Proctor Academy’s Ocean Classroom voyage continues their exploration of the waters off the coast of Maine as students familiarize themselves with the tasks required of operating the Harvey Gamage. Students share daily voyage log reflections from the past week at sea. Read more below. A huge shout out to Gunnar '22 and Holly for their amazing photography and for helping to document OC '21. 

Day 11 | Wednesday, September 22nd

N 44° 05.705 W 069° 05.496

It was a beautiful day aboard the Harvey Gamage. We made it through our first unsupervised night watches to a stunning morning on calm waters. We are anchored in Rockland, Maine at the moment. This morning some of us got to see a seal enjoying its breakfast just meters from the boat. We enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast then got to work with morning chores. We had our first Navigation and Seamanship class under a beautiful warm sun. With some spare time after, some students worked on learning knots while others finished up school work. A few of us took bucket showers while others helped with maintenance and painting jobs. After a literature class with Holly, dinner was hot dogs above deck. We finished the night with a game that helped us get to know more about the crew. Then many went to bed with a beautiful orange moon still in our heads.

-Sam ‘22

Day 12 | Thursday, September 23rd

N 44° 05.705 W 069° 05.496

Today was eventful to say the least. We went to land! It was slightly foreign however it was reassuring that this voyage might follow the trend of a normal voyage and not COVID-19 Ocean Edition. Typical anchor days are usually slow and a good catch up day so it was nice to have a surprise like a trip to land to break up the day and keep us on our toes. Rockland is not like a big city or anything like that, but I enjoyed the break from the same room and the same floorboards everyday. Along with this journal I was tasked with capturing a polaroid image to help backup this entry. The photo was PRICELESS. It shows all of the boys of the boat praying and soaking in the ground beneath them like a gift from an upper/foreign being. To say the least, it is ridiculous. A picture says 1,000 words. Sam and Josh appear to be eating grass as if they did not know what to do with the stuff. Overall we are finding a rhythm and the boat is beginning to make sense. Since the introduction of the headrig papers, people have been racing to soak up knowledge in order to be able to jump on the headrig and get their clearance. The last few days have been at that point where this all seems normal and the next two months seem a lot less daunting and less of an undertaking and more of something that is more conquerable and less uncharted. I can’t wait till we turn the tide of really knowing what we are doing and this ship becomes our own.

-Will ‘22

Day 13 | Friday, September 24th

N 44° 07.320 W 068° 50.182

This morning I was woken at 0315 for the 0330-0500 anchor watch, and was greeted by calm water. At 0900 we had our second marine science class. Those of us not in class learned how to reef the sails. We reef the sails so that the boat does not heel over too much. Tyler made delicious shepherd's pie for lunch. Then we set sail out of Rockland, Maine at 1330. The seas were fairly rough with five foot waves and plenty of wind. Around 1700 we laid anchor in Carver Cove off of the Fox Islands Thorofare, Maine. 

Everyone is working on getting their headrig and barefoot certifications. These are so that we can go out on the bowsprit and walk around barefoot on the boat. We finished off the day with music and homework.

Additionally, we reached our highest speed so far of 10 knots!

-Cara ‘22

Total distance: 194 Nautical Miles

Day 14 | Saturday, September 25th

N 44° 22.148 W 068° 47.581

I woke up today near a tiny island in Maine. There was a lot of fog. I could not see the land around me. After that I was blessed with Tyler’s food. He had made blueberry muffins and eggs. The best part is that all of his food is homemade. After breakfast we had history class and we learned about vexillology, which is the study of flags. There are five rules to making a good flag. Step one is that a flag needs to be simple so that even a child could draw it. Step two is to use meaningful symbolism. Step three is to use two or three basic colors. Step four is to have no lettering or seal. Step five is to be distinctive. After class I saw in a boat check the forward compartment had four inches of water. Therefore I had to hand pump the water out. Soon after I learned that I had watch at 1200. This meant that I got lunch early, which was amazing. As usual, but still not anything out of the ordinary getting into the watch cycle I first had to do a boat check. I had spotted two schooners and reported them with a lot of lobster pots as well. Then I headed over to the helm which was also dodging a lot of lobster pots. WE LOVE MAINE. When my shift ended, I spotted cookies in the galley. That’s how I knew it was going to be a good meal. The meal was clam chowder and cookies. My brother and I love clam chowder. It is the meal he and I hunt for wherever we go, and cookies are the one thing my sister can bake so I love them.

