S’24 concludes their adventures aboard the Argo! While the class begins their trek back to Mystic, Connecticut, read on below for shipmate Sam’s reflection on their voyage and some final photos. You can check out all the photos and blogs by visiting Sea|mester’s blog here.
LOCATION: ANTIGUA SLIPWAY
I cannot summarise everything I have seen in this trip. Having never left the US before 10 days ago, the experiences are some I could not have fathomed. From shaking starfruits out of trees in Dominica to sailing by the lights of Guadalupe, this whirlwind was not what I expected when I thought about living on a boat. Not only have I learned sailing and new fish species and so many things, but I have bonded with my Williams-Mystic classmates in a way that I didn’t think was possible in such a short time. As I am writing this, I am struggling to fit every experience from our adventures into my brain and onto the page! Leaving from Antigua, we sailed to Dominica seeing leaping flying fish and diving seabirds on the rocking waves. In Dominica, we saw reefs and rivers – a little bit of Pirates of the Caribbean set dressing – and visited with the Kalinago people. Sailing back, we stopped in Les Saintes for a second chance to snorkel over reefs. Now, back in Antigua, we spent our last days packing, appreciating Argo, and sharing talents during the swizzle. At the end of this experience, there isn’t a thing I haven’t done! Except, I haven’t been to a beach. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I am so grateful for the Seamester crew – Callum, Tomer, Gabe, Sam, Ash, Claire, and Mac – as well as all my Williams-Mystic friends and staff for the amazing experiences I’ve had in Antigua, Dominica, and the waters and islands between.
He expressed to us not only the challenges that his community faces, but the spirit of resiliency that guides their work. He talked with us, answering questions ranging from his efforts around Kalinago language preservation to his hopes for how young people will confront climate change and work to find real solutions.
By Alissa Ryan
The Spring 2024 class continues their adventures aboard the Argo! Sofia, Assistant Professor of Maritime History, writes about snorkeling, native flora and fauna, and local connections. Follow along with the class’s adventures by visiting Sea|mester’s blog here or reading and viewing photos below.
LOCATION: ROSEAU, DOMINICA
Our day began earlier than usual (6:30). We scarfed down some delicious banana bread, made our lunches in Tupperware containers, and quickly gathered all of our gear for a day of snorkeling, hiking, and more.
I’d been snorkeling before, but I’d never experienced anything like what Marcus, Thomas, and their team showed us. We were able to see beautiful coral, darting fish, even a lobster and an eel, but none of that matched the wonders of seeing bubbles coming up from the sea floor in a vent, the warm waters reflecting the island’s volcanic past and present.
It would have been fair to imagine that nothing could top that experience, but then Sam introduced us to SeaCat, the Unelected Prime Minister of Dominica. He and his daughter were our guides for the day, driving us through Dominica’s busy city streets up into the towering, lush green mountain tops. As SeaCat drove, he told us about the island’s history, its current challenges, and his family. He also introduced us to the many delicious plants covering his home country–from cinnamon to cacao. We learned that cacao, when picked fresh, has pods that taste almost like lychee (but don’t eat the seeds!). He drove us through winding roads filled with enormous plant life (we hummed a bit of the theme song of Jurassic Park, reminded of the lush wilderness of that film).
SeaCat brought us to meet with Jose Frederick, a representative of the Kalinago people and the Dominican Minister of the Environment. He expressed to us not only the challenges that his community faces, but the spirit of resiliency that guides their work. He talked with us, answering questions ranging from his efforts around Kalinago language preservation to his hopes for how young people will confront climate change and work to find real solutions.
Next, we met up with SeaCat again, and this time we stopped not just for handfuls of lemongrass or bits of cinnamon (preserved in our Tupperware), but to meet with Ophelia and her family, who welcomed us with fresh coconuts, filled to the brim with coconut water. They treated us to the delicious things they make–cacao, breadfruit, jerk chicken, coconut–and each bite was a new adventure. Their hospitality in welcoming us and sharing food with us is something I won’t soon forget–it felt like cousins meeting rather than strangers. They opened their doors to us because of their relationship with SeaCat–who liked to tell us that he was the Unelected Prime Minister, something that the waves and chats with nearly everyone we passed proved, showing how connected he is to the communities that he introduced us to. He made our day unbelievably full and wonderful–a day like no other.
