Norfolk to Bermuda Ocean Training Cruise, May 26-June 2, 2012

Left to right:  Jeff, Alexei, Rich, David, Dan & Tom

CELESTIAL, our IP 440 departed Vinings Landing on Sunday May 27, 2012 after 1-1/2 preparation days. The crew members are: Captain Tom Tursi (Pennsylvania), First Mate David Gifford (Pennsylvania), and student crew members Daniel Marques (New York), Richard Malerba (Georgia), Jeffrey Donnelly (Vermont) and Alexei Turmilov (Texas). CELESTIAL will make the passage to Bermuda via a non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 650 miles, and will take approximately 6 days, sailing both day and night.  We will discuss the route, weather and actual progress here on our blog as it happens, so please join us! To follow the discussion, see the comments to this blog post. To follow their actual progress on Google Earth, click HERE.

Northbound Ocean Crew Departs; St Thomas USVI - Norfolk, VA

CELESTIAL, our IP 440 departed Crown Bay Marina, St Thomas USVI at 0910 on May 7, 2012 after two days of preparation. The crew members are: Captain Jack Morton (Florida), Mate Jim Bortnem (Minnesota), Mate Steve Runals (Virginia) and student crew members John Keane (Virginia), Jacques Dessailly (New Jersey), and Jim Ozenberger (Michigan). CELESTIAL will make the passage to Norfolk via a non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 1500 miles, and will take 11-13 days, sailing both day and night.

Captain Tursi will be monitoring progress of the cruise and will be in contact with CELESTIAL's crew via a Skymate satellite system. We'll receive reports from the crew approximately every other day and Captain Tursi will supply the crew with detailed weather analysis.  The picture above is of a whale sighting by the crew!

More discussion on this soon, as well as weather updates, communication from the crew, and actual progress (see comments below), so please join us! To follow their actual progress on Google Earth, click here. For more information on The Maryland School, please visit our website.