House Building!

The student crew is  currently in Luperon, DR for about the next week working on our service mission with the "Village" Mountain Mission, where we are building a modest home for Ceneida and Salvador and their kids Meirdi, Antonio, and Samuel. The house will be 18' x 20' with a small porch, built of concrete block and poured cement.

This morning we toured the La 17 pueblo of "La Savanna," and checked out some houses built by the Village in the past. After lunch, the tours ended and we got to work lugging 500 cement blocks and digging a footer for the foundation. Tomorrow we'll mix and pour concrete and start laying block.

The village kids were on hand the whole afternoon, and we've been making friends by the dozen. Internet access is not the best, so we'll be posting a complete update with pictures in a few days.

Before we came to Luperon, we spent a day at the National Park in Samana and had "Schooner Olympics," a nautical challenge won by C watch. More to come!!

All are well,

JP

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Student Poetry and Short Stories

"Caribbean" by Abi Campbell

Beleaguered with their history
once white invaded the islands
yet the rhythm of their indigenous
lives still beats; now harder then ever
Appreciation of breadfruit; lingering
above the dark skin
inherited by those souls
have been painted into the soil.
Voices of wave, calling out to life
breaking through the tension
of humid air
an air wishing to tell
the story of humanity

"Arriving" by Dan Dickinson

As I walk out of the airplane
I am thinking goodbye Maine
When I look at this lovely place
You should of seen my shocking face

All of the sailing I have learned
In the process I am completely burned
As the Caribbean stands alone
I am completely blown.



"This Island" by Macy Lamson

She takes care of us
She despises us
We sing praises, loud rhymes of love
Ever hopeful that she’ll let us go home

She is nature
She is the laughter of the sailor’s desires
We have a perfect love,
But a broken friendship

So, over the seas, we shall sail
The journey will be an exciting tale
Over the seas our quest is done
Only because she let us have fun


"These Islands" by Lee Brown

On the clouds we will meet
with the moon at our feet
and the sun’s glow is gone,
its only us in this dream

Mingled wine is our claim,
in this murderous fate,
and our black grief is here,
but its eve is of late,

When the full moon shines tonight,
we will fly from our keep,
and the blood of our fathers is alive,
and love will lie in restful sleep,

till the sun shines upon us,
we will dance in the night,
with the light of the moon,
and the love of the fight

with their screams in the air,
we will wear this tragic mask,
and bring terror to the world,
and to all of them that last.



"A History" by Kaitlin Orne

would we have remembered if it were us?
remembered the simple sound of ourselves laughing at the moon,
singing to the stars,
playing with the other broken souls that were once treated as foul animals;
perfect people forced to live in an imperfect world.
their voyage had been chosen for them-
we got to invent ours


"My Poem" by Jesse Prothers

You lay above the geotropical equator
You are the place I was born
Your constant beauty and warmness astounds me
There is a certain bondage between you and me
The way we have changed before each other
We are similar but we are different,
You have seen pain, brutatality and bloodshed
part of you has been destroyed, a scar
that you shall bare for all eternity

You have been my life companion
like peanut butter and jelly, I am only
half a sandwich without you
We share a bond like no other
You have never been cruel to me, you are
beautiful, gentle, giant

When I return to you I am hit
with an embracing sunlight hug
You are the flower that never closes
The brightest star in the sky during the
clearest night
My desire to be with you has no limit
to fall alongside you and float in your
vast oceans would be a dream come true.




"Trinidad Garden" Short Story By. Crawford Cunningham

Every Saturday morning I get to watch the sun rise. Watching it poke through the trees on the hill across the path. I see the sun’s rays light up the pink and purple flowers around me as it warms me up. On some days, just from first light, you know if its gonna be a hot day. There are a few early morning joggers as well as people strolling the gardens at first light. Later in the mornings people begin to file in. Some groups are larger, others are just couples going for a walk. On the best mornings I get to hear the beautiful voices of the church and prayer groups that meet in the parks. Some mornings tourists will come to the park to find lush, beautiful gardens filled with colors they could never have expected. Throughout the day the people come, some to play, others to talk, and others to silently sit, contemplating things. I see all of this happening around me. Often, people use my branches as cover from the intense rays of the sun. In the evenings people come to watch as the sun sets over the horizon, “Oohhing “ and “Aahhing” as the sun dips under the earth.