Sofia Zepeda, Asst. Prof. of Maritime History
You can follow the Argo‘s progress by visiting Sea|mester’s vessel tracker here.
“There’s something special about being aboard this boat.”
By Alissa Ryan
The Spring 2024 class has begun their sailing expedition aboard the S/Y Argo in Antigua! S’24 shipmate Marvin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) shares details about his first day on Sea|mester’s blog. Follow along with the class’s adventures by visiting Sea|mester’s blog here or reading below.
LOCATION: ENGLISH HARBOUR, ANTIGUA
Hello to my friends on land. To say that this day was long would be a woeful understatement. We began at 2:00 A.M in snowy Mystic, and just over 15 hours later, we find ourselves in beautiful (and luckily very sunny) Antigua. The day has been long, but it has also been full. Not only are we taking part in this exploration, each of us has a unique task. After a quick recovery from all the travel, I was surprised with the most important role on the ship, the Skipper. I was put in charge of an ice breaker game (the Squeezes), taking down the flag (Ensign), and what I’m doing right now (writing a blog).
There’s something special about being aboard this boat. It’s not just the beauty, the crew, or the delightful destinations that we are embarking to. Today, for perhaps the first time, I wasn’t apart from nature, but A PART of nature. That is to say, as the wind blew us about after our dinner and the mist turns to rain as I write this blog, I feel mother nature’s beating pulse in every action that we take. That is special, and I am more than excited to take part in this one-of-a kind journey through one of the Earth’s most diverse locales.
See you next time, dear Reader.
Marvin H.
You can follow the Argo‘s progress by visiting Sea|mester’s vessel tracker here. Fair winds and following seas, S’24!
Arriving in Mystic in the Fall of 1977, Eric Laschever could never have anticipated how much the program would impact his life moving forward.
A senior history major from Williams College, Eric was looking for ways to spend part of his final year away from Williamstown. Seeing a poster with a picture of Charles W. Morgan and Joseph Conrad docked at the Seaport, Eric was spurred to talk with WM Founder Ben Labaree, who encouraged him to apply for the program. Having grown up sailing on the New Jersey shore, Eric was drawn in by a program that focused on the ocean.
Thus, Eric joined 20 other students from colleges across the country to become the guinea pigs in Williams-Mystic’s inaugural class. That class became known as the Leeward Railers, named for their collective seasickness aboard the SSV Westward during the program’s very first Offshore Field Seminar. Their offshore experience served as an early bonding agent for the Leeward Railers, one that would only grow throughout their time in Mystic, and one that remains strong to this day.
“I think the bond among our class was strong and has remained strong among many of us,” Eric said. “We have so much affection for the program and the original director and his family. Over the years, we’ve gotten to know the successors to Ben, as well as key faculty members who have been here.”
Eric and friends aboard the SSV Westward on the inaugural Offshore Field Seminar
The impact of Eric’s time with Williams-Mystic took shape shortly thereafter, as he began to pursue a Master’s degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington. His thesis work on a then new 200-mile Alaskan fishery zone led him to his first “real job” working for the state of Alaska on a variety of coastal and environmental issues. More recently, his continued connection to the program allowed him to work alongside Katy Robinson-Hall and Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar to pursue federal recognition for the Grand-Caillou/Dulac Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw.
Fast-forward to Fall 2021, feeling a deep connection to the program, Eric talked with WM Director Tom Van Winkle about a way for alums with time and capacity (e.g. older) to use their talents to remain connected to Williams-Mystic. In particular, Eric wanted to use his expertise in marine affairs and relevant knowledge of Louisiana to serve as a resource for students in their policy course. A year later, Eric arrived back in Mystic as the program’s first Senior Fellow, donating his time to the program.
Eric immediately noticed the differences he saw between Williams-Mystic in 1977 and Williams-Mystic in 2022. While he noted similarities in academic rigor and use of the Museum as a teaching tool, Eric valued the program’s current devotion to interdisciplinary education, citing the ways in which professors intentionally weave topics together to make for a more well-rounded curriculum. But, above all, Eric was struck by the remarkable relationships the program has built with stakeholders and community leaders in Louisiana, as he got to see firsthand when the program returned to The Bayou State last October.
