Sea Challenge (Day 7)
Isle of Shoals, ME to Portsmouth, NH
July 27, 2023
I decided to go on this trip because I thought it would be a cool way to cure my summer boredom. I came here with my best friend Kain and I’m so happy I did. This trip has been amazing for so many reasons. The people are amazing, the crews super nice, funny, helpful, and caring. My watch leaders were the best- AJ was very caring and realistic about our feelings and what we were going through not being able to see our families. My other leader was Adam- he’s one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. He knew how everyone learned and taught them accordingly. For example, he knew that I learn/ pick up skills at a faster pace so he would teach me ahead of time so that I could help as soon as I could. The other students are what really helped me feel as comfortable as I did. Everyone was going through the same stuff and were understanding that everyone goes through it differently. Even though it was only a week, I felt like I knew them for a year. Obviously we bickered because we’re in each others space 24/7 but we’re all close friends by the end. The experiences were awesome because we got to go do fun things all the time. That includes going to the beach, whale watching, and going into town to get ice cream and see a museum. My favorite part of this trip was being so disconnected from everything. When you’re on the boat there’s no stress or worrying about work and no feelings of being judged.
-Nate
So I’m not gonna lie… I was forced to be here because of a program I do. It requires me to go on one trip every summer. At first I didn’t even want to show up at the dock in fear of what would happen to me. Even though I had my ups and downs with this trip, I enjoyed myself. There were multiple times I wanted to go home, cry, take a real shower, gotten seasick, and even wanted to throw someone overboard but despite this I had fun regardless of the issues I had with myself and others. I pulled through, thugged it out through the worst and can now share an experience that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else, new skills along with friendships that have grown or been planted and ready to bloom into something more than I ever thought it would. So thank you Summer Search for forcing me to be here. But importantly, thank you World Ocean School for new experiences and all the support.
With much love,
-Le’Nijiah
I have been looking forward to writing the ships log because I’ve been eager to share my experience aboard, the SV Denis Sullivan. The first thing I’d like to note is the sense of community I have formed here is like no other. We are all we have for the time we’re aboard and we get to know each other so well. We eat, sleep,clean, and even bathe together (in the ocean, fully clothed of course). We all form close and strong relationships with each other because if we didn’t, it’d be a mess. The second thing I’d like to note is the compassion and sheer hard work that every one of the crew member shows every single day. They’ll take the time to repeat, reexplain, repeat, or flat out teach again, and again, until we understand. They also do their jobs with the genuine desire to be here. I feel as though the crew truly cares for us. The final thing I’d like to mention is what I’m going to get off the boat with. Not literally whats in my hands, but what aspects of my experience I feel are going to stick with me for life. Those aspects are confidence in myself and others, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood like no other. And a strengthened set of values such as hard work, communication, and discipline. I want to thank the entire crew, and all the students for an incredible experience aboard. P.S. Hi Carrigan, I miss you! See you soon:)
-Kellan
