FOLLOW THE VOYAGE - TS KENNEDY

Monday, January 10, 2011

Captain's Blog 1/10/11

Once we departed Buzzards Bay yesterday, our voyage plan required that we transit a Right Whale Mandatory Speed Reduction Area. We were required to operate at less than 10 knots, and keep a sharp lookout for right whales. Since most of the time we were in transit was darkness, we had no sightings to report.

Once clear we speeded up to 60 RPM, giving us an honest 15 knots. This speed was more that we needed to make our bunker stop on time on Wednesday, but it help keep the ship a little more stable in the force seven northwesterly winds. Being right on our beam, we did experience steady yet gentle rolls all night. This motion was apparently enough to bring on the onset of seasickness amongst our youngest cadet class. A rite of passage to be certain, getting "mal de mere" occurs frequently to new mariners, and for some, even experienced sailors can be prone to it the first few days at sea after being on the beach for too long.

But, no amount of ship's motion or sea sickness will interfere with the beginning of the annual training cycle. Day one is today, and I know I will be noting day 24 in a blink of the eye - only it will have been separated by 7,000 steaming miles and three liberty ports.

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