Biography of a Boat: Robert C. Seamans

The vessel Robert C. Seamans was built by Sea Education Association (SEA)  in 2001 as a state of the art sail training/scientific research vessel.  The 134 foot steel brigantine primarily runs college study abroad programs in the Pacific Ocean.  The 300 ton vessel is equipped with bathymetric equipment, high-tech sampling equipment, and a wet and dry lab.

The vessel, named for a former Chairman and member of SEA’s board, runs programs jointly with her sister ship, the Corwith Cramer.  Students spend 6 weeks onshore and six weeks at sea studying oceanography, nautical science, and maritime studies.  For more information on this program and the vessel, visit the SEA website.

Why Sail?

If you’re reading this post and visiting this blog, you probably don’t need to answer this question.  But it is a worthwhile exercise to stop and ponder: Why should you sail?  It’s expensive, time-consuming, difficult to learn, and is often both boring and terrifying.

While I don’t have a quick defense to these critiques (sailing can certainly be a pricey endeavor) I do know that the rewards for sailing far outweigh the negatives.  Sailing is an empowering activity that teaches leadership, teamwork and problem solving.  It is a sport that works your body and mind, as well as an art that detaches you from the everyday world and forces you to enjoy the beauty of nature.

When you sail, you use an instrument (the sailboat) to harness the power of the wind, allowing you to move from one place to another.  It is an activity that has been practiced for thousands of years and yet the instrument is continually being fine tuned and made more precise through modern science.  Not only is the act itself amazing, but the sailboat is a vessel that allows you to travel to amazing places, and it allows you to do this in as unobtrusive a way as possible without the loud sound and pollution of an engine (although most modern cruising boats do have engines).

As sailors, we can choose to embrace the traditional methods and forgo the diesel, or we can stow the sextant and use cutting edge technologies.  I’ve stood at the helm of a boat and surfed the internet on a mounted screen and I have also controlled a 134 foot long tall ship using nothing to guide me but the stars.  The way you sail and the type of boat you choose is entirely dependent on your own personality and preferences.

If you are an everyday sailor enjoy your next voyage, if you are a temporarily grounded sailor, get back out there, and if you are a new sailor, welcome to the adventure.