Underway to Belfast
Time: 2305
Lat: N 49 56.4’
Long: W003 32.9’
Good Evening,
We gained an hour last night to sync up with Belfast, Ireland. Capt. MacArthur changed our course to go down through the English Channel and then up to Ireland rather than the planned route up and over Scotland. We left Kiel a couple of hours late, waiting on the installation of some emergency communication equipment. Time factors and some weather concerns pushed our arrival date to Belfast a day later. We will still spend four days in Belfast and arrive in Castine on the 19-20th as projected. We are on Day 56, leaving only eighteen days left! I have learned a lot and am so happy to have had the experience, but with the arrival date coming up, I have been looking forward to being home.
In training, we did some charting practice with Capt. Slazas. We were given (lat/longs) and used tools to plot the waypoints on the chart. Then using two bearings taken from a vessel, we triangulated our position. Then later that evening, I saw a junior friend on her way up to the Cadet Nav. Lab to work on plotting for her project. So, I poured some hot chocolate and went up to help. I plotted a waypoint after seeing the process the juniors take, which is understandably more involved. Next semester I start taking navigation courses where I will do plenty of chart work.
Yesterday, I wandered into a group of juniors untangling a line for a kite. After about an hour of untangling, they got it flying.
Stay tuned as we make our way to Belfast,
Odegaard Fields




Latest 2025 Summer TSSOM Cruise
- A Day in Belfast IrelandHello! Belfast Ireland is unique in that all of the second class Maine students came here our freshman cruise, and while I thought that would be a negative… I was so wrong! I thought I had exhausted things to do freshman year, and I was wrong again. I had heard about some people doing a […]
- Stronger Ties FormedCadets aboard the TS Kennedy spent the past 10 days underway, sailing between New York City and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Students enjoyed calm seas for most of the leg but were stuck under overcast skies, much to the chagrin of the upper-class deck cadets who are actively trying to complete their celestial navigation project. This […]
- Running Smooth in Belfast: A Cruise Check-In from the Cadet Chief EngineerI’m Jacob Nowalsky, the cruise Lead Engine Cadet from Maine, and Maine’s Cadet Chief Engineer. Things have been going pretty well onboard! After being in port in Galveston, everyone was excited to finally get to sea, and now that we’re wrapping up our 2nd leg and are here in Belfast, people are fully into the […]
- Switching to the Engine RoomOur second leg of our Summer Sea Term 2025 cruise has been really fun! During this leg to Belfast from New York, we saw a lot of whales, flying fish, and other marine life. We also recently just hit our halfway point, which means Maine Maritime cadets switched deck/engine focuses on cruise. From 5 May […]
- From Celestial Navigation to Food Grinding: Embracing Every RoleAs we’ve embarked on our journey aboard the Kennedy, it’s been a great experience watching everyone settle into shipboard life. As a junior, I’ve been focusing on celestial navigation, taking on senior-level watches, and experiencing significant personal growth as a leader. These experiences have helped unite the Maine and Texas communities on board. A few […]
- From Hesitation to Hands-On Learning: Life at Sea on the KennedyMy experiences on the Training Ship Kennedy have been phenomenal so far. I came onto the ship with adverse thoughts, with the ship being from the 1960s, and cruising with another maritime academy. However, the Kennedy proved me wrong! I have met a lot of new people with different experiences and shared different aspects that […]