Today is June 5th, Marking the 31st day of our time aboard TSSOM. The company Rotation is the following: Alpha: Watch Bravo: Utility Charlie: Training Delta: Maintenance I am currently writing this cruise blog from our IT office onboard. There are jobs for students to earn money while underway, with working for our IT department […]

At 1447 today, we deployed the first of six Argo floats for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Weeks ago, I started communicating directly with the project organizers when the first delays due to lifeboat 4 began. It was difficult to send updates informing them of the cancelled ports we all had been looking forward to. As […]

Maine Maritime Academy has partnered with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to assist with deploying six Argo floats during this summer’s training cruise. The floats will be deployed at six different identified locations in the Atlantic Ocean, with the deployment of the first and second floats scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  What […]

Ever wonder what it is like to take control of an 8,000 Horsepower engine spinning a 16 foot propeller pushing a 500 foot long ship through the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean? Maine Maritime 2/C Engineering students on the 2024 training cruise no longer wonder what that is like. Over the period of 4 […]

Sunsets, sunrise, whales, and boats. Standing watch is an equal balance of seeing so many incredible things and seeing nothing at all. Charlie company stood their first double-day watch of cruise which many faced with a bit of apprehension. Watch days involve two 4-hour watches with an eight-hour break between. With a double watch day, […]

As the cadet 2nd engineer, I start my day at 0600 with breakfast and a coffee. At 0645 I meet with the other student leaders on the ship for a short meeting going over operations for the day, safety topics, and the goods and bads from the day before. After morning quarters, I proceed to […]

Our friendship with the fog began around the time we were on our way to New York for bunkering, and has continued for the past several days. A thick, heavy mist hangs about the vessel, occasionally parting for us to see brief glimpses of the sky or, very rarely, the horizon. Last night, we were […]

I think I instantly missed my home in Maine when I stepped out onto deck for the first time yesterday. New York was disgustingly humid and hot compared to the Penobscot, but this feeling melted (mostly) away as I saw the Tug Stephen Dann push the bunker barge onto the hip of the State of […]

Today my alarm went off bright and early at 4:15. A few students were selected to assist the permanent crew in deploying the pilot ladder as we headed into New York City for bunkering.  Bravo Company is on maintenance and that means standing anchor watch for our arrival to New York! It was definitely fun […]

Yesterday, we left our home port in Castine, bound for sea. It’s been a long, long time coming; after fourteen days at anchor and another four in port, the ship, its inhabitants, and the townsfolk of Castine are more than ready for us to leave. Maine had blossomed into a lush, green summer – seemingly […]

It’s official! The USCG has completed testing of the repairs to Lifeboat 4, and permission has been granted to sail! While in port, students have had the chance to enjoy some liberty. The ship is scheduled to depart Castine tomorrow at noon. It will travel to New York for bunkers before heading east to Tenerife, […]

Today, the day’s agenda has met everyone with a mixture of gated optimism and excitement. Yesterday, our savior, known only to many of us as “Lifeboat Dude”, returned to get working on our broken lifeboat hydraulic system after our replacement part arrived from Norway. Our ship’s crew has worked fervently with “Lifeboat Dude” to ensure […]

The pump for Lifeboat 4’s davit arrived late this morning and has been installed! The sealant/gasket used to install the pump needs to cure in place overnight before filling the hydraulic tank first thing in the morning. After the tank is filled, we can start testing. A USCG inspector will be aboard at 0800 to […]

Today was our first day of real port liberty, and where better to spend it than right at home in Castine! After so much time at anchorage our favorite trash compactor, WALL-E, was struggling to keep up and we were starting to fill up the ship’s recycling center so it was time to begin hauling […]

Today the ship raised anchor in the afternoon, which involved the maintenance company (Delta) having a small crew running two hoses to spray down the chain to remove mud as it was raised through the hawsepipe. Around that time as well, a few cadets assembled the pilot ladder as a Penobscot Bay pilot boarded the […]

Well, we have seen a lot more of Penobscot Bay than we ever thought we would! Circling Islesboro has given us a new perspective of the area. Seeing the mountains juxtaposed with the ocean from our lovely TSSOM racing at a whopping 10.6 knots is a unique opportunity. Coming back into our beloved Searsport Anchorage, […]

Like yesterday with permission of the Coast Guard, the TSSOM was allowed to raise anchor and sail within Penobscot Bay. This allowed the upperclassmen time at the helm as they made laps around the island of Islesboro under the pilotage of the ship’s Chief Mate. Unlike the day before, today we sailed out to a […]

We are underway!* At around 0950 this morning we weighed anchor and set off to do some laps around the Penobscot Bay. It’s a refreshing sight to look out on the horizon and see the land go by after a week at anchor. With lifeboat parts another week away, and our stop at St. Thomas […]