News from warmer waters
Josiah Purin at work loading the Harvey Gamage. Courtesy of Sarah Gudroe
Ocean Classroom students seated at the rim of "The Quill," a dormant volcano on St. Eustatius. Purin is seated in the front bottom right in a neon yellow tank top; Sherman Brewer is on the left seated on a rock. Courtesy of Sarah Gudroe
Josiah Purin at work loading the Harvey Gamage. Courtesy of Sarah Gudroe
Ocean Classroom students seated at the rim of "The Quill," a dormant volcano on St. Eustatius. Purin is seated in the front bottom right in a neon yellow tank top; Sherman Brewer is on the left seated on a rock. Courtesy of Sarah Gudroe
While February maintains its wintry hold on the region, Boothbay Region High School senior Josiah Purin has escaped to warmer climes.
Purin is on board the Harvey Gamage for a semester at sea with Ocean Classroom. His mother, Sarah Gudroe, shared some photos and an update on Purin’s travels so far. Warning: content is likely to make any sun and heat deprived northerner more than a tad jealous.
Purin began his journey at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on January 25. There he met his fellow classmates and the Gamage’s crew and learned basic skills for life at sea. The Harvey Gamage set sail the next day for Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands. Formal classes began but students also found time to explore Buck Island National Monument, snorkel the Elkhorn coral reef and hike the island.
Then the journey began in earnest with a 90-mile sail to St. Eustatius. The trip to “Statia” could take as little as 10 hours under the right conditions. But with winds blowing steadily in the wrong direction, it took the Gamage and her new students five days to complete the trip.
Captain Christopher Flansburg explained the reason for the intentional slow beginning in the ship’s blog. “What is the point? Everyone learns something from this: to slow down; be patient; appreciate the beauty around them; to do all they can when things aren’t going their way; and to count on others to do their best in turn. That working and waiting for something is OK, even better most of the time,” Flansburg wrote.
Gudroe said in that long first sail, the students quickly evolved from strangers into a crew.
According to the ship’s online blog, ship and crew are currently in port in Dominica. Gudroe said she has not heard from her son since he arrived in St.Thomas and is hoping for a phone call while the Gamage is in port.
Gudroe said she and Purin are extremely thankful for all the support.
“I was hoping to put a special ‘Thank You’ in the paper to the Shane Ferrante Memorial Fund, the Ulmer Fund and to all the folks that made contributions big and small toward Josiah’s Semester at Sea tuition,” Gudroe said. “He still has just under $6,000 to pay and we will continue to fundraise until his return or until it is paid in full.
“This experience would not have been possible without these scholarships and the support of this very special community.”
Anyone interested in following the ship’s passage can do so by checking out the Harvey Gamage’s online blog.
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