A 50-foot wave crashed onto the deck of the MV Explorer Jan. 26, 2005, approximately 650 miles off the coast of Alaska. Windows on the bridge were smashed, and water poured into the vessel’s electrical system, eventually shutting down one and then both engines. The 2005 spring semester of the Semester at Sea (SAS) program had already lived through seven days of rocky seas before the rough wave pounded their ship.

This past spring, senior Christine Dale, a Washington communication major, braved these dangers and spent 112 days sailing around the world through the 2008 spring semester of the SAS program. The voyage stopped in 12 ports during the almost four-month journey, including ports in Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan and Costa Rica.

The SAS program is unaffiliated with the University of Washington, which means that in addition to the program’s application and short essay, students must fill out the Unaffiliated Program form and seek a preapproval of credit. The University of Virginia is the official sponsor of the program, approves the curriculum and hires the academic staff. SAS is run by the non-profit Institution for Shipboard Education, which deals with the logistics of running the program, such as leasing the ship and hiring the non-academic crew.

Dale first heard about SAS through her friends, one of whom was UW senior Joel Oberly. When she heard of their experiences around the world, Dale said to herself, “I have to do this.”

Oberly, an environmental studies major, participated in SAS during fall 2006, just a year and a half after the MV Explorer was damaged. He said videos of the devastating wave were played on the ship, but it did nothing to deter his ambitions of going. Oberly’s older sister participated in the SAS program, along with one of his uncles and some cousins. The option was always open, he said.

His route in the fall was a bit different than Dale’s in the spring. Oberly’s journey started in Mexico and headed west to Hawaii, Japan, China, Vietnam, Burma, India, Egypt, Croatia and Spain.

The longest Dale and Oberly went without seeing land was ten days.

Dale said that the seas were tranquil; it was rare to spot another passing boat or even a bird.

Neither Dale nor Oberly found themselves wrought with seasickness during the voyage, but they said they were lucky. Many students used a medicinal patch placed just behind the ear to help with the illness.

“You get your sea legs,” Dale said.

Students have the opportunity to go ashore and explore each of the ports for three to five days. Dale’s shortest exploration was for less than a day in Hawaii, but she spent six days in both South Africa and India.

At port, SAS offers sponsored field trips for an additional fee on top of the program’s inclusive costs. Dale and Oberly said on-land excursions can get a little pricey. The cost of the program covers the time a student spends on the ship, but once the vessel docks in port, all of the money comes out of pocket.

Oberly partook in four of the prescheduled field trips, but he explored the other 11 ports individually. Oberly said the individual explorations left students less sheltered and more exposed to the people and the culture of the country.

The variety of options available allows for each participant to have a unique experience in the program.

Dale participated in one of the tours in South Africa. She was taken to a township and participated in a class on local dancing and drumming. The township was the one where Amy Biehl, a white American college student killed during the Apartheid, lived. Biehl’s family pardoned their daughter’s killers in 1998, and founded the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust to further discourage racial violence. Dale spent her time in the township learning about Biehl’s work.

Oberly began a long trek at 2 a.m., hiking up Mount Sinai in Egypt. Oberly started the journey in the dark and reached the top by dawn.

Dale took a boat along the Ganges River and witnessed a large ceremony on the shore from the small boat in the middle of the water. When she asked if the ceremony was monthly or weekly, her guide responded that it occurred every night.

“Honestly, it’s hard to describe,” Dale said of her visit to India.

SAS consists of more than seeing the cultures offered in each port. Dale earned 20 credits during her semester, which had an academically rigorous curriculum with assigned essays and final exams.

After finals were done and the ship docked for the last time, Dale recounted memorabilia from her trip, including African drums and memories of being charged by an elephant while on safari. Oberly said his favorite store was a Japanese shop filled with nothing but chopsticks, priced from 50 cents to $100.

“You get the travel bug after that,” said Oberly, who plans to study abroad in the spring. Having only spent a few days in such vastly different cultures, Oberly and Dale both agreed that the experience gives students just a taste of each country and its people. Dale wants to travel back to those countries to try to fully understand the cultures she’s seen.

Oberly still keeps in contact with the four other Washington students from his voyage. He said that in the end, it wasn’t about traveling, but more about the friendships and relationships that were built over the course of the trip.

“The boat became a community … I miss being at sea, even now,” Dale said.

Reach contributing writer Ella Williams at development@dailyuw.com.