FOLLOW THE VOYAGE - TS KENNEDY

Sunday, January 8, 2012

FTV 1/8/2012 Today's Departure

Well we are ready to set sail, many parents, friends, and well wishers will be on Taylor's Point this morning to see the Kennedy as it departs for its Sea Term 2012 voyage to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and the St. Thomas.


During the voyage remember to check the Follow the Voyage blog at www.maritime.edu/seaterm
each day for updates and photos from cadets, ship personnel, and me. Be sure to try some of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities and then share your results and learning on the blog post comments.

Here is a video tour of the T.S. Kennedy that will help you get familiar with the inside of the ship and the importance of the ship to the Cadets Maritime Education.

Captain's Blog 1/8/12

What a great morning! The weather was perfect for an October day so for a January day it bordered on super-natural. I was called at 0500 and told the temperature was 41 degrees, and at 0800 it had climbed to 44. Not too bad for this time of year, especially when I can recall many years when we sailed in snow storms! (BTW, for the record, this is my 27th sea term but I'm still short of the Second Mate, the present record holder). But it was crazy between 0600 and 0730 when we had many escorted guests aboard and maybe another hundred cadets ashore. I was stressed and the disembarkation of the guests coupled with the embarking cadets looked like it was going to stretch into our departure operations. So, for the parents that witnessed my 'take charge actions', I apologize, but we needed to have time to muster the cadets and crew for accountability checks, and be ready to sail by 0820, which is 20 minutes before the predicted high water slack current.

Finally at 0836 we cast off our last mooring lines, telegraphed slow astern to the engine room, and the tug boats pulled us off the dock as the whistle sounded. This was a little ahead of schedule. We enjoyed a weather perfect transit down Buzzards Bay; at 1245 we disembarked a service technician off Narragansett Bay. We are now steaming south at 9 knots through the Right Whale protection zone and at 1800 will be accelerated to 15 knots. Next stop will be Charleston SC for bunkers. More tomorrow.