As part of the Department of Energy, ARPA-E program to conduct MacroAlgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (the MARINER projects), a field program has been established to examine the performance of a sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) farm at an exposed site in Saco Bay, Maine in the U.S. The objective of the field program, operated as a partnership between the United States Naval Academy and the University of New England, is to obtain datasets to characterize mooring tension responses of densely grown sugar-kelp aquaculture lines in waves and currents. A 122 m line was seeded and deployed in late autumn 2018 and left to grow in a fully exposed open ocean site during the harsh Maine winter. By the end of April 2019, the kelp had grown to 1-2 m lengths at densities between 6-12 kg/m. At this time, newly developed load cells were deployed on each mooring leg of the kelp line to measure system tension responses to environmental conditions. Environmental conditions, including tides, waves and currents, were measured with two Acoustic Wave and Current (AWAC) sensors each deployed near the load cells. Ocean engineering data show clear relationships between environmental conditions, morphological characteristics of the kelp, and the tension responses in the mooring lines. Datasets to validate a computational model (called Hydro-FE) are being used to accelerate the engineering, testing, permitting, and operation of new macroalgae systems for exposed environments.