Fall 2001 SEAmester East Journal

Sent weekly from sea by students on-board SEAmester ...

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SEAmester Log, Part 6

St. Marys/Cumberland Island 10/31-11/7

Our last US port! We sailed into St. Marys after lunch on Halloween. Everyone was really anxious to get ashore and work on their costumes, but not before we got to experience a swarm of noseeums. These little flies seemed to appear out of nowhere and left us looking like we had the chicken pox.

Now, I've heard of Southern Hospitality, but I guess as a jaded New Yorker I did not really believe it could exist. The people of this town completely proved me wrong. One lucky group of students were actually lent a car by a complete stranger to use at their leisure, while I was besieged with offers to drive me back to the Gamage, three miles away while doing laundry.

By dinner everyone was flaunting their costumes- some were pirates, Professor Hamilton was a tourist, complete with Polaroid camera, Jay was a roll-on deodorant, Sarah was a Supreme, just to name a few. After, we all congregated at Segal's Bar, where SEAmester usually takes over, but the much older crowed encouraged us to venture down the street to a bar called Trollys, which became the official hang out. At the stroke of midnight Betty got to celebrate her 21st birthday. Definitely a fun night!

The next day was a real treat, a canoe trip through the Okeefenokee Swamp. Some people got the hang of it fast, my partner Adam and I did not. After getting a very up close view of the banks of the river and the pointy trees and bushes that live there, we finally figured out how to maneuver. Its incredible to see Alligators sunbathing three feet in front of you.

On Friday, the second of November, we headed off for Cumberland Island with the thoughts of hurricane Michelle weighing heavily in our minds. I'm sure the entire eastern seaboard was waiting for the storm to travel "safely out to sea", but when the sea is your home you want the storm to stay on land! We had a mini tour of the island- just a peak at our 30 mi hike the next day. It was cool to see the ruins of old mansions, but I think most of us were more interested in the wild horses.

We were up bright and early the next morning. At breakfast about seventeen people claimed they were going to walk the full 30 mi, although the number ended up, being much smaller than that. Cheryl and I were determined to finish in record time- and we started off well. We were the first ones to arrive at the African Baptist Church, where JFK Jr. got married, on the top of the island. It took us about 4 hours to do 14 mi, and we did not take one short cut. The church was not what I pictured, it was very small and dilapidated, but it was a sight for sore eyes since it was the half-way point. Skye joined us for the next seven hours as we walked, or hobbled in most cases, down the beach to our ship. The island is really beautiful, but so disconnected from the rest of the world- no paved roads or 7-11s down the street, definitely an eye opening experience.

I don't think anyone wanted to get up Sunday morning. Some people were talking about getting a break from our usual routine of cleaning the ship everyday at seven AM since we walked the distance from Southampton to Montauk Point, but there is no such thing as a break on the Harvey Gamage. Not that it is a bad thing, I've overheard many people saying this trip is opening their eyes to a lot of new thoughts and experiences, one of which is cleaning the heads everyday. We motored back to St. Marys to wait out the rest of the hurricane and the Mayor greeted us, asking for help with the upcoming election. Over the next two nights we took turns calling people and encouraging them to vote, hopefully for the incumbent Mayor.

Monday had to be one of the best days yet. The Gilman Foundation, who let us dock for free, allowed us a tour of the White Oak Plantation, an endangered species breeding ground in northern Florida. It was amazing to see rhino and giraffes not in a zoo. Even more amazing was the main lodge we got to tour. Everything, from the spoons to the bar, had a story behind it. After living in sparse conditions for a month it was positively lovely to enjoy the lap of luxury for a few hours.

Another treat was the Lettie G. Howard graced us with their presence again. The next night we had a barbeque with them to help celebrate Leo, our cook's, birthday. It was also election day, and most of the ship gathered in Segal's, awaiting the results. Unfortunately, the Mayor lost. It was really disheartening, especially since so many of us gave time and energy to the campaign. The Mayor was still really cool and offered us free rooms to shower and hang out in for the night. Of course we took him up on it, and our spirits were raised by the first sight of the Simpsons in over four weeks!

As I am typing this we are on our was to San Fernandina, FL, to fuel before we say goodbye to the US and head for the Bahamas! Hope everyone is staying warm.

-Samantha Hulkower
SEAmester student

Previous Fall 2001 SEAmester East entries:
Log 1: Prof. Chris Hamilton
Log 2: Marissa Benigno
Log 3: Andrew Hudak
Log 4: Skye Schmidt
Log 5: Jayme DiStefano and Monica Ellis

Prof. Hamilton's Journal Archive
Spring 2001
Fall 2000