“In the Garden" by Abi Campbell

A late Saturday morning in the gardens of Trinidad. Although the grass is brittle due to drought the flowers are their usual color: bright magenta, cool pink, and pastel shades of purple. Tourists and natives alike, walk past on the paved pathway weaving like a maze throughout the gardens. Little school boys in their white and black uniforms run ahead of their mothers laughing and stumbling over their young feet as their mothers gaze ahead smiling. Just across the field under the shade of a gazebo stand people singing in unision, swaying back and forth to the beat enjoying the enlightenment of their weekend church sermon. Couples holding hands stroll by admiring the tall trees but making sure to avoid the small purple flowers laden through the grass with their feet. The sound of birds chirping to one another from branch to branch in their own specific tone cancels out the sound of cars whipping past only a few hundred feet away. But as I hear the sound it brings me out of this fantasy world back to reality.

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Trinidad towards the Dominican Republic

So many things for the students to learn, both about the vessel and themselves; a whole new language and way of dealing with people. For instance, in my opening line, “toward” is the important word, as aboard a ship we never “go” to a place, as it is never certain we will reach that destination, as the sea and weather may not allow us to get there. So we say we are sailing toward a place.




Days ago we weighed anchor in Chaguaramus, Trinidad and ran the engine for about 15 minutes clearing the harbor. The students know the ship well by now and most are becoming fine deckhands; sails seem to set themselves as the crew comes together pulling with a will and all give a little cheer when we shut off the engine. We will always do our best to remain honest as far as sailing goes and not use any kind of power save the wind to transport us from one place to another.

On this passage, one of my favorites, we are normally assured a steady breeze out of the east… not so fast. This time a weak cold front and a giant low pressure system in the Atlantic conspired to turn us into real sailors—light and sometimes contrary winds haunted us, making us pay attention and work hard at fetching the D.R. We studied weather faxes trying to figure the best way around or through the contrary winds. But for the most part the days are full of study, quiet contemplation, and ships routine working like a well-tuned clock. The students are dropping their pretence—no more cool kids, no more tough kids. Just shipmates. There are little happenings and you are surrounded by great small events; Jessie beats Mr. Graham in a knot tying contest; Trey is noted to be one of the best helmsmen; JB learns speed-time-distance. Students correct each other so that the ship is run properly.

And then a terrible tragedy—a seabird accidentally mistakes on one of the fishing lines for food and is caught up in it. A Brown Booby. These are my favorite birds, so graceful in flight. They follow the ship and work in our wake catching flying fish that we scare up for them. I consider them a good omen, and feared that the one we accidentally hook will turn out to be the worst kind of bad luck. Then just after dinner I’m sitting on the aft cabin house talking to the cook, and Mr. Petrillo is washing my bowl because of the rare occasion of him losing at rock-paper-scissors, when I see a log lazily drifting by the ship. We are off San Juan PR so I’m not expecting any fish, but a log is a good sign. Now I should have called a student to tend the fishing line but sometimes I can be a bit selfish. I sneak back and grab the portside handline, looking around so no one will notice and Wham! A big mahi mahi is on. My heart jumps into overdrive. The next second Mr. Graham, having noticed me sneaking around the Quaterdeck, grabs the starboard line and Wham! Another mahi is on. The lines cross the stern and almost get tangled, so we dance around each other to keep everything straight. Mr Flemming helps me get across to the starboard side, and the fight is on. With a handline it is just you against the fish so it can be hard, and I’m cursing and pleading the fish to “come on girl, get in here where I can see you,” and she looks big she sure feels big. I think I’m going to lose her because of our bad luck. But when she comes to the side of the ship Jessie is ready with the gaff. I jokingly threaten him with bodily harm if he misses and he does! Twice! “Yer killing me Jessie” I shout and he handily gaffs her the next try. She comes aboard full of fight, so lovely and full of color—gold, blue, green, she changes before your eyes and everyone is going crazy, especially as the second fish is brought aboard. They are big, glorious fish. With no scale aboard we guess wildy at the weight: 20, 30 lbs.? I don’t really know but we measure the long one and she is 44” to her tail.

