Semester by the Sea, Fall 2025

The Sea and the Stars at Mystic Seaport by Lawrence Pak   Led by our tour guide Chris, we see a 1:128 scale model of the Mystic River during the mid-1800s. It has more than 250 buildings, ships, and shipyards throughout the 12 x 40 feet wide display case! Chris also mentioned how the Mystic Seaport Museum is a collection of historic buildings that were gathered across New England and brought to Mystic Seaport to recreate what a seaport village would look like in the 1800’s. As we looked through the scale model, we observed the depiction of the deforested areas that were a result of the construction of ships and homes across the Mystic River.   Shown here is the forecastle of the Charles W. Morgan, an American whaling ship built in 1841 and used for whaling until 1921. The forecastle was used as sailors’ quarters, but as we can see from one of our students, it wasn’t very spacious! These quarters held up to 22 sailors at a time with a multitude of living conditions one might no...

Montauk Point Lighthouse and the Fresnel Lens by Caitlin Brislin   The Montauk Point lighthouse, pictured above, was commissioned by George Washington in 1792. This was the first lighthouse in New York state and the fifth lighthouse built in the United States. Montauk Point lighthouse was historically important as it helped guide merchant ships to New York City, the center of commerce in the newly formed U.S.   The photo above shows the Fresnel lens that is located at the top of the Montauk Point lighthouse. This lens is a 3 ½ order Fresnel lens that was originally installed in 1903, replacing the former 1st order lens when its clockwork mechanism broke. In 1987, this lens was taken down by the Coast Guard when they left the Montauk Point lighthouse. The lens pictured above was reinstalled in 2023 as part of a pilot program with the Coast Guard to study the impact of the atmosphere on Fresnel lenses.    The lens pictured above looks a little different from the first ...

Fire Island and the Fire Island Lighthouse by Lawrence Pak At the MAR 355 experience this time, the class took a trip to Fire Island, where it contains the second built lighthouse in Long Island. Sporting alternating four black and white bands, it also remains one of the tallest lighthouses on the island. The class had to walk up several stories up to get to the top of the lighthouse, reminding us of when there was gas powered lights instead of electric powered ones, the lighthouse keepers had to walk up these steps constantly throughout the night to keep the light lit. This lighthouse serves to guide ships at sea to where land was, but was often mistaken for the Montauk lighthouse, causing unintended shipwrecks. Thankfully, each lighthouse has its own light patterns at night, allowing for differentiation between all of them for sailors.   The view of the Fire Island Lighthouse on the trail from the area 5 parking lot. The lighthouse was originally closer to the west inlet, but lit...