Students undaunted by stormy seas

February 8, 2005

If all goes according to original plan, Meghan Ambra will celebrate her twenty-first birthday off the coast of Madagascar.

That's barring any other changes in the itinerary of the MV Explorer carrying nearly 700 college students – McDaniel students Andrea Bock '06 and Meghan Ambra '07 among them – for a semester at sea.

The ship made an unscheduled stop in Hawaii for repairs after being caught in a storm near Alaska that saw 50-foot waves crashing over the ship and 100-mile-per-hour winds lashing the portals. The ship dodged several storms before being caught in this one. How and where the students' trip continues hinges on the extent of necessary repairs.

But one thing is for sure, wherever the ship goes Meghan Ambra is going along. The same for Andrea, who has enjoyed touring Hawaii with new friends she's met on board.

Meghan plans to celebrate her birthday on board whether the ship is near Madagascar or not. The McDaniel College sophomore doesn't rattle easily, says her father, Steve Ambra from his office at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord .

Since the ship sailed on Jan. 18 from Vancouver , B.C., Meghan's father and mother, Lois, heard from their daughter by e-mail every day. When the seas grew rough just seven days into the 100-day voyage, Meghan kept in touch more frequently.

Late on the night of Jan. 25 – Tuesday – the Ambras received an e-mail from Meghan. "The winds outside are reaching 100 miles per hour," their 20-year-old daughter wrote. "We're really rolling."

Then, nothing. Nothing from Meghan the next day or the next or even the next. Andrea's mother, Claudia Bock M.Ed. '76, didn't hear from her daughter for two days either.

Part of that time saw Meghan and Andrea with the other students, all in life jackets, in a hallway in the ship rolling and sliding from one side to the other. The 60-pound dresser in Meghan's room was ripped from the wall. A seasoned traveler, Meghan was surprised at the storm's power. Andrea sprained her ankle. None of the students sustained serious injury – just a few bumps, bruises, scrapes and sprains, said Claudia Bock, a teacher at The Margaret S. Sterck School, Delaware School for the Deaf, in Newark, Del.

"I guess you don't quite develop a full appreciation for the forces of nature until you are out there in the dark with 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves," Steve Ambra said. Fortunately the folks at the Semester at Sea program kept in touch with parents just as they did with the colleges and universities with students on board.

And then the calls came. Andrea was standing on deck watching the Hawaiian islands come into view as she re-connected with her family. The ship was in calm seas. The phone rang in the Ambra home, and it was Meghan's voice on the other end. She told her parents that she was perfectly fine – and she loved them. The connection failed right about then, but they had heard her voice and knew she really was okay.

The sun came out in New Hampshire and Delaware then too. Still, both Meghan and her father felt that the program's directors put safety first at all times.

All in all, it has been a true adventure. Meghan agrees.

"Well, they do call it a voyage of discovery," she said.

For more information, contact Peggy Fosdick, director of communications, at 410-857-2293.