Letter to Future Cal Poly Cadets,

So you are wondering if you should go on this adventure; well, I say do it. I do mean that Cal Poly at Sea is an adventure, because everything that you do in ports is something that most of you will have never experienced in your life before. For me it was an adventure because I had never been to a different country, other than Mexico, and we traveled to Australia, fiji, New Caledonia, and Hawaii (twice). Living on the TSGB is an adventure in itself. You get to learn how ship life works, how the ship runs, when you get to stand part of a watch in the engine room and on the bridge with the CMA cadets. Being on the ocean days on end without sight of land is an adventure. For myself, I love being on the open ocean; you get to see all kinds of wildlife, pods of dolphin swimming off the bow of the ship or all around it, whales off the bow and then having to steer around them, and birds of all sorts. Fishing off the fantail consumed most of my free time; well, it's more like hanging out with friends, getting a tan, and once in a while catching a fish brings some real excitement. There is nothing like fresh sashimi.

Some advice that should be useful; get to know some of the CMA cadets and they will let you know what you can and can't get away with while on the ship and in ports. Don't worry about coming back to the ship drunk (if you drink) after a long night of partying in ports. You just have to be able to walk up the gangway without help and keep your mouth shut until you get inside. It's amazing how you sober up at the sight of the gangway. Get as much information as you can about the ports you are going to visit such as car rental info, places to visit, places to eat, beaches, clubs, things to do, info on nightlife activities other than taking over bars and clubs with 100 or so of your new friends. Consider this as a vacation and have as much fun as possible. Oh yeah, there is some school work, but I have been on vacation for about two months now and I have done about a weeks worth of outside class work. Take only 12 units and take all of your classes credit/no credit. Many students found that school work is the last thing that they wanted to do. So you are worried that only one or two of the classes offered are going to count for your degree, well none of the classes I took count toward my degree and I have no regrets. Nothing that summer school can't help with (I'm taking summer school this summer). This is a once in a lifetime experience that I would advise everyone to try.

Some of the negative things about this adventure: first, the little things that bugged people are nothing compared to the positive aspects of the cruise. Quarter's every day except Sundays are nothing really big - they take only about 15 minutes. Drills every Tuesday aren't very exciting, but it's a great time to look for sea life, talk to friends, and get some fresh air if you've been inside all day. CC duty (when you help in the galley) is not that hard, but it does such. You'll have CC one or two days the whole trip. The communication between CMA and Cal Poly sucks. One reason is that half the stuff you hear on the ship is rumors and only about half of the rumors are true. The other half of the information you get is unclear, and usually not what you expected. I just had to keep reminding myself that I am on vacation and to go with the flow. That seemed to work pretty well, plus I'm an easy going guy. It seemed to me that the people who weren't able to go with the flow didn't have as much fun as those who were able to go with the flow. Try not to get upset if something happens that you are not expecting. My main advice is to be easy going and open minded to new people and new experiences. Also, be sure that you go to the meetings and get all of your questions answered before going on the cruise.