St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean

Beating to weather is never the most efficient or comfortable way to sail. But to get where you need to go, you sometimes have to roll with the punches. The first major passage proved a challenging one, but our new student crew matched the challenges of seasickness, wet decks, rain squalls, and a constantly moving deck to arrive at St. Eustatius of the Dutch Caribbean.
Once here, we've delved into the rich colonial heritage and explored the island's unique link to American history, hiked into the mouth of the dormant volcano called the "Quill," where we studied the diverse ecosystem of the tropical evergreen rainforest that thrives in the dormant crater, and snorkeled the ruins of Lower Orangested, taken by the rising sea level and countless storms. We've also indulged in cold soda pop and ice cream, which taste even better after a few days at sea.


All aboard are well and looking forward to a much easier passage due south, bound for the French Islands and beyond. We wish all our families following a wonderful Valentine's Day; know that you are all missed and loved!

JP

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First Impressions

Our students' first writing assignment for literature class:

Danielle:

Ocean Classroom has been amazing though only a few days have passed since our arrival in St. Thomas.  We were taken out to the Harvey Gamage.  There we were greeted by two bottlenose dolphins.  Theirs was probably one of the most heartwarming displays I’ve ever seen.  They hung around the boat swimming right up to the hull at times.  When we moved to another bay close by they followed and remained for most of the night.  They finally moved on in the morning.  Then on the 6^th we had another unforgettable experience.  We were anchored off Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands.  We went snorkeling on the reefs near the island and it was more beautiful than I can possibly describe.  Brightly colored fish were everywhere.  The water was perfect and so incredibly clear.  Between the colorful aquatic life and friendly dolphins, I know I wont forget this voyage.

Milo:

The color of the Caribbean is something that strikes me more than anything else.  Besides the brilliant light blue of the water and the rich green of the hills, there are the colors of the houses.  Cheerful yellow, reds, purples, and blues are something that my eyes, color starved from the drab of the Maine waters, can drink in for hours.

Zach:

These past four days have been very interesting.  Learning about the boat, about our duties, and about life on board is happening really fast.  The best part so far was taking in the dark the first night we were sailing in what I thought were big swells.  Thankfully I didn’t get seasick.  Time is going by quickly already and I’m having a good time.  I can’t wait for everything else I am going to experience.

Theo:

There is nowhere else I’d rather be right now.  I’m living days to the fullest; hence it feels like I’ve been here longer than a week.  This is already the greatest experience I’ve had in years.  By 8:00 today we accomplished and learned more than during an entire day at home.  Yesterday in the tropic waters off Tortola, we hiked to the summit of Norman Island.  There I realized I h knew how to conduct boat checks, fill pump logs, tie knots, and names sails; knowledge I drank up in the past few days of sailing.

Ben H:

So far the voyage has been awesome.  My shipmates are great and the crew is amazing.  The educators are fantastic and the captain is a really good guy.  There is a lot of hard work involved but this trip has already been one of a lifetime.  I’m very excited to continue the voyage and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this opportunity.

Wyatt:

Out first night was humbling.  The boat was rolling and every time I went below I lost all control of my stomach.  I got no sleep but finally I was able to eat some saltines which helped immensely.  Even though I felt horrible and couldn’t sleep it was quite peaceful and soon I got used to the wave motion and simply sat on deck watching the swell roll past the boat.  The sunrise the next morning was unbelievable and staying up all night gave me time to reflect.  Everything out here has a purpose, even seasickness.

Brent:

Solitude is nowhere on this boat.  In a away it is refreshing.  I enjoy talking to people and learning about them.  I almost learn more about myself from others than it I had solitude.  I am happy.

Ben VA:

The past few days have been tough.  I’m working muscles I normally don’t work, and I’m struggling to figure out what’s going on.  It’s a lot of work, but in the end I think it will be rewarding.  Sailing around the Caribbean can be a once in a lifetime experience.  We have to take good care of the ship.  It is fun being dirty though. 

Bahia:

We did a lot of fun things on the Harvey Gamage.  Yesterday we went snorkeling.  I had never seen that many kind of fish together at the same place.  It was amazing to see the life in the water.  Just after that we went hiking on Norman Island.  At the top of the mountain we had a very great view of the sea and watched a beautiful sunset with a rainbow just beside.

Will: 

One week ago, I stood sturdy.  Feet moving flawlessly across the ground, my balance unmatched.  Yet when boarding the Harvey Gamage I was put in a peculiar situation having to concentrate at every moment to refrain from ending up on the sole.  As the days passed, my balance increased, allowing me to walk without inhibition.  It wasn’t until we arrived in Road Town and went ashore that I felt that same lack of balance.  This time, however, I was ashore.

Cree:

The Harvey Gamage is many things.  The ship itself is big, majestic and beautiful.  Sailing through the sea on it is different, very different.  She rolls, rocks, and pitches in the waves.  It is sickening, literally.  While underway-on Gamage seasickness is typical and understandable.