I consider our bad luck absolved—thank you, you beautiful fish of many names; mahi-mahi, dolphin fish, dorado.

We spend another couple of days making for Samana, Dominican Republic, and it is my first time here. I have a deckhand aloft to spy out the reefs, the Third Mate on the radar, the Chief Mate nearby to run things on deck and the Second on the anchor. We ghost in under main and forsails all ready to run, and I leave the engine off.

We come into soundings, the ship making 2-3 knots. I lay her off and start giving commands: take in your fore sheet, on the main let go! All done in a very seamanlike fashion, the students work perfectly as a unit and we settle back on the hook, the main engine switch still in the "off" position. Welcome to the Dominican Republic!

A fine passage.

Fair winds,

Capt. Flansburg

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Trinidad!

Trinidad has been good to the crew of the Harvey Gamage! So much has happened since our last entry, it is hard to know where to begin...

The passage down from Dominica flew by in just under two days, a day or two faster than we has predicted. Gamage was flying at up to 9 knots at one point! Our first taste of Trinidad was the passage through the Dragon's teeth, a narrow inlet with strong currents. We spent much of the first day taking care of ship's business; clearing customs, class, anchoring, and checking in with port facilities.

Our first full day in Trinidad was a whirlwind of activity. We took a maxi taxi into Port of Spain, the capitol of Trinidad and Tobago, and were let off at the Botanical Gardens where we had literature class in the shade. From there we walked south, along the Queen's Savannah (Port of Spain's "central park"), into the downtown area where we shopped, tried local cuisine like doubles, visited the national museum, and learned about the political legacy of Woodford Square.

The following day was a contrast to our city-dwelling. We first visited the Asa Wright Bird Sanctuary, where we took in Trinidad's natural beauty. We then took a boat ride through the Caroni Swamp to watch the scarlet ibis roost for the night, a daily ritual of color. On the way back to the boat, we stopped in the St. James neighborhood, famous for her nightlife and array of street food. We dined on Chinese food (which is quite popular here), rotis, doubles, burgers, fries, whatever we could find that intrigued us.We slept full that night!

Our next day was full of classes at Maracas Bay, a popular spot for locals to "wine" and relax on the beach. We learned about the physics of waves, then went bodysurfing. We also ate bake and shark, a shark sandwich on a "bake" of fired dough, a lunch made famous at Maracas Bay. We then stopped in on the Invaders Panyard, one of the original steel pan orchestras, to learn more about the national instrument and to hear its sweet tune.

We are now bound for the Domincan Republic and our service project there. All are well aboard, and we're looking forward to out first long voyage at sea!

JP

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Thoughts on Brother King

“Living in the Moment” by- Judibrown Sample

Living in the moment is harder then you can imagine. Being present, not thinking about the future, just worrying about your next step is more important. Brother King taught us all a life lesson about living and being a thoughtful traveler. After reading Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place I felt guilty for island hopping. We are all working hard on getting to know the locals, saying more than hi and striking up a conversation. We have all learned that the more involved you get with a country’s culture, the more you learn and get out of it. Being in Bequia, I have noticed we are only a small part of the tourism here. The harbor is filled with many sailboats and not a single cruise ship in sight. Bequia is known for its whaling history. Still today the locals go out every so often hunting. They only catch one or two whales per year, but they used to catch fifteen to twenty in a season. Locals, like Brother King, described how us tourists design the country. With more and more of us visiting, the more the government wants to design the layout of the country, making it more convenient for the tourists. Bequia is a very rare Caribbean island to still have their culture and their country’s identity. With no cruise ships or fast food restaurants, Bequia has been able to stick to its old traditions. Brother King owns a turtle sanctuary and told us that each year the turtle population is becoming less. The turtles are getting trapped in fish nets and being killed or injured by large, fast motor boats. He takes in the wild animals as newborns and raises them until they have a better chance of surviving in the wild. Everyone around here has an impact on these animals. We all need to be more aware of our surroundings and help protect this species. Brother King needs more then Bequia’s help, so if you’d like to make a donation, that would mean more then the world to Brother King, the turtles and Bequia. Everyone should take a moment of their day and try to reconfigure themselves to living in the moment and let the future plan itself.
To make a donation to the Old Hegg turtle Sanctuary:
Email: oldhegg@vincysurf.com
Or mail to:
Orton G. {Brother} King
P.O. Box 36
Unionvale, Bequia
St.Vincent & The Grenadines



