CAPTAIN'S LOG

CAPTAIN’S LOG 11 January 2015

The T.S. Kennedy got underway, on the annual SeaTerm, at 1320 on Saturday 10 January 2015, The ship is manned with 580 cadets and 99 crew members. The weather was clear, very cold temperatures and the wind was moderate, north westerly between 10-14 knots.  The Northeast Marine Pilot was Captain Sean Bogus (MMA ’99).  The tugs were provided by McAllister Towing, based in Providence, RI.  Both entities did a great job, and it is worthy to note that they provide their services for free to MMA.

The day was celebrated by hundreds of parents and friends fighting the cold weather on the dock. They kept warm by visiting Bresnahan Hall and Kurz Hall – grabbing a cup of coffee, visiting the Parent’s Association table (and buying Parent’s Stuff), or browsing in the Follett’s ship store.

Judging from the shouts and screams, our 239 Fourth Class cadets, and maybe even some upper class men, were excited to be getting under way.  For the First Class this Seaterm is a final sprint toward graduation, while for the Fourth Class, it maybe a hesitant “What the heck am I doing?”  The crew takes it in stride, but in their hearts they too are sad about leaving loved ones behind, yet they
hide it in a professional manner.

The sail down Buzzards Bay was beautiful, literally sailing into the sun, and running at about 15 knots. Our engineers conducted some routine tests of equipment now running under high operational output. 

There was very little Bay traffic as we headed west over toward Narraganset Bay to discharge some shore-side engineers who helped with the equipment testing.  Once clear we were off to the Atlantic, where we kept Kennedy under nine knots to comply with Right Whale speed restriction zone. At 2200 when we passed the restricted zone we sped up to a blistering 10.5 knots!

Night one is behind us now, and the weather is warming, wind only 15 knots from the west.  Our voyage plan is to be in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico on Saturday, where we will conduct anchor drills.  

There will be daily updates from me as often as possible.  I hope you enjoy following the SeaTerm with us as we train, work and play though the Spanish Main.