Harvey Gamage

The sun is about to rise and there is an eerie feeling in the air. The sea is so calm you can see the reflection of the stars in the water – weather that is not conducive to sailing. Everything is still. When the sun finally shows itself over the horizon the colors that appear are indescribable. I took around twenty or thirty photos and no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible capture the beauty of the scene around me.
Somewhere along the way we picked up an extra passenger – a large heron perched itself on the bowsprit and watched us while he rested. Boy did he get a good show! Two students, Matt and Andrew, climbed aloft with deckhand Angela for the first time! This is one of my favorite events to witness. In order to be given permission to climb aloft, first they must become aloft cleared which involves weeks of studying the rig, knots and safety precautions. One can imagine the smiles from the faces of these two boys as all their hard work had finally paid off!
This group of has come a long way over the past five weeks! It seems like only yesterday we were all meeting for the first time at Proctor, now those clean clothes have become dirty, and they are transforming into salty sailors. Currently they are taking on more and more responsibilities around the ship and working together seamlessly as watches. I am so thankful to be a part of this amazing adventure.
--Brooke