From Beaufort to the Big Apple by SEA SCHOLAR Kelly

            Last Wednesday afternoon we took off from North Carolina. We ended up having to leave Beaufort a day early in order to keep ahead of a storm rolling in and sailed for four days before arriving in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There we stayed almost 4 days! In Atlantic City we beautified the boat. We had a few very productive workdays to get the Appledore V sparkling. 

After finishing work on the boat there was some extra time to explore! We got to check out the famous Atlantic City boardwalk and even eat ice cream. We left New Jersey Tuesday afternoon and made our way towards the big apple.

 

            

Arriving in New York was awesome and the views were amazing; I even took the helm for part of our entrance to New York Harbor!  Even with me at the helm, we did arrive a little later than anticipated. We arrived at our dock around noon so we had a packed day ahead of us. Our first stop was the 9/11 memorial. We checked out the two memorial fountains and got to see the new Freedom Tower. Then we walked over to the South Street Seaport Museum where we got to see a huge ship; a Barque called Peking. We watched a movie about this ship and its journey around Cape Horn on the way to New York so it made being on the actual ship even better. 

We caught some lunch after the Peking at a true New York Pizza shop! Then, we rushed over to the American Museum of Natural History but we could only stay for a half hour because it was closing. Next, we walked by central park to Time Square and got on one of those huge double decker tour buses. We toured the city just as all the buildings were being lit up. The view was amazing! We finished the night out with some more pizza before heading to the souvenir shops! Now, we are casting lines from New York City and headed to Albany where the crew will strike the rig in preparation for the Erie Canal!

The Adventure Continues!

The Adventure Continues!

By SEA SCHOLAR Brody

The journey from Key West, Florida to Bay City, Michigan has been nothing less than exciting. From the start, going through airports and going on flights was much different than my usual travels, and meeting seven people who I would end up living with for a month was very interesting.

After living on the sea for a few days, everything started to become routine: eating at certain times, being on watch for four hours at a time, sleeping and doing homework, and then going back on watch. Seeing dolphins has also become a constant, with a pod of either spotted or bottlenose dolphins swimming alongside the bow of our boat almost daily.

But with all these constants, there are a few surprises that I've encountered. One of which was when I was sleeping during some rough seas. Out of nowhere, a bucket's worth of water landed on my back and legs from some part of the boat that leaks. (I found out later that we hadn’t completely closed a hatch; we check those more carefully now.)

Other than the occasional surprise, it's been pretty smooth sailing. From steering the ship with Captain Noah to sitting on the bowsprit with Kelly and First Mate Kat, we've all been working together as a team and getting along just great.

We leave for New York City today and, to get ready, the crew put us to work cleaning and polishing the whole ship!  Appledore V is looking great and ready to sail proudly with us aboard into New York Harbor in about a week!