"Oh, Pine Tree State!"

It’s hard to describe the feeling that first came over me when the evergreen islands of downeast Maine materialized like emeralds out of the fog. The tall pines and spruce trees seem to hold more wisdom than the oldest man, and the gray seas underneath the boat seem older than the earth itself. Here tall rolling hills that start high in the sky, swoop low to the edge of water, and in the distance loon calls echo off of the mountain peaks. “Oh, Pine Tree State!”

- Frank, Vinalhaven, Maine

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STUDENT ENTRY

The most incredible thing just happened. I was aloft on the mainmast enjoying a calm sunset, rocking gently back and forth with the swells. I noticed the wind pick up ever so slightly so I zipped up my jacket. The wind picked up a little more, and then more again. A small nip on the radar reflector snapped on the foremast where Jackson was sitting and flung into the air. We looked at each other in confusion for a second, then a HUGE gust of wind knocked into the sails. "Hold on tight!" Jackson yelled as the boat began to heel. The masts creaked and moaned as gust after gust of wind barreled into the sails, pushing us forward in quick bursts (I later found out we were going 10.5 knots, a trip record). I glanced aft to see our deep wake, then down where bodies scrambled out of the hatches, half-dressed, to help. A piece of clothing flew into the churning sea. Everyone grabbed ahold of the fisherman's halyards and yanked it down. The boat was at a dangerous angle, and I could see the waves getting ready to crawl under the scuppers. On deck they struggled with the fisherman until they got it on deck and the boat tipped back to a normal angle. Someone on deck yelled for Jackson and I to come down and quickly I squeezed through the cross trees and clambered down the ratlines. It was a sunset to remember.

Chapin, Yarmouth, ME

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"If I make it there   I'll make it anywhere  It's up to you  New York, New York"
 Frank Sinatra's voice sang out over the intercom and carried us all on deck. As I left the companionway my breath was taken: above us, Lady Liberty emerged from the fog, tall and noble, and students stood in wonder, all except Patricia and Elizabeth who danced the Foxtrot with big goofy grins painted on their faces. We remained on deck long after the city lights came out. They were a departure from the starry night sky, but they were beautiful.

From the moment we entered Sandy Hook Channel I was inspired by the students. They successfully tacked up and down the Lower Hudson with Brendan at the helm, an impressive feat considering the traffic, variable winds and pressure of getting each tack just right. This would have seemed impossible two months ago, but they they handled it with ease. Peter W had planned our course through tight channels and he and Claire used the chart and buoys to successfully complete the task. Once anchored, Lady Liberty watched over us throughout the stormy night. The next morning we woke to beckoning seas and marveled at the city as we passed through the East River. With students perched aloft photographing the skyscrapers, I couldn't help but revel in the fact that the first skyscrapers were not in cities, but on the sea. Old square-rigged ships carried sails so high they were referred to as sky-scrapers, and above that were the moon-rakers and then star-gazers. Inspiration all around. 

Our passage up the Long Island Sounds was a high point of the trip; the conditions were perfect and we traveled 5 knots using only the staysail. Students were in high spirits despite the cold. In Mystic we made connections to our maritime past, visiting the Charles W. Morgan, various exhibits of all things maritime including figureheads and music, and even had the chance to row whaling boats. Students worked on their ditty bags in a sail loft and experienced Mystic Seaport in the intimate way of a mariner.

Our visit in Mystic coincided well with academics. In Maritime Literature students discussed The Sea-Wolf while sitting in the fish hold of the L.A. Dutton, an old and fast whaling schooner. In Maritime History students are finishing their independent research projects, and those who are researching whaling and fishing sailboats found themselves immersed in their topics of study. In Marine Science students are finishing independent lab reports. With the end of the semester quickly approaching, students find themselves busy, both with schoolwork and with the pressing need to make the most of every second. 

A special thank you to Katie's parents and grandparents for their hospitality. We all enjoyed the barbaque immensely.


Abbey, Literature Teacher

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STUDENT ENTRY

From March 7^th, Docked in Freeport, Grand Bahamas.

