Spirit Ocean Adventure Update - Day 1

July 05, 2010

This afternoon during our initial introduction to the ship, Captain Jason Quilter set the tone for the first twenty-four hours, describing to the ship’s company that today we are like the wall, with tons of spaghetti being thrown at us. The spaghetti in this instance represents a huge variety of information about the ship and life aboard. We’ve managed to intersperse the information bombardment with some getting-to-know each other activities. As we got off the dock, the students each shared a personal goal for the trip. The goals were varied and attainable, with things like making friends, learning to navigate, learning the terms used aboard, and getting to do some hands-on marine science.

After we anchored, the students teamed up with their watch leaders to discuss how watch and life aboard works. From there, it was time for a delicious dinner prepared by Miss Laura. We played a human Bingo game after dinner, learning which people aboard have been to Bermuda, can say the alphabet backwards, are from Michigan, were born in South Carolina, have seen bioluminescence, and much more.

Right now, we are once again soaking up shipboard information with our deckhands and mates. Once that is completed, we will get a true introduction to shipboard fun with the Mallory Family Fun game. This game is a wonderful combination of taboo, charades, and a few other fun surprises.

Thus far I have been really impressed with all twenty-one of our new crew members. Each one has been participating fully, smiling when reminded to wear more sunscreen, and eager to help out whenever possible. The staff and I are quite excited to spend the next 18 days with them! Thanks for sharing your teenagers with us!

Beth Spencer, Program Manager