Sea Time byJake Adick

“Sea Time” By Jake Adick

October 23, 2009
En Route to Samana, Dominican Republic

Time. A simple unit of measure, yet it is so much more to us on Ocean Classroom. To us, 10:00 pm does not exist, it’s 2200. To us the word minute does not just mean minutes in an hour, it also means minutes in a degree. A minute to us also means a single nautical mile on the latitude scale. Our day is not scheduled out in classes, what we are going to learn, and when we are going to do certain things. To us, all we know is when watch starts and ends, and that we have two classes at 1000 and 1400.
During watch anything can happen. You might have 30 minutes of idle time, or you might be out on the head rigging putting a miter furl on the jib tops’l. Still, to us, time is measured by the events taking place, not by what your wristwatch says. We have no need for it, the only thing we need to know is when we take the helm, stand bow watch, due a boat check and when it is “time” to rotate duties. Although being on time is immeasurably important, if you asked us what day it was, it is guaranteed the majority could not tell you.
At mountain classroom, before we left for Ocean, our literature teacher said “One day on land equals three days at sea.” Such a true statement. Our days are long, broken up by random hours of sleep, when you spend more then two days at sea everything meshes together. Right now I am approaching my eighth day at sea heading towards the Dominican Republic and I just learned today what day of the week it actually is. Truly, it is a strange feeling, it almost feels like life is simpler without the complexity of dates, times and long schedules. It lets you think more clearly and enjoy that once in a lifetime sunset while perched high aloft on the foremast.