BEVERLY — On board the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spencer during a winter North Atlantic patrol, Endicott College professor Scott Frahlich ran out of math material.
On a whim, one of the officers pulled out an 18th-century navigation book by Salem's Nathaniel Bowditch.
"I'm thumbing through this book and everything this guy has done," Frahlich said. "I wound up pulling some geometry stuff out of there. Ideally, I want to take a class and move it to what they do on the ship. If I can tie it in, that's where the benefit comes in."
Frahlich was the first professor in New England to teach aboard a Coast Guard cutter, from Jan. 7 to Feb. 5. But a new partnership between the government agency and Endicott College means he won't be the last.
For the past several years, the college has been sending professors to the Coast Guard base in Boston, where military personnel can take classes leading to a bachelor's degree in business or psychology. But higher education becomes a bit more difficult to access while aboard ship, sometimes for years at a time. So they brought Frahlich, a graduate school professor who has no military experience, out to sea.
"Not everyone can do this," said Tery Lynn, director of professional studies at Endicott. "Nor do we want everyone to do this. We want people who want to experience this unique opportunity."
Frahlich taught four classes — American literature, a college writing seminar, mathematical problem solving and critical thinking. Of some 100 guardsmen aboard the 270-foot cutter, around 30 signed up to take a course.
While most teachers tend to get annoyed when students are late or falling asleep during their lectures, Frahlich came to appreciate it.
"Coast Guard duties come first," he said. "We all had to understand that."
One of the crew
The trick, he said, is being flexible.
He taught in the chef's mess, the ward room, the forward lounge — all places reserved for other functions like dining or resting while at sea.
He mastered typing amid rolling waves, complained about the bad coffee and loss of satellite reception as the ship took a turn during football games, and enjoyed all the time spent outside.
He also witnessed "man overboard" and helicopter drills, and participated in missions, such as boarding fishing boats to make sure they were safety compliant and catching what they were supposed to be catching.
On the way back from one such mission, the smaller boat he was in banged into the Spencer, and Frahlich's helmet went flying.
"I figured it can't be that big a deal," he said. "Then I hear the figure — $800.'"
A half-hour later, a guardsman located the blue helmet floating in the blue water.
"We try to make a huge effort for him to experience everything the crew experiences," said Commander Jeffrey Thomas, the ship's commanding officer. "To me, that was the biggest key to making this work."
It was also something Frahlich embraced.
"I was writing lectures some nights at 2 o'clock in the morning, and other days I was sleeping at 4 o'clock in the afternoon," he said. "I was immersed. I was part of the lifestyle, and I'm sure I learned as much from them as they learned from me."
So much so, that he's going back.
The next patrol leaves in April, for about two months in the waters off South America, and Frahlich will be aboard. Some of the guardsmen he'll know from the winter trip, and he'll try to offer classes that build on what he already taught so they can start applying the credits toward a degree. He'll have introductory courses, as well.
Lynn said other naval bases have contacted Endicott, saying they're interested in the program, so there's potential to expand.
Right now, the focus is developing a revolving curriculum based on core classes.
"We're looking to help younger members get an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree," he said. Establishing a full-fledged higher education program would be a long way off, but not outside the realm of possibility.
"That all has to be worked out," Lynn said. "But it would definitely be in our interest to talk about it."
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salem news.com.