“Underneath the intellectual rigor is the emotional feeling of connecting to people in places who are experiencing the challenges of living in coastal communities in real time,” said Eric.
One of Eric’s responsibilities on the Louisiana Field Seminar was to give a talk to students about the criteria a Native American tribe must meet to be federally recognized, a subject he is deeply immersed in on behalf of one of the program’s Gulf Coast hosts. Adding another dimension to the talk, Eric gave his talk at a graveyard that is said to have buriedTribal Ancestors, one of whom received land on the Gulf via the Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty, the infamous treaty that launched the Trail of Tears for most of the Choctaws to west of the Mississippi.
“The idea of being in what may have been his final resting place, and talking to students today about the history and how it comes to bear in the effort to achieve federal status, is very poignant and powerful,” said Eric.
Eric talking with students in Louisiana
When reflecting on his experience with the students of F’22, Eric was continuously impressed by the way students grappled with and discussed very complex issues. When advising students for Moot Court, Eric remembers being amazed at how the students mastered and argued complex legal issues in front of a judge with just 4-5 days of preparation. In Louisiana, Eric remembers being impressed during van rides and the ways students balanced fun moments, like singing to oldies and more contemporary tunes from the students’ play lists, with serious moments and interesting discussions.
Having the chance to connect with a younger generation of students was another big motivator for Eric to return to Williams-Mystic. Eric noted that when he was their age, he was able to witness many of the early environmental laws being put into place. 45 years later, Eric understands that the world his generation is handing off to the next is not in the place it should be.
“One of the important things to me in this chapter of my life is to spend time with young adults, to share some of what I’ve learned, and to give them tools to face the challenges that my generation is leaving them,” said Eric.
In this regard, Eric encourages future students to remain hopeful about a better world, advising them to cultivate hope and use it to channel action.
“Hope is different from optimism,” said Eric. “Optimism is when you think, statistically, that things will be better in the future. Hope is not based on a calculation that things will be better.”
Williams Mystic remains a critical part of this equation, in Eric’s eyes, as it provides important information and tools to inform and ground such action.
Carlton is a Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences and Director Emeritus of Williams-Mystic (Curriculum Vitae)
In September 2010, the Williams-Mystic class prepared messages-in-glass bottles on the Cramer to be set free in the Gulf of Maine as part of a large-scale drift experiment. However, the Cramer was never far enough offshore to release the bottles during the trip. Captain Sean Bercaw released F10’s bottles a few weeks later on October 6 when bringing Cramer down from Rockland ME to Woods Hole, in the middle of the Gulf during storm force winds and in 18-20 foot seas – enough ocean energy to send the bottles packing into the open North Atlantic.
On March 18, 2022, almost 11 ½ years later, British physician Dr. Ryan Watkins, on a visit to Windermere Island, Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, found F10 Nicola Klee’s bottle on the beach. Dr. Ryan kindly sent us (and Nicola) a picture of the bottle and her message. We’ve prepared a snapshot of the bottle to highlight that there were still living oceanic goose barnacles Lepas on the bottle, which tells us that the bottle had washed ashore perhaps a few hours before.
Where had Nicola’s bottle been all these years?
Well, if you reach over and grab your copy of the Williams-Mystic 25th Anniversary Book, and open to page 47 – we’ll give you a second – you’ll get a good sense of the journey that the bottle took, and for how long.
Bottles that were released in October 1984 by F84, off the coast of New England, landed in the Azores, Europe, Bermuda, and multiple times in the Bahamas until September 1991(Jim tells us that a few more F84 bottles were reported in subsequent years). The pattern of their discovery revealed that some bottles had gone around the North Atlantic Ocean perhaps as many as four or five times before landing!
We think Nicola’s bottle has been bobbing around and around … and around … the North Atlantic Ocean at least a few times – and the barnacles confirm it was recently out on the high seas. Finally, enough was enough, and the bottle followed its predecessors ashore in the Caribbean!
