After a week of unexpected obstacles and quick pivots, Proctor Academy's Ocean Classroom program began their journey south with a high winds passage through the Cape Cod Canal as they sailed toward New Bedford, MA. Morale is high on board Harvey Gamage as students begin to fully appreciate and understand what it means to live and learn at sea. Read more from the past week on Ocean Classroom below.
Proctor Academy's Ocean Classroom program enters their fourth week at sea aboard the schooner Harvey Gamage. As students engage in classes, begin to get headrig clearance, and learn the ins and outs of life at sea, the crew prepares to head out of the waters of coastal Maine and begin their journey south where warmer weather and new adventures await! Read more from the past week aboard Harvey Gamage below!
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.
Each week, or as often as we are able, we will share a Ship’s Log from Harvey Gamage capturing the essence of Proctor’s Ocean Classroom program. Each student will take a day to share a brief journal entry highlighting the excitement of living and learning at sea. Check out the first week of journal entries below as Ocean Classroom 2021 begins their voyage.
Shrouded in clouds and misty skies, the rigging of the Harvey Gamage framed the backdrop of Boston’s skyline to the west of Moakley Dock. Flapping aloft was a well worn Proctor flag, the same flag that flew above Gamage decades ago when it first hosted Proctor students. Each of the 28 send-offs for Ocean Classroom has been different, each special in its own way. While final hugs between the twenty-one students and their families could not happen due to COVID-19 protocols, the excitement and anticipation of the voyage ahead was evident.
Proctor Academy is delighted to announce a shift in fall 2021 Ocean Classroom programming aboard the Harvey Gamage of Sailing Ships Maine. For the past 28 years, Proctor’s term-long Ocean Classroom program has exposed high school students to the joys and challenges of life at sea, with the World Ocean School and its schooner Roseway serving as a key partner in providing the Ocean Classroom experience for the past seven years. Due to an unexpected turn of events, Roseway is unable to host Proctor’s Ocean Classroom experience this fall. Proctor made a rapid shift to partner with Sailing Ships Maine and the Harvey Gamage for the fall trimester program.
Before stepping onto the Roseway, I gulped down a non-drowsy dramamine, taking a swig from my water bottle so it wouldn’t get stuck in my craw; all of this “off stage” action was completed outside of the last public restrooms at the dock before boarding our vessel for the day. The Roseway is the schooner that our Ocean Classroom students use as their home away from home each fall trimester. On the last Saturday in July, a group of Proctor people and their families were getting an “amuse bouche” - a little taste - of what it was like to voyage on the same open seas that Proctor Ocean classroom students get to behold.
After three decades of successful fall semester at sea programs, Proctor Academy has expanded its Ocean Classroom programs with a new eight week winter program at sea voyaging aboard the iconic Maine Schooner Harvey Gamage. Proctor’s fall semester program has run for the past 27 years in a row, most recently aboard Roseway, and has set an educational standard that has increased student demand beyond the capacity of one sailing ship. Now, Proctor will be working with two ships, Roseway and Gamage, thus enabling additional students to access the thrill and adventure of going to sea.
