One Day in My Life at Sea

March 12, 2009

A friend asked me to describe a typical day at sea quite some time ago. The class schedule is divided into A days and B days and while at sea most days are class days or in my case work days. When we are in port there are no classes except for scheduled class field trips. In port, we can take SAS trips or use it as our free time and travel anywhere except leave the host country. While we are at sea it is not uncommon to have our clocks forwarded an hour and indeed by the time we make our way around the world we will have lost 24 hours. I never realized how very precious one hour is and I believe all of my shipmates would agree.

My intention was to get up early every day and exercise but just like home, my intention rarely matches my actions when it comes to going to the gym. A reasonable alternative has been to get up at 7 and walk the outside decks which beats going to the gym any day, even if the gym looks out over the ocean. My preference is to walk on the bow but it is often closed due to high winds and so the back deck serves the purpose. Many others are up at that hour either running or walking or working out in the gym.

We have a French press and so I make our coffee in our room. I usually skip breakfast to check email or work on my blog and then go to Global studies at 9:15. It is compulsory for all voyagers and it is the only class that meets every class day. It has been very informative and covers a range of topics. When we were approaching Spain, we heard a lecture on the 5 most famous Spanish painters. Today as we approach Thailand, a resident from UVA, who joined us in India talked about the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South East Asia and the sex workers of Thailand. Since our theme is human migrations we have been hearing about every aspect of this subject over the course of the voyage.

After Global Studies I go to work. Right now I am working in the Campus Store which is the easier part of my job. At the beginning of the voyage I managed and sold textbooks. Soon it will be time to inventory them and pack them up for return to the UVA bookstore. I work until Noon and then rendezvous with Reggie and Jackson for lunch. Jackson has spent the morning in a study hall, along with a large group of dependent children. Study hall meets in the deck 5 dining room and he is supposed to be keeping up with his curriculum from Colorado. He and I spend some time each day reviewing his studies and looking ahead to the next assignments. A student tutors him in pre Algebra on B days and he does science with his grandfather on A days. In addition he keeps a journal.

As often as we can we eat lunch on the fantail looking out over the ship’s turquoise wake. It is usually rather hot but we can find a place in the shade. We have grown quite fond of the waiters, many of whom are from the Philippines. They are an upbeat bunch and like to joke around with Jackson. After lunch I go back to our cabin for another quick round with email or other computer activities and then back to work at 1:30. I work with Yvonne and Nick who are members of the crew. Nick is from Holland. He is 18 and speaks 5 languages. Yvonne is from Jamaica. We also have several work study students. I am usually done by 3 and return to our cabin where I spend a lot of time on the Internet, planning our trips. If we have not signed up for Semester at Sea trips, than it is up to us to organize our own trips. I have become the ad hoc travel agent.

Sometime after 5PM, Reggie shows up and we go to the lounge for a cocktail or a glass of wine. We can visit with our neighbors and watch the ocean for the infrequent bird, fish or mammal appearance. There are so many interesting people on board and I am enjoying the characters and the conversations. We have fishermen from Alaska, a woman who grew up in Rhodesia and people who lived through Apartheid. We have poets, musicians and scientists and people who are very amusing. Many have travelled extensively and can provide lots of useful information.

In addition to Jackson and ourselves, we have a shipboard family. At the beginning of the voyage, students had the opportunity to sign up if they wanted to be adopted by some adult for the voyage. They had more people sign up than ever before. Consequently we have five adopted students and two additional young ladies who adopted us. It has been a really nice way to get to know some students and they are genuinely appreciative of our efforts. We have them to our cabin or meet them for dinner.

We usually make our way to the Garden Lounge for dinner around 7PM, meeting up with Jackson who has been enjoying his own free time. Very often we have the good fortune of being entertained by a gorgeous sunset while dining on the fan tail. Since we are usually heading east or some close approximation, the sun is setting over our wake. This makes for some memorable moments.

Our evenings are spent in various ways. If we are close to a port, we attend cultural preport or logistical preport which are required. Sometimes there are additional presentations by interport lecturers which are informative and worthwhile. It is always great to have a little extra time to read or work on the computer. The lounge reopens at 9PM and we often drop by for more socializing before hitting the hay. Usually by 10, I am in bed reading.

It is not a bad life at all. In fact I am sure I have gotten spoiled. All of us agree however that we do not have enough time to get everything done and it is one of the abiding mysteries of this shipboard life. I do not have to drive anywhere and nor do I have to cook, clean or shop and yet time is in short supply. Many of our days at sea are only 23 hours long and I do find myself interrupting my activities frequently to walk out on deck and look at passing ships, islands or birds. At night it is to look at the moon and stars which are even more spectacular at sea. Like many of my fellow voyagers, I love the time at sea and it may be the best part of the trip.

Stay tuned for Thailand and another day in paradise……..

This is Mats, the Staff Captain. He is standing on the flying bridge, keeping an eye on our docking at Laem Chabang in Thailand. He is basically second in command. If you ask him what his role is on the ship, he says he does anything the Captain does not want to do. Mats is from Sweden.