Imagine corralling a group of college students into a confined space and taking away their cell phones. Seems like a recipe for disaster – and yet spending two weeks off the coast of Maine disconnected from the modern world was an incredible experience.
This photo essay is by Fall 2019 student Johann Heupel. Johann is a Marine Science and Maritime Studies student at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point and a long-time aficionado of the history of our relationship to the sea. Having grown up in Mystic Connecticut, Johann’s future interests lie somewhere in educating a new generation about the wonders of the sea and our fascination with it, sharing maritime culture through art, science, song, and story.
(Above) Williams-Mystic students and Executive Director Tom Van Winkle haul up a lifeboat.
Imagine corralling a group of college students into a confined space and taking away their cell phones. Seems like a recipe for disaster – and yet spending two weeks off the coast of Maine disconnected from the modern world was an incredible experience.
We set out from Penobscot Bay in a mood of anxiety and excitement. The ship was an alien environment to most of us, and the anticipation was palpable. Within days, we began to haul on the lines and take turns at the wheel, feeling like sailors as the vessel became familiar. Soon I was able to climb high aloft in the rigging, and the view I beheld took my breath away.
(Above) Tristan Biggs takes his first turn at the helm.
The vastness of the ocean before me was awe-inspiring; it was like nothing I had experienced before. A night beneath the starry sky had me gazing into eternity. The sunrises and sunsets were brilliant and colorful beyond description. Distracting us from our class sessions were dolphins leaping in our bow wake. They chittered as we looked out at night, glowing as they swam through bioluminescent plankton. Whales could be seen spouting far in the distance, and through the Gulf Stream a host of mahi-mahi and flying fish delighted our onlooking scientists.
(Above) Atlantic white-sided dolphins swim below the bow of the SSV Corwith Cramer.
Even though our stay was short on the SSV Corwith Cramer, the crew of the S.E.A vessel were incredibly informative and nurturing. The stewards prepared food of extraordinary quality out of a closet-sized kitchen, which we enjoyed in the company of our shipmates. The captain and mates taught us navigation, seamanship, and nautical terminology, while the scientists helped us study plankton tows and oceanography in the lab at all hours. Peering into the world of the microscope, every weird and wonderful creature imaginable teemed in the waters of the North Atlantic.
Despite the incredible diversity of the oceans around us, there were signs that things were changing. We found that the Gulf Steam current was slower than historical rates, while the amount of microplastics in the water was alarming. The small shelled organisms we marveled at beneath the microscope showed signs of acidifying oceans. The water temperatures were spiking despite the season, as our teachers explained that the Gulf of Maine basin is warming faster than most of the ocean. When we stopped at Martha’s Vineyard, we learned how much of the coast has disappeared, the scale of sea level rise was terrifying.
The creativity and freedom I felt – even as I was told my duties and ordered about the vessel – was inspiring. Writing poetry or playing guitar on the quarterdeck, every person aboard found touch with their imagination on the ship. As a final goodbye to our vessel and shipmates, we had the fortune to share our creative outlets and talents. A night of laughter and friendship was the perfect end to our journey together. The comradery you feel for your shipmates is indescribable.
(Above) A look at the night sky in the Gulf of Maine, shortly after the sun disappeared.
The first days at sea are a matter of learning everything at once. But we are also re-learning things we thought we already knew.
September 24, 2019
Dear friends and family,
It’s Tuesday evening, and we’ve been underway for almost twenty-four hours aboard the Sailing School Vessel Corwith Cramer. We’re deep in the Gulf of Maine, well out of sight of land, east of Skate Bank and Newfound Ground. By afternoon, we had already reached the edge of US territorial waters and were gybing (turning around) to keep from sailing into Canada, whose waters we’re allowed to enter only if we turn off all of our research equipment.
We’re a big group: eighteen Williams-Mystic students; three faculty; and, offshore for the first time, Williams-Mystic director Tom Van Winkle, who is sailing as “Chief Morale Officer”; plus a professional teaching crew made up of a captain, three mates, four ship scientists, two stewards, and an engineer. We left Mystic Sunday morning and took a bus to Rockland, Maine, where we boarded Corwith Cramer and immediately began orientation.