Sarah:

Yesterday we climbed Spy Glass Hill on Norman Island, often thought of as the basis for the novel Treasure Island.  When we reached the peak at sunset, our sunburned faces and hand beginning to callous seemed at rest.  The views of Tortola, Dead Chest Island, and an assortment of Caribbean Islands were perched upon the teal crests of the ocean we now call home.  We had pure silence, certainly juxtaposition from our cozy racks.  Silence was never something I appreciated, and while sitting on those rocks I was overwhelmed by the simple sound of silence.

Ashley:

Coming into port at Tortola, tears welled up in my eyes.  It had been nearly ten years since I had set foot in the Caribbean.  The pastel colored houses and open squared reminded me so much of my home, St. Lucia.  I could not believe I was actually there!  That first step onto the pavement, I will never forget. 

Jon:

Night watch was demanding, physically and mentally.  Standing up 12-4 sounds difficult until you do it: then it’s grueling.  However, I cannot think of a better feeling then being relieved from watch and resting my head on my pillow.  Within a couple of minutes I was in a deep sleep.

Emily:

Freshly sun kissed skin, stiff tussled hair, dirt and grime between each wrinkle and crevasses of my skin.  There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.  Standing bow watch with the sun eating down on my back, sweat beads trickle down my forehead until each hour that passes30 or 40 new freckles appear – some in places I didn’t expect.  From my knees to my toes.  My fingers are beginning to blister at the base.  There’s nothing that compares to the smell of the salty ocean.

 

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The BVIs

After a day of orientation to the vessel and the shipboard routine at sea, our new student crew weighed anchor and set sail for the first of countless times over the next 4 months, bound east for the British Virgin Islands. Standing watch throughout the night, both the wonders and pitfalls of a sailing ship at sea greeted our students; shooting stars, squalls, seasickness, and the breaking of dawn illuminating the green islands just a few miles distant.

Once cleared into Road Town, Tortola, our students came ashore to learn about West Indian culture. But we didn't bring any books ashore, only our appetites. We walked the short distance from the quay to the Roti Palace, where Jean, its proprietor, cooked up her world famous roti, a distinctively Caribbean dish with roots in Trinidad and India. A roti "skin," or flatbread, infused with crushed roasted peas and spices, wraps around a curry of goat, chicken, beef, conch or vegetables, with her homemade mango chutney, cuchela (a spicy chutney of the scoth bonnet pepper) and pepper spice hot sauce. Indian cuisine was brought to the Caribbean in the mid 19th century, when Indian laborers were brought to the region to work in the fields after slavery was abolished. Over time they have infused a unique West Indian flavor into traditional Indian dishes, utilizing local ingredients and produce. Our visit with Jean is just the first of many culinary adventures.

A quick sail across the Sir Francis Drake channel brought us to Norman Island, where we explored its reefs and hiked the goat paths along the ridge line as rainbows followed us to the peak of Spyglass Hill.

All aboard are well and well fed thanks to our fantastic cook Lizzie Loomis, and will enjoy some delicious cake as we will celebrate Ben Huyard's 15th Birthday today!

JP

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From the Captain: The Portent of Dolphins

Well now it all starts again. Harvey Gamage is as ready as we are able to make her. The crew is prepared and excited.

                  Students arrive on another lovely day in "America's Paradise," St Thomas USVI. Just how does a crew get a ship ready for this kind of thing? Well, provisioning starts with Lizzie Loomis (the cook) ordering a huge amount of staple foods from a local restaurant supplier; peanut butter, pasta, vinegar, bacon, flour, 30 Dozen eggs, coffee, chicken, dish soap, cereal, oats, broccoli… imagine you have to put out 3 meals for 30 crew every day! You get the idea.

                  Meanwhile the ship’s crew paints, cleans, studies the curriculum, repairs, tries to purchase all the things the ship may need down island.  The 1^st mate (Mr. Burke) and I walk around deck with lists and wonder what we have forgotten and will have to make do without later on. No problem, that is a Schooner sailor’s job.

                  The Educators J. Pettrillo, E. Southworth, and J.Allen, run around the island getting supplies of their own. They refine their curriculum, brief the ship’s crew on the students and on top of their own work they help get the ship ready.

                  I did say, Dolphins. At our anchorage under the lee of Hassle Island there were 2 dolphins swimming around the ship as we up anchor and make our way to the rendezvous with our students—they follow us, which seems a little strange but I like it. Then they stay around the ship, swimming lazy circles and never straying far. The students arrive in groups and singles over hours, yet still there are the dolphins. Now let me say that I have never seen dolphins stay around Lindberg bay for any great length of time.

                  After we get the new crew (students) settled we normally have a first swim call off the ship to get them salty and refresh them after a long day of travel.

                  The Dolphins stay around.

In fact they are within feet of us as we swim and share the bay with them. We get underway and move back to our anchorage, and they go with us. They stay through supper and cleanup and evening introductions slapping the water as if to say “hey we’re still here.”

