I first heard of the SEA Semester ships from crewmates on another boat I worked on around Puget Sound. They regaled me with stories that can only be had on the vastness of the open ocean: the coral reefs, the mysterious engine room, the 1AM ramen in the galley. As I listened, they set about naming the stars, one by one. I knew it was something I had to see for myself.
The Pacific islands are jewels, rent from the Earth’s breast and scattered across the ocean. The particular set we visited, the Phoenix Islands, rest in the middle of the Pacific along the equator. They are protected by their remoteness and status as a Marine Protected Area; by the same token, we know little about this patch of ocean. Our vessel, the Robert C. Seamans, went to collect oceanographic data to further to the protected area’s management plan and our understanding of the ocean. In time, we furthered our understanding of ourselves. We learned, we struggled, and we danced with one another, from 35 strangers to a family made fast. I can’t wait to go sailing again.
A shipmate wrote me soon after our voyage across the Pacific.
“I miss the ground moving beneath me,” she said –
and I already feel it.
Bare feet, tanned legs moving across salt-bleached, sun-stained teak.
We stumbled, the ship heaving with the waves,
Grasping for the rail as our life rolls beneath us.
I wake with a start as a swell strikes the hull with a thunderclap
The same waves that rocked me to sleep in my bunk.
As we drift, the ocean is many things, as many moods
As shades of blue.
I turn over to sleep.
My shipmates on deck keep watch for me
And in a few hours, I for them
We will the ship forward, a glimmering, steady heartbeat
As the grey squally sea gives way to the soft shadows of sunrise.
“I miss the ground moving beneath me –
and I miss the sureness I could catch myself”
My friend continued,
Standing on the bow as I lean against my chest harness
Singing a peaceful song for my friends
Staring at an endless horizon
Swaying with the waves as our life rolls beneath us.
taking baby steps towards writing and swimming. always thinking about fish. (ig: mudboy_wa, tw: banjosidae)
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