The first days at sea are a matter of learning everything at once. Most of us are learning new things: how to set and strike sails; how to tie bowlines and slippery reef knots; how to deploy nets and buckets over the side of the ship; how to read charts and compasses and how to tell the strength of the wind just by looking at the surface of the water; why the lobster fishery off the coast of Maine is healthier than the one in Long Island Sound; why Herman Melville thought the ocean was the right place to commune with the universe.
But we are also re-learning things we thought we already knew. We are learning to walk again (how to move low and alert in sympathy with a rolling ship). We are learning again to sit at a table (how not to capsize the salon’s loose and swinging tabletops, which are engineered to stay level even when the ship is not). We are learning to speak a new and alien English, how to say the special names that common objects carry at sea. One student looks over at another and whispers ” ‘Sole?’ That means ‘floor,’ right?”
Tomorrow we are due to conduct our first scientific superstation. The weather service just informed us that the wind overnight will be blowing from the north, which is good news for a ship that will soon be pointed south.
— Williams-Mystic F’19
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We will share updates straight from the Cramer as they become available. In the meantime, you can track the vessel’s progress here:
Please note that vessel tracking information is NOT updated continuously and the Cramer isn’t always able to provide updated location information. (Good reception isn’t a guarantee at sea!) If you notice that the Cramer appears to be in the same location for an extended period of time, it simply means the website has not yet been updated.
This post was written by S’18 alumna Audra DeLaney. Audra enjoys visiting the ocean, going on adventures, and telling the unique stories of the people and places around her.
When Kathryn Jackson (S’17) began her Williams-Mystic semester, the opportunity to sail in the Caribbean aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer was one of the experiences she most looked forward to. Her class’s sailing voyage had just begun when an unfortunate event altered Kathryn’s experience.
Kathryn after breaking her elbow.
“Day two was fine. That night at 11:30 our watch was striking the JT [jib tops’l] and I fell and broke my elbow,” Kathryn said. The ship’s crew stepped in to care for Kathryn, determining that Kathryn would need to depart the ship to recover. Two days later, the Cramer had returned to port so Kathryn could board a flight home, where she would spend the rest of class’s offshore voyage.
As Kathryn made the journey from the ship to shore aboard a small boat, she still couldn’t believe that her offshore voyage was over.
As it turns out, there was one last, almost magical experience in store.
‘The third mate, the medical officer, [ Williams-Mystic oceanography professor Lisa Gilbert (S’96)] and I were sitting on the rescue boat looking at a rainbow right over San Juan harbor and then two dolphins [surfaced] under the rainbows,” Kathryn recalled. It was precisely the kind of moment that Kathryn had been dreaming of since her semester began. This was also the moment she realized, without a doubt, that her elbow was broken and her voyage had to end.
Throughout the rest of their voyage, Kathryn’s classmates made sure to include her in their experiences. They kept a journal for her, for instance.
“The class carried a cardboard cut out of my head around on the ship and even tried to take it snorkeling,” Kathryn said. “There is a photo of our whole class on the beach in St. Croix where it looks like I was there.”
S’17 on the beach in St. Croix. If you look closely, you can see the cardboard cutout of Kathryn.
Kathryn was invited to join a future semester’s Offshore Voyage to make up for the journey she had missed.
In the meantime, though, there was the rest of the semester to complete. Kathryn enjoyed the academics of the program. She especially relished exploring topics from different perspectives.
“I loved the policy class. I liked picking my own [research] project and thought the interviews were eye-opening because you were talking to people from both sides and made you think about your stance,” Kathryn said.
For Kathryn, it’s small moments with her classmates such as late-night study sessions that stand out. She felt close to her professors, too, and appreciated being able to talk with them about anything and everything.
Kathryn completed her Williams-Mystic semester. She graduated from Millersville University with a degree in Marine Biology in 2018.
But her Williams-Mystic experience wasn’t quite finished yet. Two years after her own semester began, at the beginning of the Spring 2019 semester, Kathryn was able to return to William-Mystic for the Spring 2019 students’ Offshore Voyage — also in the Caribbean aboard the Corwith Cramer.
