Half Way to Hawaii

Latitude: 25 Degrees 38 Minutes North
Longitude: 136 Degrees  45 Minutes West


It has been three full days since we departed Ensenada, Mexico and we are now nearly 1,200 Nautical miles from our departure point. For the non-mariners out there, a nautical mile is based on the distance of one minute of longitude on the globe and measures 6,028 feet (just a bit longer than a "regular" or statute mile, which is 5,280 feet). Don't ask me where THAT measurement comes from. Six "regular" miles make up about five nautical miles. The weather has been overcast although we haven't had any rain. Seas have been pretty rough, with swells as high as 7 meters yesterday. It's laid down a bit today with waves in the 3-4 meter range. Winds have been Force 5-6 which means in the 20-30 mile per hour range. Temperatures have been around 60 degrees F. Not terrible, but most students are not spending much time outside. It will likely be warmer as we get closer to Hawaii (I hope!).

Out here in the middle of the ocean, there's not much in the way of big animals like whales or porpoise. I'm hoping we see some humpbacks when we get to Hawaii, although the majority of the whales generally spend their time on the opposite side of the island from Hilo. Maybe we'll get lucky. We did have a black footed albatross following the ship for an hour or so this morning. That's really the only wildlife we've seen so far.

We have now had a single "A" and "B" day and the students (as well as us faculty and staff) understand the rhythm of the days. Breakfast starts at 0700 with the first classes starting at 0800 running throughout the day. Each class is 75 minutes long with a fifteen minute break between classes. Most students have four classes over the two day period, while the faculty mostly teach three. There's less actual class time than I'm used to at Waterford, but the prep time is a great deal more difficult for college-level courses. Classes tend to have about 30 students in them, although each student takes a "LENS" class, which has about 80 students. These classes are general-interest classes that are designed to discuss important issues and topics based on our cruise track. Every student is enrolled in one of these, although anyone can attend any of these classes if their schedule allows. So far I have sat in on an Engineering class on water issues, an International Law class where we discussed human rights around the globe, a Global Health class and a Nutrition class. The faculty teaching these come from Universities around the nation (and in one case, China) and are excellent teachers. The intellectual environment aboard ship is fantastic. In addition, there are several science professors aboard and I've enjoyed discussing aspects of Marine Biology and Oceanography with them. Dinner conversations are interesting and wide-ranging.

Evenings, there are a variety of activities going on. Students are of course free to go to their rooms and listen to music or read. Small groups are found throughout the ship playing cards, writing or just hanging out. There is a formal social gathering on the stern of the vessel each evening following the 2000 (8 p.m.) evening "Explorer Seminar". This evening we have a guest lecturer from the University of Hawaii speaking on Volcanos and the geology of Hawaii. Later in the evening the student life office is sponsoring a "Photo Scavenger Hunt" which involves I-don't-know-what, but several students seem pretty excited to participate.

We are two days from arriving in Hawaii. I've just been asked to help out on a field trip to a cultural center with one of the humanities classes. We will be spending the first of our two days on the island learning about the culture, history and political issues of native Hawaiians. Should be interesting… I'm hoping to spend the second day up at the Volcano National Park, a place I've always wanted to see.