“Brother King” by Kaitlin Orne
Listening to Brother King’s speech today was inspiring to hear. He’s a local here in Bequia, 71 years old and one of the most content people I have ever met. We had the pleasure of visiting his Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary; which clearly is his passion. Brother King goes up and down the beaches of Bequia covering up all traces of nesting spots he sees so no one can disturb or harm them. He marks down where they are and goes back when they’ve hatched, collects them and brings them to his sanctuary. Across from the sanctuary is what he calls his hobby, chicken coops. He talked to us not only about his turtles, but inserted in his perspective regarding good living standards, keeping healthy and tourism. Brother King is a very knowledgeable, happy man, and his words have a lot of value behind them.

“Impressions at Old Hegg” by. Trey Feyler
Usually when people think about one person trying to help the world or anything in it, it seems unreasonable. Then again, there is the view that if you want changes to be made it must start off with one person helping. Today we got the chance to go visit Brother King at the Old Hegg Sanctuary specifically for turtles. Endangered sea turtles are the main focus for him. Brother King raises them from hatchlings until they are able to return to the sea, safe from predators of any sort. He explained to us how turtles are needed and spoke about their decline in numbers. The turtles Brother King raises directly contribute to keeping the reefs healthy. There is a type of algae that builds up on reefs, if it becomes too much the reef can suffocate and die, this means all the other wildlife living on the reefs would die as well. If there aren’t any reefs, then there aren’t any fish which, in turn, would keep marine wildlife on the decline.

What I really respect about Brother King and this whole situation is that he has taken it into his own hands to change something about the world and in doing so is increasing the numbers of endangered turtles by successfully releasing them into the wild.

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Sea time by Alyson Graham

Time on a ship has a greater density then its landside brother. Days, minutes, even seconds seem to fill quickly with experience. By the time the sun sets it is hard to fathom all that had transpired during the light of day. The events of the morning seem to exist far away in the world of childhood memories. You often end the day, not only with a sense of accomplishment, but of growth. You are not the same person as when you woke up that morning, you have lived another day at sea, traveled through a foreign country, sang a song with a shipmate, learned about the life thriving down deep, read the fictions devised by an island imagination, studied the cultures of an ancient people, hauled on lines, stood a trick at the helm, witnessed a green flash, and maybe took a nap.



Two weeks and four countries have passed since the students arrived on the Harvey Gamage. In many ways it feels as if all of us have always been here, I can not remember what it felt like before our ship’s company was complete, just a vague recollection of anticipation. The students already seem like different people. Yes, their skin is now tan, hands calloused, and hair lighter from the sun…but it is much more. They have gained an understanding of a new life, a world outside classroom walls and lazy Sunday mornings. I am amazed and proud of how they have embraced this salty world. Everyday is spent in the present, soaking in the adventure, the knowledge and the revelations of each other. Undoubtedly, there will be ups and downs; that is the balance of the world. From what I have seen of their character thus far, I am sure they will handle the days ahead with integrity and an open mind.
I am currently sitting in the Nav Shack writing these thoughts. It is two o’clock in the morning, the ship is off the coast off St.Vincent, looking to drop anchor in Bequia’s Admirality Bay with first light. I am able to sit here and write, grade papers or leisurely drink hot chocolate because I am no longer needed on deck. The students are competently standing their watch. Time, once again, seems to change value. It has become a gift in the early morning hours. The young sailors here have expanded my time, allowing me to accomplish tasks pushed aside in the rush of the day. I am thankful for this and wanting to remember this moment in their experience. Something inside bubbles hot with joy when I think of these fledgling mariners and who they will be upon landing in Boston.

Schooner Equation: 3 days on land = 1 day at sea

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