Initially, Kathryn felt nervous about her return, and about sailing with a class that was not her own. From the moment she stepped aboard, though, she was welcomed into the group. From there, much of the programming felt familiar.
Kathryn, third from right, with some of her S’19 shipmates
For Kathryn, the first three days of the voyage felt like a “refresher.”
“I remembered a lot more than I thought I would,” she reflected. “But then day four came and it felt different.”
With new challenges came new accomplishments.
“When our watch struck the Jib and I went out on the bowsprit to furl it, I felt so accomplished. … I am so thankful and blessed to have been able to sail again,” Kathryn said. “I am forever grateful to Williams-Mystic for giving me the opportunity for a second time.”
From how to steer or furl sail, to how to wake people up for class or sanitize dishes, we have been learning specific methods to allow 37 people to safely and happily travel, live, and learn together on a ship only 40 meters long.
Above: S’19 students Chris (Clark University) and Em (Vassar College) help recover sediment from the bottom of San Juan Harbor.
29 January 2019
19 N x 066 W, 30 nautical miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico
S’19 Oliver (University of Cincinnati) and Jonna (Middlebury College) serenade the ship’s company.
Greetings from SSV CorwithCramer!
On Sunday, January 27, the Williams-Mystic Class of Spring 2019 joined SSV Corwith Cramer in San Juan just in time for lunch. For the last 48 hours or so, we have been busy learning ship operations, getting used to walking on a rolling ship, and enjoying being out at sea.
For many, of us, it is our first time out at sea. And as Melville wrote in Redburn, “People who have never gone to sea for the first time as sailors cannot imagine how puzzling and confounding it is.” Unlike Melville’s protagonist, however, we have watch officers who are kind and patient teachers, and who allow us to ask lots of questions. From how to steer or furl sail, to how to wake people up for class or sanitize dishes, we have been learning specific methods to allow 37 people to safely and happily travel, live, and learn together on a ship only 40 meters long with three heads and two showers.
During orientation, we got to know the parts of the ship and our responsibilities on board. Everyone participated in safety drills and we also conducted our first science deployments in San Juan Harbor.
Then we headed out to sea, into deep water north of San Juan. Two days in, spirits are high. We are getting used to the routine and the warm tropical weather. The food has been amazing thanks to our fantastic stewards and we have even enjoyed some entertainment thanks to some talented students.
Stay tuned for more updates from our Offshore Field Seminar!
Track the Cramer‘s progress by clicking the link below!
Important Note: Vessel tracking information isn’t updated continuously and the Cramer isn’t always able to provide updated location information. (Good reception isn’t a guarantee at sea!) If you notice that the Cramer appears to be in the same location for an extended period of time, it simply means the website has not yet been updated.
The last day aboard the Cramer is a microcosm of everything we’ve experienced aboard: science, hands-on learning, our duty to the ship, and team bonding via songs and puns.
Muscongus Bay, Saint George River, Maine
September 12, 2018
0445 h
After making our way north to Maine, we anchored at Muscongus Bay Monday evening. Anchoring brought a welcome reprieve from the watch schedule offshore; we’ve been keeping short “anchor watches” during our time here, which have allowed us to catch up on some much-awaited sleep.
Tuesday morning brought rain, but also some excellent poster presentations, as the students crowded into the main salon of the Cramer to share the results from their scientific research projects. Another highlight of the day: marlinspike seamanship class, in which students worked on knots — and “knautical” puzzles. (When you’ve been together on a ship for 10 days, your humor tends to take a turn for the punny.)
As part of the ship’s crew, our duty to Cramer has structured our days here. Tuesday, as our last full day on the ship, was no exception; our afternoon was designated a “field day,” a time to clean and care for every inch of this ship that’s been our home this week and a half. The rain stopped as we finished field day, and we were rewarded with a beautiful, final night aboard, full of poetry, conversation, and songs.
Isabella (Colby College, at left) and Morgan (Williams College) present the results of their study on light attenuation in the surface ocean.
Now, it’s early morning Wednesday. Everyone is still asleep but soon the ship will be abuzz as we prepare to get underway and head toward Rockland. Tonight, we will make our way back to Mystic as shipmates, ready for the next adventures of our fall semester.
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