Photo credit: Audrey Sheehan

I’m sitting against a dock line, my feet on the cat rail, staring out across the Freeport Marina. For some reason the moon has been especially beautiful the last couple of nights, and although you can’t actually see very many stars, the tired twinkling of the container cranes beacons is an interesting substitute. If I stood up and turned around, I’d see more machines, industrial and serious looking, so different from our port experiences to date. Freeport is everything we’ve learnt to despise, to condemn. It is a globalized industrial port with oil tankers, free zones, and environmentally unsound practices. China owns it and the Bush brothers run it… Theoretically Freeport should be the epitome of the worst of the worst, but it’s not. For some reason, Freeport has attracted me in a way no other port has, its real. Whether we like it or not container ships and oil tankers are the realities of the modern world. They’re what todays sailors sail. The support & pilot boats, Tugs & barges, even the massive oil transits here, this is all happening, its real work being done professionally and efficiently. There isn’t ethnic history or tourist following filling up the harbor, there is cranes & pipes & huge mechanical monsters working away. Maybe it’s just the realness that impresses me. It’s kind of like watching Grey’s Anatomy or CSI as a kid. You can’t help but want to be a doctor or a crime investigator when you grow up; they just seem so intense and exciting. Except here it’s real. Basically what I heard Ms.Hughes telling Zack sums it up, “Get involved with this business (modern maritime) and you’ll see the world at its most interesting. That’s always what I’ve wanted to do, what better way to do it than from a boat.”

-LIBBY ARFORD
Brunswick, Maine.

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STUDENT ENTRY

“You have to count your underwear because if you have 30 pairs you can wear one every day!” Elizabeth excitedly told me as she contemplated our time remaining on the Harvey Gamage during a particularly cold bucket shower. We have been living on this ship for three months now, and we are all closer than ever before.

Photo credit: Jackson Stevens

Today is my 17^th birthday, and definitely my happiest. Living on a ship is so unlike living in your own house, closed up in your own little world. I woke up at four this morning to get on watch and a flood of Happy Birthday’s comes to my ears. I am special here, completely welcomed and loved. On land, birthdays seem so much less significant… someone could easily think, “Oh, another person out of the seven billion on earth is having a birthday. Woop-dee-doo. Millions of other people are probably celebrating their birthday today, too.” It is nothing like that on the Harvey Gamage. No one can’t acknowledge my birthday- there are only 31 of us on board! In this world I am an important subject in everyone’s life; I felt love from every person on board, as well as from my family and friends back on land.

During daily almanac, I got a huge group hug and everyone sang to me. My watch spelled out “MEG BIRTHDAY” in signal flags on the mainmast and flew them all day (the most nautical birthday card I’ve ever received). Pierre cooked a double chocolate cake for dessert with my name on it. I lost track of how many hugs I got today.

The quote on the board today is on a conversation I had with Audrey last night:

            Audrey: “Meg, what do you want to be when you grow up?”           

            Me: “AWESOME!”

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Real Life Literature

Photo credit: Audrey Sheehan

While reading The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, students were asked to write about the parallels between their experience on the Harvey Gamage and Humphrey (Hump) Van Weyden’s experience on Ghost. Here are two exceptional responses.

Tegan-

Although my experience on board the Harvey Gamage differs a lot from Hump’s on the Ghost, I find it easy to relate to many of the feelings he has throughout his journey. In the beginning he talks about adjusting to the ship, especially the way the deck slants and moves constantly under his feet. In Hump’s first moment on deck, he finds himself confronting this problem, as I did my first days on board. He says, “A puff of wind caught me and I staggered across the moving deck to a corner of the cabin, to which I clung for support.” The action of clinging for support, and at times dear life, was one well known to me in my first week here.

Another point which relates my experience to Hump’s is the actions of the boat. As is beautifully worded, “all the while rolling, plunging, climbing the moving mountains… I could hear the wind above… now and again feet stamped overhead. An endless creaking was going on all about me, the woodword and the fittings groaning and squeaking, all complaining in a thousand keys.” I can’t count the amount of times I have laid awake in my bunk listening to all of these noises, and I was instantly able to relate my experience to Hump’s upon reading that passage.

John-

Both Hump and I have gone out of our comfort zone and tried something new. We both are not used to working, cooking, and relying on ourselves. In the book it says, “You have slept in soft beds, and worn fine clothes, and eaten good meals. Who made those beds? And those clothes? And those meals? Not you.” Hump and I have relied on our parents, friends, and people close to us to get things done. Being on a sailing vessel we have learned to be self-dependent and we have learned a lot about ourselves. “All this and more, I have learned.” Being on these voyages we have learned life skills such as relying on ourselves to get things done. Also we have learned how to cook, navigate, and sail in general. The outcome of our voyages will be a positive learning experience.

Photo credit: Jackson Stevens

Students also wrote travel epiphanies, short descriptions of meaningful moments they have had on the trip so far. 

Claire-

During the passage from the Dominican Republic to Fernandina, about halfway through we were entering the Bahamas, and the wind died. I looked out as the sails flopped lazily in the puffs and swells and realized that we were moving backward. In this moment, I realized how much our world relies on motorization. We no longer allow something as simple and variable as the wind to determine where we go and when we arrive. Then the main engine beeped and roared and we were moving forward again.

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