Day Five - Fisher's Island to New Bedford

We woke up early this morning, anchored at sea, and all got to help with the reeling in of the anchor. With two of us on either side of the crank, syncronization and heavy lifting was no easy quote. Before we started, Asher said "It's just a crank, you don't need muscle power for this..." Wrong!

As soon as the anchor was up and we were on our way again, it was easy to notice what a big change in weather there had been. Instead of wearing shorts, we all had to pile on multiple layers to keep warm. Many of us began to feel seasick and were trying to keep our eyes on the horizon. The waves were bigger than we'd ever seen them, allowing the boat to rock enough so that the rim skimmed the water.

We continued working in our watches as usual, only we were all hidden under our heaping piles of warm clothing. Huddled in a close circle for body heat, Port watch began our Whale of the Past, Whale of the Future project. We went to the library to search for information and clues to help us. We also learned about the history of whaling and had a chance to do some creative writing about what we had learned. I wrote from the perspective of a whale, while some wrote from a fisherman's view, etc. We learned about the whale dories that whale hunters would use when they went whale harpooning.

After docking in New Bedford we got a chance to see what it was like to row a whale dory. Similar to canoeing, we each had an oar and we had to stay synchronized and work together. It was cool to think about how in this small boat they would have had to not only row extremely fast, but also harpoon, tow, and carry this massive creature. The oars took a while to get used to, and Machie had to do some Matrix moves to prevent decapitation. We had to stay in sync with the people at the front, Andrew & Asher.

After our whale dory expedition, we walked back to the Lady Maryland. A kind fisherman nearby had caught a huge fish, and he gave it to us! We took lots of pictures with it, and then cut it upto keep fresh for tomorrow. Having been caught less than five minutes before, it was the freshest sushi anyone had ever eaten. We all tried a piece right there, during the dissection of it. The bravest was Machie, eagerly eating over eight raw pieces of bloody fish, followed by the fish's eyeball! We all thought it was gross, but Machie insisted that it was delicious. We had so much fun dissecting the fish, like children in a toy store, except instead of toys, we had fresh fish organs. We stretched out the stomach, found the heart, and everything else.

When the bloody mess was cleaned, some of us got to learn to fish with a pole while other sat around Jimmy's guitar. Dock watch under a clear, starry sky was the ending to an amazing day!

-Lexi

Day Four - Oyster Bay to Fisher's Island

Ask anyone aboard, I'm sure they'd all agree that life on the Lady Maryland is no walk in the park. As if going to bed at 10pm and waking up at 6am, not to mention getting up in the middle of the night for an hour for watches wasn't bad enough, the whole day is filled with various struggles. But although it's hard, these past few days have been some of the most fun of our lives!

After getting up and eating, we cast off the dock we stayed at from the previous night, and went to a field dock to stock up on fuel and water. Getting back to sea in the Long Island Sound we set up a otter trawl net and put it into the water. Waiting a few minutes, we brought it back up for examination. We caught many different species, like horseshoe and spider crabs, shrimp, baby flounder, hermit crabs, and snails.

Later on in the day while traveling down the sound we had to make a precautionary stop close to land because of an oncoming storm. When the storm came it disintegrated when it it the water.

Later in our class portion of the day we used a plankton tow to catch the plankton on the surface of the water. We mainly saw copepods, but were lucky enough to see other different species too. Then after first-hand experience with the food that baleen whales eat, we learned all their special migration and eating traditions. We how Wright Whales skim the surface for their food, and how the Grey Whale gulps water and uses baleen to siphon all the unwanted products out of its mouth. Finally we learned how the Orca Whale feeds by catching its prey.

After watches and classes we dropped anchor in Fisher's Island. Now anchored on the eastern part of the Long Island Sound, we rotated hourly with a pair of students and a crew member to check on the ship in order to make sure the anchor does not move and that nothing is going wrong with the boat.

Quote of the day:

"Mambo!"

-Janalee & Andrew

Day Three - New York City to Oyster Bay

Today was very eventful! This morning we all woke up early as we sailed through the East River. As the fog lifted, we could make out the Statue of Liberty. Lexi had called her parents in New York City yesterday telling them of our arrival. From the Lady Maryland Lexi waved to her parents and they waved back. Throughout breakfast we saw all of New York's gigantic buildings.

We sailed on along New York's suburbs for a while and out into the Long Island Sound. During class we conducted water tests and came up with a lot of cool data. Shortly after lunch we pulled up dock in Oyster Bay on Long Island. Everyone was very eager to explore this town. First we walked to get some ice cream. Cristina ordered a large and was shocked to learn that it consisted of 4 huge scoops! Also in the shop was a man celebrating his 90th birthday. Joey celebrated with him. While standing still we noticed that all of us had "dock rock." While we thought we were all standing still, each one of us was rocking back and forth as if we were still on the Lady Maryland!

After we finished our ice cream we headed over to the beach to cool off in the water. The swim was refreshing, but in the process we lost two flip-flops and a pair of goggles in the mud at the bottom of the water. We headed back to the boat as the skies became dark and it started to thunder.

We began a project of sewing "ditty bags" with Beth. These bags are used to hold sailorly crafty items. We watched a Jean-Michel Cousteau documentary on Gray Whales in the late afternoon. To celebrate Joey's birtday Kristen made cheesecake, and we all agreed that it was amazing.

During muster we reviewed the day. In the background we heard music and crowds from a nearby carnival. As we began to get ready for bed, a huge display of fireworks beckoned us back onto the deck. As we watched the colorful display, we reflected on another full day.

-Sylvie

[photo upload pending (:]

Day Two - New Jersey Coast

Today our day started out with getting up early in the morning and doing night watches with members of the crew. As the morning went on, we saw pods of dolphins to the left and right of us.

During the morning watch, Starboard did the first deck wash of the trip. "Deck washing was fun!" said Joey. As the Starboard watch was on watch, the Port watch was learning about estuaries, and at midday the watches switched. The watches switched once again for 2 hour watches when each watch designed their watch flag. During the lesson we made our own estuary.

We are still up the coast of New Jersey and will be in New York in the morning. We finished the day with guitar playing by Jimmy and Emma, and playing card games.

Quotes of the day:

"We made purple... oops!"

"I wanna play Jimmy's guitar..."

"We're pirates... because we're pirates!"

"SALSAA!"

-Cristina

Day One - Baltimore to Delaware Bay - Group Photo

Day One - Baltimore to Delaware Bay

Breezy-breezy, summer easy, this is what our summer is like. Though we spend our time cleaning, pulling rope, and charting our course, we never see it as work. The summer breeze coming off the bow is an experience new to us all. The cool Atlantic air is relief to us all from the heat of the galley.

Oh, the knowledge learned, so much indeed; aft, benthic, and foxtail are just a few of the things that were thrown at us. All we learned in the past few days has been vital to this new way of summer life.

-Aaron

Day One - Baltimore to Delaware Bay

Today on the Lady Maryland was very fun and educational. I found out that the water in our toilet is brown, but it is not unpumped human waste. We also learned how to navigate the ship and read the chart.

-Machie

Getting ready

Wow, everyone will be here so soon! The crew has been working so hard to get the boat and the program ready for a fantastic summer. Everyone is very excited and a little nervous, but we know we'll have a great summer.