Ocean Classroom: Into the Sargasso Sea

During their passage far offshore in the North Atlantic, across the Gulf Stream and into the Sargasso Sea, Ocean Classroom students' days aboard the Sea Education Association's Corwith Cramer were shaped by the rhythms that emerge after weeks at sea – watch rotations that include time at the helm, lookout vigils beneath the stars, and hours in the lab processing samples. As they sailed southward, students shared moments of discovery and revelation – spotting what appeared to be bioluminescent dolphins at 3:00 AM, the perspective shift from frustration to joy from standing lookout for an hour in the rain, or the feeling of awe that settles in when surrounded by nothing but ocean and stars. Students are also developing a growing awareness of their own capabilities, their connection to the natural world, and the bonds that form when 18 people learn to sail, live, and learn together aboard a 134-foot vessel. Read reflections from Riley, Caroline, Claire, and Eliza below!

Crossing the Gulf Stream!

Riley ’26

Sunday, 19 October 2025

Noon Position: 37°38.5’ N x 070°05.8’ W
Log: 818nm
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: Warm temps, bright sun, the occasional squall. Winds have been fairly light but were drifting 4 knots with the Gulf Stream under the main and forward stay sl’s

Day 11 aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer, and today we crossed the Gulf Stream! The breeze was warm and the sun felt wonderful after several days stuck below deck during stormy weather and cold temperatures. I am on A watch, and today we had dawn watch (1:00 - 7:00 AM) and evening watch (7:00 PM - 1:00 AM) as well as our first “field day” (several hours of deep cleaning the ship) in the afternoon, so it was a fairly exhausting schedule. Slowly but surely, I am adapting to the 18-hour watch cycle and lack of sleep. I spent dawn watch this morning on deck and night watch in the science lab. It’s been great learning the ins and outs of sail handling (furling the jib or JT on the head rig is my personal favorite) and getting to know our expansive scientific capabilities on board. 

My favorite deck rotation is Helm. At two in the morning it is certainly exhausting, but still so much fun steering the ship and then learning to plot points and predict weather in class. Lookout is also quite pleasant; being alone at the bow of the ship in the middle of the dark night is indescribably incredible. As the swell hoists Cramer up, the lookout becomes the highest point on the horizon for what feels like hundreds of miles. On lookout this morning at around 3:00 AM, I saw a pod of bioluminescent dolphins (dolphins with bioluminescent plankton on their skin) playing with the ship. I watched for about twenty minutes as they weaved in and out and below the keel, which was probably the highlight of my trip so far.

During night watch science lab, I got to do a Neuston tow that collected these bioluminescent organisms. As we poured the sample into a bucket on the science deck at 11:00 PM, the bioluminescence swirled around, and the thousands of plankton looked just like the thousands of stars and bits of the Milky Way visible above us in the incredible night sky. When I’m feeling seasick at night, I like to come on deck and sit and watch the stars and the sea as the swells push us up and down and the waves spray up onto the quarter deck, a feeling that is equally incredible as the seasickness is miserable.

As we make our way out of the Gulf Stream and into warmer weather and fairer seas, the whale sightings of the North Atlantic have turned into flying fish and dolphins in the bright blue Sargasso. How great it feels to finally be heading for St. John!

~ Riley ’26, A Watch

Heading into the Sargasso Sea

Caroline ’27

October 20, 2025

Ship Heading: 165°
Ship Speed (knots): 8.2 knots
Log (nm): 1026 nautical miles
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan: Slight Squalls, but lots of sunshine on afternoon watch
Description of location: 170 Nm North of Bermuda!

On Monday, October 20th, we left the Gulf Stream and entered the deep, blue Sargasso Sea. As I exited my bunk that day, I was awoken by the beautiful morning horizon, the sun was out and it was the nicest day we have had on the ship so far!! Wells and I did a little morning yoga with a cup of joe to get the morning started off right, while we were underway for the Sargasso Sea. The sea color changed from emerald green pastels of the Gulf Stream to deep blue waters, and it was so beautiful.  We had enchiladas for lunch, courtesy of Eliza’s cooking talents, to kick off a great Afternoon Watch.

