All Blog!
Do you like to eat bananas? Four hundred pounds of bananas were loaded onto the TS Kennedy for Sea Term 2020. It probably doesn’t seem too unusual to bring along bananas for the cadets and crew. After all, it is a long voyage - and bananas make great snacks at any time of the day. Not only do they taste delicious, bananas also contain several essential nutrients. They are beneficial to digestion and heart health.
Like the TS Kennedy, ships have always stocked up on bananas before leaving port. Right? Wrong!
For centuries, sailors believed that bringing bananas aboard a ship brought bad luck to the crew - and the vessel. As crazy as this might sound, some mariners are still…
To register for a tour of the TS Kennedy in Tampa, please click on the link below. The tours will be held on Saturday, February 15th from 9:00 AM - noon.
https://www.maritime.edu/forms/tampa-ship-tours-registration
Good morning, Followers -
When your family is getting ready to host a birthday party or a holiday celebration, do you offer to do a few extra chores? When your class is preparing to welcome guests for an Open House or a performance, do you work with your teacher and classmates to get the classroom clean and organized? Something very similar is happening aboard the TS Kennedy this week.
On Saturday evening in Tampa, we will welcome special guests to the TS Kennedy…
During a recent class in the Seatorium, the cadets practiced the knots that they had previously learned during their Vessel Familiarization course, which the majority took onshore last semester. We began by refreshing on knots like the square knot, bowline, French bowline, and clove hitch with the lines given by the instructor and the 1/C training rate.
A monitor in the room displayed the individual steps for each new knot that discussed and practiced. Among the new knots the cadets will be expected to learn before the end of Sea Term for their assessments are the rolling bowline, the trucker’s hitch (alpine loop), fisherman’s bend (anchor bend), and fisherman’s knot (lover’s knot…
Ahoy, Followers –
It’s Tuesday, so it must be time to talk about canals - the Cape Cod Canal, to be exact. As much as I loved transiting the Panama Canal, I long to be back by the canal that the TS Kennedy calls home.
I’ve taught you about the history of the Cape Cod Canal and posted photos of its construction. Last week, I shared a video of a cruise ship traveling though the Cape Cod Canal and passing by Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
The video that I’d like to share with you today was taken from a sailboat that traveled through the Cape Cod Canal in 1927. That was ninety-three years ago!
You may decide to watch the video twice so that you won’t miss any of the details. …
Ahoy, Ye Matey!
Wow! Can it really be our 6th Nautical Idiom Tuesday! Are you using our nautical idioms when you speak and write? Have you heard them spoken in movies and television shows? Let’s review the ten that we’ve learned so far…
1. all hands: everyone
2. anchors aweigh: raise the anchor
3. learn the ropes: learn all of the skills necessary to perform a task
4. pipe down: be quiet
5. ship shape: neat, tidy, and well-organized
6. tight ship: well-managed
7. in the same boat: facing a shared problem
8. batten down the hatches: prepare for a challenging situation
9. rock the boat: do something to cause problems
10.make waves: shock or surprise people with…
Meet 4/C Mitchell A. Maida from Burlington, Massachusetts! He attended Fox Hill Elementary School, Marshall Simonds Middle School, and Burlington High School.
Mitchell's dad served in the Navy as an officer for sixteen years – both active and reserve. Mitchell has always loved hearing stories of his dad’s journeys as an officer. Growing up, Mitchell was often out on the water with his grandfather, who passed along his love of boating.
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No one likes to lose things - especially important articles of clothing. Mariners have longed believed that losing a hat overboard while at sea meant that the trip would be a long one.
Could losing your hat actually change the length of your voyage? Certainly not! But it could make the trip seem longer!
Aboard the TS Kennedy, it’s a “cover” and not a “hat” that cadets are trying to hold onto and keep from falling into the sea. That’s right! In the United States military, the hat that is part of the official uniform is referred to as a “cover”. It is simply a more formal term for “hat”. When you consider that the purpose of a hat is to cover your head, the term makes perfect…
Ahoy, Ye Matey!
Happy Cloudy Monday!
Throughout the week, I’ve been sharing my knowledge of clouds with the cadets that I meet out on deck. Many of the Marine Transportation majors are quite the cloud experts. Instead of me teaching them – they’ve been educating me. Understanding clouds and weather are critical to the safe navigation of a ship.
I can still, however, impress the Marine Engineering majors and the Facilities Engineering that I chat with. I’ve enjoyed introducing them to our seven previous Clouds Of The Week; three high level clouds - Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, and Cirrostratus, two midlevel clouds - Altocumulus and Altostratus, and two low level clouds – Cumulus…
Meet 4/C William Bentley, a Marine Transportation major from Savage, Minnesota, just fifteen miles south-southwest of downtown Minneapolis. William attended Glendale Elementary School, Twin Oaks Middle School, and Prior Lake High School.
William spent a lot of time with his family traveling to beach and oceanfront destinations. His family would swim, sail, snorkel, and scuba dive. He spent his summers on a remote island in Canada that is sixteen miles by boat from the inhabited mainland. His boat was the only way to get around. William’s favorite family vacation was a cruise to Alaska.
Midway through high school, William began considering Massachusetts Maritime Academy…
The kindergarten students at Dighton Elementary School in Dighton, Massachusetts celebrated Curacao Day by wearing blue and yellow. The students also brought in "tropical" stuffed animals.
Together, the class looked at the globe and tracked the voyage of the TS Kennedy.