Discovery 2012 is now Under Way

The voyage officially began at 0001, 28 January with Schooner Harvey Gamage gamely beating to windward between St Thomas and St Criox. Of course the trip had actually begun some time before with months of student interviews and sign ups to the last busy crew preparations on board. By the afternoon of the 26^th, all 21 students had signed aboard and been introduced to their new home with her 8 crew/3 academic educators. The morning of the 27^th was filled with safety/watch standing indoctrination then it was “Hands to the windlass,” and “Anchor’s aweigh.” Gamage lifted her skirts to sail serenely off the anchorage bound for sea and Phase II of student orientation.

Phase II ended with a dawn arrival in Reef Bay, St John and with students feeling a good deal saltier. Soon they with educators were ashore to hike up and over the island visiting sugar cane mill ruins along the way to rejoin Gamage, sailed by her crew in the meantime around to Francis Bay. Now, as the first anchor watches are stood under a star filled sky and a gentle breeze, students are realizing the sort of experience they’ve signed for. Some are exhilarated. Some wonder what they’ve gotten themselves into. Some are concerned about how long it will take to gain their sea legs. Most are eager. All now realize that the 4 months ahead promise challenges and possibilities beyond expectations. The concept of Ship/Shipmate/Self has become particularly relevant. A sense of ship board community has begun.

Captain JB Smith,

28 January 2012, Francis Bay, St John, USVI

A Watch: Matthew, Mahima, John, Elizabeth, Audrey, Mr. Bailey, Brendan, Lisa, Peter K., and Patricia

B WATCH: Libby, Meg, Tegan, Andrew, Jackson, Mr.Simpson, Zack, Doug, Chris, and Abbey

C WATCH: Frank, Chapin, Angela, Katie, Ms. Hughs, Peter W., Soren, Christine, Iyla, Claire

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Where are they now?

Follow the SSV Harvey Gamage on iBoat Track

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Harvey Gamage in St. Thomas, USVI

The Harvey Gamage is safely anchored near Hassell Island, St. Thomas. The crew and educators aboard are working on the final trip preparations for the Spring 2012 voyage. Everyone on board is looking forward to the arrival of the students on January 26th.

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Final Blog Entry

At the halfway point of the trip, I wrote a story for the student crew. Just a short story, of a group of young people signed aboard a mighty wind-ship bound for adventure and a voyage of discovery. The purpose of the story was to encourage them to look deep within themselves and pull out all they’d learned thus far to prepare themselves for the challenge of the second half of the trip. It warned of complacency, of cockiness, and stressed vigilance.

The story was titled “Training Ship”, and it took a supernatural turn as the crew disappeared during a sudden blinding fog, forcing the students to meet the challenges cast before them without the regular input of the professional crew. There was a supporting cast of guardians that watched over them and prompted them through their challenges. The end accomplishment, however, was their own.

Don’t get me wrong. This is no epic work of literature. Its intent was to grab the students’ attention after several days in port and put their heads back into the voyage, while poking some fun at myself and the rest of the staff in the bargain. But I encountered the rough (only) draft yesterday while cleaning out my cabin, and it made me think.

We are a training ship. It is our purpose, our reason to be. The professional crew that join these voyages dedicate themselves with heart and soul. We tell the students that they are all crew of the Harvey Gamage, and that she’s as much theirs as ours. In the couple of days since their mass departure, this never rings more true.

The ship, even tied to a busy road, is eerily silent. I have to go on a search to find another soul. The smallest details and routines become once again huge when the ship’s company once again numbers less than 10. In the last two days, we’ve cleaned, inventoried, organized, graded, laundered, provisioned, and reflected.

All of the conversations involve a reference to a student, a port, an evolution aboard. We share the anecdotes that made us laugh, and those that made us furious. We discuss our raging successes, and dwell on those places we could have done it better. And the ship echoes with their absence. It will take us a few days to transition back to being out of program.

In the story, the crew disappear, and leave the students to adjust to their new status. Now, it is they who have departed us. It is we who have to adjust to life aboard in this in-between mode. The ship demands our attention. There will be another group boarding in just over a week. But, for now, we are still finishing the last voyage.

To the crew of the Harvey Gamage- Proctor Ocean Classroom 2011- the whole crew… THANK YOU! Thank you for a successful voyage. Thank you for challenging me as a teacher, a captain, and a shipmate to be better. I am proud and honored to be each of the three. Thank you for giving the voyage and the vessel everything you had. Thank you for caring so much that it brought out the sweat, the tears, and (unfortunately) a little blood. Thank you for the jokes, the smiles, the helping hands, the photos and the countless contributions you made to the journey. I know it isn’t over yet for me. May it linger a little longer for you as well. You made worthy the ship of her title “Training Ship”. That she has been, for us all. Fair winds, shipmates, and may you give your next journey the heart you brought to this one.

Captain Caroline Smith

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El Gecko

Today after our second class, three adventurers Zoli, Denning, and Hunter decided it would be awesome if we took El Gecko out for a quick spin around the cove. The wind was just about right and it was pretty calm. Mr. Bailey said it would be ok, so we got ready and headed out. We stayed close to the Gamage at first, testing the waters and getting a feel for El Gecko. Once a steady gust of wind came, we were raging. We went a little bit out of the cove where the wind was stronger--we were cruzing when we saw Mr. McKenzie, Brooke, and Angela coming towards us in softy (the small boat) quickly. In a frantic moment we were trying to figure out what we could have done wrong. Mr. McKenzie started shouting, “EL GECKO! EL GECKO! GO BACK TO THE SHIP NOW!” We sat confused and scared drifting in the water. The shouting continued and we all had a sinking feeling that we were in trouble. Then Mr. McKenzie started laughing and they told us it was a joke and sped off. It was really funny. After the initial scare, we continued on our way. We felt bit shaken, but glad to not be in trouble. We laughed about it for the rest of our little journey. We cruised around, and El Gecko can cruise! We sailed over and checked out some charter boats and then headed back out to where there was more wind. After an hour of fun sailing around we came back for dinner. Today was a good day.

--Hunter

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Dan

We have been sailing around to different islands in the BVIs for a few days now and have visited some incredible places. We started in Road Town, Tortola which was a very nice town with lots of touristy gift shops. While we were anchoring, a huge cruise ship came at the same time and filled the town with tourists from the Carnival ship. The people working in the shops kept asking us if we were from the cruise ship. When we told them we were on a schooner and had been sailing for about months they were very impressed.

We left Tortola at about the same time the cruise ship did and I was lucky enough to be aloft while it came barreling passed our small sailing vessel. I saw camera flashes coming form all different parts of the boat. As I was sitting aloft, I began to think about how different this moment is for the people on the cruise and for us. The town was just a short port of call and visit for them, while for us it was a destination. We worked to get here, while everyone on that ship just paid and got a plane. As J-WOs we did everything to get us to Tortola -- the students did all the navigating, sail handing and planning. Back on the Carnival cruise liner, the people on that boat just sit and tan in the sun and wait for the next port of call. However, there is no sitting around and tanning on Gamage. If we are on deck we have to be ready to help manage the ship at any time... “On deck on duty.” This makes us earn everywhere we go to and makes us appreciate it more because of it also makes this trip better then any Caribbean vacation you could go on. That is the difference between a tourist and a traveler I guess (just like we have been studying in lit. class).

--Dan Watts

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