For the Sea component of Ocean Classroom, we have 4 watch times, with 3 rotating watches. The watches are Morning Watch (7:00 AM - 1:00 PM), Afternoon Watch (1:00 PM - 7:00 PM), Evening Watch (7:00 PM - 1:00 AM), and Dawn Watch (1:00 AM - 7:00 AM).  During our watches, we are either on deck or in the lab. If we are on deck, we rotate through hourly stations of boat check and weather, dishes, the helm (steering the ship), and lookout. In the lab, we do a series of net tows and collect phytoplankton, zooplankton, and process those organisms. On my afternoon watch during one of my stations, I was on lookout and standing on the bow of the ship, which is the very front, and all you could see for miles and miles was the ocean. Considering we are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, lookout is pretty mentally challenging because you usually don’t see any incoming vessels (or really anything at all, haha). Although, lookout is my favorite because it’s a great chance to think and reflect on your day, while looking over the beautiful Atlantic.

Today, on lookout, the gales started to pick up, and it started pouring rain. I was initially annoyed because I had to stand in the cold rain for an hour, but then I realized how lucky and grateful I am to be sailing across the ocean and getting this opportunity to do something as unique of an experience as this. About 30 minutes into lookout, I spotted seven dolphins under the head rig of the boat! Just right below where I was standing, I shouted “DOLPHIN HO” and a bunch of my fellow watchmates, plus Danny and Colin, who were taking a saltwater shower, came running over. The dolphins stayed under the head rig, jumping around in circles, and they even jumped in unison altogether once! It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my life. The rest of my time on lookout was a joy, as I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face about how one bad situation like standing in the rain can be turned around so quickly to be quite the opposite. 

So far, Ocean Classroom has definitely been challenging with the lack of sleep and missing my family and friends a lot, but the people have really made this such an enjoyable time for me. I have made so many new friends and am so lucky to have started with the greatest of friends. As we are about 170 nautical miles off Bermuda, I am so excited for the rest of my journey on this ship and to create even more memories!

~ Caroline ’27, A Watch

Chill Day

Claire ’26

Wednesday, October, 22, 2025  

Noon Position: 33°31.0’ N x  063°46.2’ W
Ship Heading: 135°
Ship Speed: 6.2 knots
Log: 1232 nm
Weather: 24 degrees celsius; sunny with a slight breeze
Description of location: about 100 nm East of Bermuda

Today, my watch, C Watch, was on Afternoon Watch. After a nice chill morning of hanging out on the deck in the sun, observing the Sargasso Sea’s blue water, and slowly waking up from our sleep-in, it was time for me to head up into the lab for the remaining seven sunny hours of the day.  We started with our usual hourly data collection and observed an absurd amount of sargassum, a species of seaweed found in the Atlantic Ocean. We did not deploy any nets in our watch, but we did process many from earlier that day. This consisted of Avery and me rinsing each tiny piece of sargassum to make sure that no critters were missed in our “one-hundred count” for later. Once we completed that, we started to take a closer look at the sargassum to see what critters are living in it at the surface of the water, spotting microscopic little snails and Barnacles.

For class, we filmed our first attempt at our boat tour for our presentation at the end of the term but quickly realized that this would not be the only attempt and decided to come back to it at a later time. We then took the rest of our time in the lab to do one-hundred counts, identifying tiny critters and larvae from the ocean with a quick break to watch the sunset. After a very productive watch, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of pork sandwiches, and I, not too long afterwards, fell asleep to be woken up for morning watch the next day.

