HONOLULU - It was supposed to be a quiet, slightly exotic semester for Lauren Osgood.

What the Sylvania native couldn't have planned was a harrowing ride through a less-than-perfect storm.

Ms. Osgood, a 2002 Northview graduate, said she was taking a semester-long college course on the high seas last week when her ship, the MV Explorer, was swamped by a 55-foot wave in the north Pacific. The bridge was damaged and power was lost for a time.

At one point, Ms. Osgood believes the ship tipped to a 45-degree angle.

"It was very scary. Everyone was frantic," she said during a phone interview yesterday from Hawaii, where the ship was docked for repairs.

Ms. Osgood was among nearly 1,000 people on the 591-foot ship that left Vancouver, B.C., on Jan. 18.

There were nearly 700 college students aboard and 113 faculty and staff.

Within days, as the ship cruised the northern Pacific, it encountered gale force winds.

A junior in pre-law at the University of Wisconsin, Ms. Osgood, 21, said the ship constantly rocked and swayed. When she signed up for the 3 1/2-month cruise, she hadn't anticipated her furniture sliding across the floor of her cabin.

"I have never been on a ship before," Ms. Osgood said. "I didn't think this was what it was supposed to be like."

When the wave struck about 1 a.m., Ms. Osgood was in her cabin. The impact damaged her dresser, broke a glass door, and ravaged the contents of the room. She went to a friend's room for safety.

About four hours later, the passengers were told to put on life jackets. The students were sent to the deck below the bridge, separated into men and women, and waited for about seven hours until the engines regained power.

The giant wave had broken windows on the bridge, showering the crew and equipment and shorting out electronics that controlled the engine and navigation systems.

The crew restored power to two of the four engines on Thursday, but the ship was routed to Hawaii, encountering calm seas as it traveled south.

The ship had been expected to sail to Pusan, South Korea, yesterday, but instead the students will spend four days in Hawaii while the damage is repaired, said Paul Watson, enrollment director for the Institute for Shipboard Education, which administers the program at the University of Pittsburgh.

"We are not anticipating damage so severe that the ship cannot be brought back into line," he said.

Mr. Watson said the students will have the opportunity to absorb the tropical islands' cultural, historical, and environmental aspects.

As she talked on the cell phone from the ship's deck, Ms. Osgood said she could see Hawaii in the distance. She'd already decided what she'd do during the unplanned stop, besides get off and get a hotel room. "I'm going to lay out on the beach and relax. We kind of deserve it after this," she said.

Contact Mark Reiter at

mreiter@theblade.com or

419-213-2134.

First Published February 1, 2005, 8:14 p.m.