Boston to Baltimore
9/30
Alpha watch:
After a busy morning finalizing projects, including reefing the sails in anticipation of some wind, some awesome circular saw work from Armando, and making sure everything was ship shape, we departed the dock at Boston around 13:00. We motored across the harbor to East Boston to refuel. Once all fueled up, we took our dock lines off, hauled them in and then hustled to pull up the small red boat with Leo and Autumn, who had been helping on the dock side of things.Sailing out of Boston was very exciting and a little emotional. For many of us, this is our first long transit with World Ocean School, or first long transit, period. We sailed out through the historic shipping channel, an apt course for our period tall ship. After passing Castle Island, we plucked up our Main. Then past Spectacle Island, Long Island, Nix’s Mate and Gallops. I took over steering, passing through Boston Harbors Narrows. This was honestly super meaningful for me, having grown up playing and working on Georges and Lovells Islands, and it being one of my favorite spots in the harbor. After passing through the narrows, we sailed out past Boston light, hugging the navigation buoys. The seas are rocky and the food is good, and there is lots to look forward to on this transit.
Love to those at home,
Maddy
10/1/25
Charlie Watch
Today we set six of our ten sails. All three Gaff-Rigged sails, the Staysail, the Inner & Outer Jib, and lastly and most importantly the Raffee! Leo bravely climbed aloft underway to prepare the topsail as we had our new crew learn more about the sail using ReRe the Model Raffee. Armando and Autumn climbed back up to lower the topsail while Leo and Sego were handling the line on deck. Later on, we also lowered the mizzen.
Sego steered the ship for the first time.
10/2/25
A-Watch
After being woken up bright and early at 5:30 to steam through New York City in the daylight, we faced some mechanical difficulties which pushed back our start time to 11:30. Many of us took advantage of this time spent wondering when we would be leaving by sleeping and reading our books. After much hard work by our Engineer, Captain and then in the end assisted by our Mate the problem was solved and we were on our way! Our journey through New York was beautiful, as expected, the skyline from far away to the individual buildings and the shouting and waving occupants created a truly unique experience. Everyone was on deck bathing in the warm sun and watching the world go past. As a way to pass time while waiting this morning we placed guesses on how many ferries we would see in the East River (which is a smaller section then I thought), the final and winning guess was 12 ferry boats. Today we may not have traveled far but we saw many beautiful things, took many pictures and got to know our shipmates better with many rounds of Two Truths and a Lie. As we head down off the coast of New Jersey the tempature seems to be dropping ever so slightly making me think we’re in for a chilly night. - Stella
10/3/25
B Watch
B Watch was on when the wind started to die down but it was not until about noon that the wind had made it so there were little waves. We had to turn off the engines for a little bit because the generator need to be looked at more thoroughly. With that being said we had an all-hands muster in which we where told that we were either going to anchor and head through the canal into Chesapeake Bay late tonight or tomorrow. We also saw a gorgeous sunrise.
~Eleanor
“Leo, leo, this is Stella. Leo, Wake up. The time is 03:30, and you have half an hour before your watch. It’s chilly up top; I’m wearing pants, boots, and a jacket. We’re still sailing under the Main and Stays’l, and the seas have laid down quite a bit. Do you have any questions?”
A textbook wake-up from my shipmate, and long watch through the sunrise to start the day. It is October third, and the autumn weather steadily makes it’s way under my layered jackets, sneaking through the zippers and chinks. From the bow, the sky’s ambers, blues, and violets are far more tempting than the hazy horizion. I’m searching for a cluster of private bouys, now a red can, now a fishing charter. All is well above and below decks, and four hours later I am asleep once again, rolled into my bunk like a caterpillar.
“Leo, this is Maddy. The time is 17:25, and you have about thirty-five minuites untill your watch. Outside it is so nice! I’m litteraly wearing shorts, a T-sirt, and flip flops. I recommend Sunscreen.”
The second dog watch and my sunscreen soaked in: It’ll be a short one, only two hours before dinner when Charlie watch will take the deck. The sun is dipping, echoing her morning colors, and I look forward to the somewhat protected waters of Baltimore.
~Leo