Claire ’26, C Watch

Eliza’s Excellent Blog

Eliza ’27

Friday, 24 October 2025

Noon Position: 32°49.23’ N x 058°44.04’ W
Ship Heading: full and by (180°)
Ship Speed: 7 kts
Log: 1548 nm
Weather: Winds SW, Force 4, Motorsailing at 1400 rpm under the Mains’l and two stays’ls
Description of location: North Sargasso Sea (heading south)

Most of these blogs start from what you did first that day; however, I want to write about my favorite moments so far. Currently, we have been aboard for just over 2 weeks, and reflecting back, I have done many things I could only imagine doing. Such as hauling in a main sheet, becoming an apprentice mate for a day, and reaching my hand into the galley sink to clear out the gross bits. All of which I have enjoyed learning about, for the most part. I was incredibly surprised by how quickly trust was put into my hands, as on the first day aboard, I was asked to take the helm. At the time, I actually had no idea what the helm was, but with some guidance, I pieced it together. From then on, helm has been a daily or even twice-daily occurrence for my shipmates and me. This leads me to a favorite moment, the helm. Although a bit nerve-racking and stressful at times, I quite enjoy the excitement. In addition, watching everyone take turns struggling to figure out the movements was an enthralling hobby; however, now everyone seems to have become professionals.

As our voyage continued, we began to make our way farther and farther away from land and into the Sargasso Sea. This meant our watches were now 6 hours on and 12 off instead of our tiny 1-2 hour anchor watches. My first watch was the morning watch, which was a surprise to step on deck and be surrounded by miles of ocean. For me, this was the first moment when I realized this was actually happening. We had already begun sailing, although no more than 100 miles offshore, and now it was a horizon of water as far as you could see. During the day, the sights were amazing. However, as the sun set, there was another surprise. If you let your eyes follow the main mast up to the very top, your eyes jump to the nearest light, and as they adjust, you can’t help but notice thousands of stars that look almost too bright to be real. There is not a single place you can look where you will not see a constellation or a cluster of tiny bright lights. Earlier today, at about 20:45, I laid down on the quarter deck, probably in the way just a little, and looked at the stars. My goal was to find the Big Dipper as it is the easiest, but it is very difficult out here with so many more constellations are visible!

During watch, there are two categories: deck and lab. Although both are riveting and very much hands-on, I find myself in the lab even while assigned to deck, picking through the recent Neuston tow. Recently, I have been assigned to lab, which I have no complaints about. Our watches have included processing Neuston tows, ph samples, chlorophyll-A samples, dip nets, and sargassum ID. During my most recent dawn watch, I spent about half of it picking sargassum out of the tiny sieve used to collect the smallest of organisms washed off the pelagic algae. Tedious, yes, but super interesting. We found 14 eel larvae, 3 octopi larvae, which was my favorite part because Sophia and I (one of the marine techs) were able to identify that one of them was alive under the microscope. I watched as the color-changing cells pulsated with a rusty orange hue. These were a bit more rare but some common organisms we find are copepods, krill, shrimp, salps, blue buttons, and jellyfish larvae. Oh, and lots of microplastics, which is the topic for two of the research groups. So far, my group and I (Carter Olivierio, Nate Cornell) have processed 24 bottle caps we deployed over the side and many, many dip net collections. The students recently met with our science teachers to discuss the next step of our projects, as we have hit the halfway mark.

Currently, our track is heading east because we are setting ourselves up to be in a safe place when Hurricane Melissa breaks free from the Caribbean Sea and heads into the North Atlantic. Our weather report today from a couple of my shipmates stated that the hurricane is continuing to grow, yet we are still unsure where she will be heading. Most of the adults, Captain Pamela included, said that our course line to the east and then south will put us in a great spot because we will be avoiding even the outskirts of the system. From what I can tell, nobody is worried, and we all have lots of trust in the pros, so don’t be worried, parents!

Lastly, I just want to say how exciting this trip is for everyone. We are all doing very well and are excited to begin to head south to warmer weather and bluer seas!

Eliza ’27, B Watch

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