’m creating are well worth the adjustments to a new sleeping schedule.

Updated sailing plan: Weigh anchor and set sail for open ocean at 0600!

~ Magnus '26

Clearing the Cape and Headed South!

Wednesday, 15 October 2025

Noon Position: 42° 16’ N X 070° 30.8’ W
Ship Heading: 130° PSC
Ship Speed: 8 knots
Log: 299.4 nm
Weather: Overcast, Winds North, Force 6, Seas 5 feet
Location: Currently East of Wellfleet

Greetings from the aft cabin of the Corwith Cramer!  We are underway with favorable conditions for our passage south after our brief stopover in the Boston area to wait out the weather. With some well-appreciated sun and light winds to start us out, we are now settled into a broad reach with a steady sailing breeze.

~ Craig, Craig, Sailing Faculty

Finding Our Sea Legs

Saturday, 18 October 2025

Position: 37° 50.88’ N x 071° 55’ W
Currently Hove To for Science Station under the Mains’l, mainstays’l, and forestays’l
Weather: Mostly Clear skies with cumulous clouds on the horizon, wind NxW, Force 4.
Location: Roughly 10 nm north of the Gulf Stream

Greetings to all! The last few days have been a “finding your sea legs” challenge for the student crew in terms of adjusting to the motion of the ship as we safely navigated around some heavy weather. Looking at a computer screen for more than a minute or so was definitely not an option for them, so we pressed pause on their blog entries. HOWEVER, nothing could stop us from celebrating Carter’s birthday yesterday! The stewards baked up a lovely (if slightly angled due to the tack we were on) chocolate cake with loads of whipped cream frosting with some birthday confetti mixed in. It was a fun and delicious afternoon celebration.

So, until we get back to students feeling up for writing on our ship’s computers, this is a quick hello from the crew to our loyal blog followers and let you know that all is well.  We are on track to enter into the Gulf Stream current later today under fairly calm conditions, and we will use that major ocean current and some lovely winds out of the north to get east before we turn south again toward the US Virgin Islands.

Stay tuned for the imminent resumption of student entries!

~ Craig, Sailing Faculty

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