                  This morning I haven’t seen them but I get the point. There are many sailors legends about dolphins; that they carry the souls of passed sailors, or rescue shipwrecked seamen, or point they way home…

                  You can think what you want. I see them as a very good omen for our voyage.

Fair winds, Captain Flansburg

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Embarkation Day!

Over the next day our students will be trickling into St. Thomas and aboard the Harvey Gamage

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Meet the Professional Crew!

Captain Christopher Flansburg

Appleton, ME
Captain Flansburg holds a USCG 500 ton Oceans Master's license, and has been sailing with OCF for over a decade. This will be his third spring in a row as captain of the Discovery program, his favorite OCF trip. He has sailed professionally all over the globe, and before his sailing career jumped out of planes in the Army. In the few months he is not at sea, Captain Flansburg can be found in his Maine cottage baking bread and out in his forge manipulating metal into gorgeous and functional pieces of art.

Mr. Bill Burke, Chief Mate 
New Hampshire
Mr. Burke attended both Notre Dame University and M.I.T. and holds a USCG 1600 ton Master's and Unlimited Chief Mate license, and has been a math and science teacher for over 10 years. He's an on-call firefighter and EMT, and likes hiking, climbing, and whitewater paddling. This will be his second trip as chief mate on the spring Discovery semester with Ocean Classroom.

Ms. Whitney Ciancetta, 2nd Mate
York, Maine
An Ocean Classroom alumna, Whitney holds a 100 ton Master's license and earned her BA in History from Union College. Whitney has been sailing professionally for OCF for the past two years, and is ecstatic to be sailing on the spring Discovery trip.

Mr. Dave Kelly, 3rd Mate
Marshfield, MA
Dave has been working for OCF for the past three years as a deckhand, engineer, and mate. After sailing on last year's Discovery trip, he's sailed with the Pride of Baltimore and Virginia before spending a few weeks at home during the holidays. He's driven whale watching boats in Plymouth, MA, and attended Mass Maritime Academy as a cadet before setting sail as a professional sailor. His major goal for this trip is induction into the Nathaniel Bowditch Society.

Lizzie Loomis, cook
Jerseyville, Illinois
Lizzie graduated from Principia College with a theater degree, and was inspired to work at sea after reading Tania Aebi's Maiden Voyage. She loves when dolphins play in the bow wave, the colors green and blue, and has elicited numerous marriage proposals over her biscuits and gravy. She also makes stupendous 7-layer bars and crusty bread. She learned to cook at summer camp and loves visiting the island of Nevis. Her favorite meal too cook: sticky buns.

Tom Klodenski, deckhand / engineer
Tom hails from Newburyport, MA and attended Northeastern University. He's a former recording engineer for the Boston Symphony, and plays some wicked bluegrass on guitar, upright bass, piano, drums, spoons, harmonica, bones, guiro, saw, donkey jawbone, kazoo, slide trombone, and dulcimer. He's been working with OCF since last spring, and is hoping to pick up the banjo.

Angela McIntyre, deckhand / medical officer
Born and raised in Ohio, Angela earned a degree from Antioch College in video & film production and is Wilderness First Aid trained. She's been working on boats for three years as cook, educator, and now deckhand. She plays the flute and is learning the ukulele and concertina. She's most excited to live with new shipmates and share adventures with them over the next four months. She is especially excited to learn, teach, and travel, and feels extremely lucky to be on such a sweet trip. Angela has previously worked as a vegetable farmer, can drive enormous tractors, and loves when potato plants blossom.

Anna Nellis Bacon Smith, deckhand
Washington, ME
Nell, also an OCF alumna, has been sailing professionally on and off with OCF since her days as a student. When not aboard, she is a student at Prescott College in Arizona. Nell has grown up on Gamage as her father, longtime OCF captain JB Smith, is the vessel's longest serving master. Nell is an accomplished equestrian, talented musician, patient teacher, and intuitive sailor.

John Petrillo, head educator & history teacher
Toms River, NJ
John has been sailing as an educator with OCF for over 8 years in their high school and college semester programs. He's earned a BS in Social History from Carnegie Mellon University and a MA in American Civilization from Brown University, and holds a 100 ton Near Coastal license. He collects various editions of Melville's Moby Dick, vintage surfboard fins, and camera lenses.

Eve Southworth, literature teacher
Framingham, MA
Eve has been working for OCF as an educator for three years, and most recently lead the OCF high school trip last fall. She earned her degree in Social History from Connecticut College and studied in the Williams Mystic Maritime Studies Program at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. She enjoys yoga and drawing, and has previously worked on the topsail schooner Amistad and aboard private yachts.

Jenn Allen, science teacher
In Spring of 2005, Jenn came to Ocean Classroom Foundation as a college semester student with SEAmester.  She has since completed her degree in Marine Biology from SUNY Stonybrook and has worked for Ocean Classroom as a deckhand for a total of nearly two years since then.  Now living in Santa Cruz, CA, she loves to surf, paint, and drink good coffee.

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