-Connor ‘23 

Day 15 | Sunday, September 26th

N 44° 22.149 W 068° 47.540

We woke up to the sound of rain today. It was pouring hard on the tarp we put up the day before to try and stay as dry as possible. Let’s just say none of us were too excited to get up for fun festivities in the pouring rain that was yet to come. We all ate breakfast and soon enough we finished our chores. We then found out we were to spend most of our day at Holderbrook Sanctuary, specifically at the peninsula of the island and were given the chance to get out of anchor watch for tonight by playing a little game called a scavenger hunt. We soon all became determined to get out of watch for the night and made our way to the island to begin the search. Only a few (me) fell into the water while others stayed dry, but in 4 hours we were given to find numerous plants, a beaver stick, sea glass, and much more. We all succeeded in finding all the needed materials for the hunt and were quite happy to find out that none of us were to be participating in anchor watch for the night. Once back on the boat, we all got dressed up in our best clothes for Sunday's best and gathered to have dinner made by Tyler the cook. We were given a beautiful sunset and clear skies compared to the unfortunate rain storm we had earlier and everyone's moods were then lifted for the remainder of the day. We ended the night in our nice clothes by playing a quick game of charades and then formed a very serious poker game in the galley for the last 5 hours of the night. It was very serious. Overall, the day ended on a happy note as we ended the day with some card games and went to bed with smiles on our faces knowing that none of us would have to get woken up in the middle of the night for an anchor watch.

-Ali ‘23 

Day 16 | Monday, September 27th

N 44° 23.162 W 068° 47.700

Today, the 22 members of the student crew woke up from a peaceful sleep since we were lucky enough to earn a night without watch! After breakfast, we set sail, and did our daily chores. We sailed from Nautilus Cove in the most beautiful, sunny weather to Castine. In Castine, we had a Marine Science class and then we got ready for our tour of Maine Maritime Academy. During our excursion, we went aboard the State of Maine, did a sailing simulator, and went to a very interesting museum. We were all super excited to be on land again and be able to explore. We the found out that we would be able to walk around town and go to a little grocery store. Everyone was in good spirits and there was a contagious laugh going around. We went back home, to the Harvey Gamage, and a couple of us did some laundry, BY HAND! Cool experience! We cheered on the Maine Maritime students that were having a friendly rowing competition. We enjoyed our delicious dinner made by the best chef, Tyler, as we watched the sunset. Today was overall a really amazing day and one for the books!

-Libby ‘23

Day 17 | Tuesday, September 28th

N 44° 06.423 W 069° 05.366

The roaring sound of the engine traveled throughout the foc’s’le as the Harvey Gamage was underway at 0700 this morning. The students and crew awoke to chief Tyler’s beautifully made pancakes and quickly hoisted the foresail and staysail soon after. B-Watch took over the ship as the students dispersal into homework groups, card games, and nap time. About halfway through our excursion from Castine to Rockland, ME, all students attended our first navigation and seamanship class. We discussed longitude and latitude, plotting coordinates and then progressed into an activity to conclude class. Surprisingly, we were then accompanied by a pod of porpoises just feet from the boat. After making it to Rockland a few hours later, we were soon informed the our history/literature class would be on the breakwater, a mile-long rock pathway in Rockland Harbor, just a short boat ride away. We all gathered supplies and shuttled over to the breakwater. Here we broke into our second class of the day and walked along the pathway enjoying the scenery and presence of land. After some time away from the ship, we headed back and prepared for TACO TUESDAY!!! We all loaded up our plates and devoured yet another 10/10 meal from chef Tyler. As the night winded down, we split up into spontaneous dance parties, card games, and soon concluded withe watching Captain Ron on deck. Everyone is still vibrant and filled with high spirits as we progress into the third week of Ocean Classroom. As the positive energy remains present, we soon hope to continue our journey out of Rockland and begin heading south to wherever our next destination may be.

-Joshua ‘22