In the Atlantic

From somewhere in the Atlantic ship's librarian, Oleg has sent us another update:

The Empire State VI is sailing towards the Canary Islands and the weather has been staying fair.

The library is full of students as they prepare for the Q’s – midterms are also approaching.

Mate Rick Araiza is teaching a shipping business class in the ship’s library - the lecture and discussion appear to be very intense.

 Yesterday a Fire Drill was conducted and shortly thereafter a drill to abandon ship.

 An applaud goes out to the engineering folks as they continue to do a great job maintaining the ship.

 I would  also like to add that the food aboard the ship is very good.

Across the Sea (photos too!)

Our Ship's librarian has sent an update.

The alumni event in Philadelphia went well with a great turnout despite a sudden rain storm that drove most attendees into the officers' Mess.

In the meantime, our cadets, in their usual swarms, had descended upon the City of Brotherly love.  However, at 0800 on Monday morning, the Empire State VI weighed anchor to head across the sea to Teneriffe, Canary Islands.

This year marks the 130th anniversary of the training ship's first voyage to the Canaries.  Back then, it was the venerable St. Mary's, a square-rigged sloop of war.  Today, instead of wind power we are moved by steam, but the feeling of excitement is no doubt as palpable as is was to the boys of the old schoolship.

Below are some photographs given to us by Cadet Damien Shea.  Please enjoy.

Philly Bound

En route from Baltimore to Philly, the ship's librarian, Oleg has sent us another update:

The berthing at Baltimore went well and the ship is sailing to Philly.

In Baltimore, Captain Smith hosted an alumni reception aboard the TSES. First class cadets, union members, and many Maritime dignitaries attended. It was a great opportunity for the cadets to meet and greet alumni. Joe Williams, author of “Four Years Before the Mast,” and one of our Maritime librarians, went out to greet the ship and also participated in the alumni event. Another reception is planned when the ship arrives at Philadelphia.

The training ship will be participating in the Delaware River Maritime Day celebration at Penn's Landing on May 24. Tours will be given of the Empire State VI and the Dredge McFarland and many other exciting events are planned.

For more information please follow the link:

http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/events/national-marina-day-2014

An additional Note:

A Mariner's memorial service is planned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Baltimore Bound

Closer to the Baltimore shores, ship's librarian, Oleg has sent us another update.

He reports that everything is going well as the Empire State VI heads into Baltimore - barring a burst pipe hiccough in sick bay.

The ship should begin an approach to Baltimore at 0230 this morning. To make sure that the Empire State VI is looking her best as she arrives in port, the cadets have been working hard at repainting her.

Not only do we want the training ship to look spectacular, we also want our cadets to look sharp as the deck and engineering cadets had uniform inspections yesterday.

But it's not just hard work for the cadets as they'll be given shore leave in Baltimore. Some cadets are planning to visit Union Hall and Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Mailing address in Philadelphia :

Delaware River Waterfront Corp

Attn. Cadet John Doe, TS Empire State

301 South Columbus Blvd,

Philadelphia, PA 19106

P.S. Cadet shout out:

"To the three most important ladies in my life, my mom and two sisters. I love you!" -- La'Quey Smith

Bermuda or Bust

From the high seas, ship's librarian, Oleg has sent us an update.

Oleg tells us that classes aboard the TS Empire State began on Friday, May 16th.  However, our cadets have managed to divert themselves through various recreational activities.

Outside the library there are two adjoining rooms.  One room is the cadet lounge where the cadets can relax and watch movies in the evenings.  The other room has Fusball tables.

So naturally, the hushed sounds of the ship's library are often interrupted not only by the sound of the anchor chain coming up and down and the serene hum of the ship's engines, but the occasional yelp of a satisfied student who has managed to score and advance him or herself in a round of the SST's unofficial cadet fusball tournament!

Also, for those cadets who eschew the fusball table, they can always find a way to burn off steam at 1600 when they workout to "Insanity" exercise videos in the cadet lounge.  This is an uber-intense exercise series that a subset of the cadets and crew enjoy.  

Oleg also tells us that on Friday, the ship left Montauk and headed south.  The TSES will be heading to Baltimore vis-a-vis Bermuda.  Readers, please do not get excited or purchase a ticket to meet up with the ship in Bermuda.  The plan is that the ship will only circle Bermuda before heading to Baltimore.  

In any event, the ship underway in the Atlantic and Oleg writes that they hit rough seas on Saturday the 17th.  Designated teams of deck cadets were tasked to make sure all loose items were made secure.  Also, it was not uncommon to see some newcomers to SST sporting seasickness patches.  It is well that most of these cadets know the Riesenberg saying:

The sea is selective.  Slow at recognition of effort or aptitude but fast at sinking the unfit.

Riesenberg was from the Class of 1897, who did not  have sea sickness patches.

Other items of interest:

• The ship conducted its first fire drill of SST.  Oleg tells us that they were reminded to use starboard when going forward and up, and use port when going aft and down.
• Father Kenefick conducted a nice non-denominational service on Sunday

The address of the agent for Baltimore is:

Attn: John Connor, Inc.

799 Cromwell Park Drive

Suite A

Glen Burnie, MD 21061

Also, Oleg wants to let readers know that any person sending packages down to Baltimore should be aware that the agent is not accepting packages of any size.  Letters and cards are the only mailings that will be accepted.

Cadet shout outs:

"Baltimore or Bust!!!" from Alyssa Esposito.

"Hi Mom!" -- An anonymous 3rd Class Cadet who, quite intentionally, wishes to send his regards to ALL TSES VI Mothers.   We hope a shout out to all the Dads comes on Father's Day.

Summer Sea Term: Montauk, NY

5/15/2014

We have just received our first update from ship’s librarian, Oleg. 

Oleg tells us that the ship is still off of Montauk and experiencing pleasant weather as the students are feverishly entrenched in the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) instruction.   Also, the first class cadets who are to take their license exams are undergoing medical examinations.  Classes commence tomorrow as all hands are very busy and very excited for a memorable summer sea term.

Library's Summer Hours

The Stephen B. Luce Library's Summer hours are as follows:

Monday-Thursday: 0830 to 1630

Friday: 0830 to 1200

Saturday and Sunday : CLOSED

Anchors Aweigh!

On May 12th at 10:00ish the 2014 Summer Sea Term officially began with the departure of the Empire State VI.  This year, cruise stops will include Baltimore, Philadelphia, the Canary Islands, Ireland, Denmark, and Portugal.

As has been the tradition with these cruises, our ship's librarians will be maintaining a blog concerning the cruise that should be of general interest to all hands.  For our previous cruise blogs, please navigate to the summer months in prior SST years.

This year's ship's librarians are Oleg Kushelev, a veteran from the 2013B cruise, and newcomer Laurel Angrist, who will be switching out with Oleg at Ireland.  We wish them both a pleasant and productive cruise.

Precruise was a busy time for all hands last week, including the librarians, who brought aboard nearly 1,000 books to top off our 5,000 item ship's library.  Much sweating occurred last Thursday as about 80 boxes of books were hauled aboard by cadets and organized.

This morning, the campus, friends, and family gathered at the pier at Fort Schuyler for the leave taking.  With the ship's horns blasting, the training ship slipped its moorings and glided into the confluence of the East River and Long Island Sound.

It was a picture perfect day for the start of the journey.  This SST will mark the school's 141st training cruise.

Below are photographs from loading the library during precruise and today's departure.  Be sure to check this blog for regular updates.