CTY Whales Trip 2 | Session 2 | Day 8

Thoughts of the Day

Three deja vu's in two weeks, I'm freaking out! -Arthur

Field day... -Carolina

:) -Adrian

Last day! -Jay

Gonna miss the boat, but happy to go home. -Riley

Go Starboard Watch, we tied! -Isabel

Chasmere, by Zeppelin -Grace

I'm coming home mom. P.S. I broke two heads! -Maaz

Why? -Alan

More knots! -Rohan

Today was our last full day onboard the Lady Maryland. We're a bit sad to say goodbye but excited for showers (and cell phones)! Today was our field day, including the main event, thoroughly cleaning the entire ship. We did such a good job that the floors and the head sparkle. We competed as watches for glory but, again, found we are evenly matched. Turns out we all know where to find our lines and how to tie knots super well! Goodnight and we thank Lady Maryland and her wonderful crew for an amazing time at sea.

Also, post is late because the network wasn't working last night! -RA Alex

Tonight's rainbow sunset.

Packing!

Packing!

Repeat: Maaz and Jay from the whale watching!

CTY Whales Trip 2 | Session 2 | Day 7

Thoughts of the Day

Let me think about it... -Arthur

Sunsets -Jay

If you're reading this, it's too late. -Maaz

Sweet child o' mine. -Grace

The water is SO COLD! -Alan

I ripped a contact lens! -Adrian

Two more days left! -Riley

I took a shower today! :) -Isabel

Seine netting and swimming. -Rohan

Showered in the ocean! -Carolina

Bonus post! We had an awesome afternoon and evening and just couldn't wait to share with everyone. Before dinner, we went swimming off the side of the boat and got to shampoo and wash ourselves off. Right now, we're working on our projects for Sarah.

Time to jump into!

Arthur, Maaz, Helen and Tony (hiding) while everyone swims.

Sharing the shampoo while keeping afloat.

Fluke slap of the rare Rohan whale.

Sunset for the night! In the distance you can see the Hope Bridge.

CTY Whales Trip 2 | Session 2 | Days 6-7

We had a great time in Woods Hole! Our first view was of the docks at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). We toured the facilities and got a good look at the work on boats, submersibles, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) at the docks. In town, Port and Starboard watch competed for glory in a scavenger hunt. Turns out we're all evenly matched. After our delicious dinner, the Captain bought us all ice cream and then we got to use our cell phones! It may have been one of the most exciting nights yet.

This morning, Sarah took us to the beach to use a Seine net. We caught a bunch of fish, including a pipefish and a few small puffers! When we returned to Lady Maryland, it was time to head off towards Bristol again. On the way, we had a Man Overboard drill (we saved the life ring) and set the sails! It was tough work but we'll have the muscles to show for it when we get back.

Coiling the lines and checking the sails after raising them.

One of the pufferfish from our Seine net puffed up.

Searching the Seine net for any animals that we caught.

Riley and Isabel on the Seine net.

Grace and Maaz with the Seine net.

Adrian and Rohan with the Seine net.

Our catch of the day!

CTY Whales Trip 2 | Session 2 | Day 5

Phrases of the day

Mom, stop worrying. I made a monkey fist! -Maaz

Stairway to Heaven -Grace

KNOTS! KNOTS! KNOTS! -Rohan

Mom, I'm coming home with a monkey's fist! -Riley

My hat is sleeping with the fishes. -Arthur

It's classified. -Adrian

It's not scientific! -Alan

FOOD. -Jay

STAR-BOARD!!! -Isabel

JIRAC. -Carolina

Today we were out at sea on our way to Woods Hole. Port and Starboard watches took over and we set the sails and caught a breeze. We even pumped out the bilges on our way! In class we learned about sea squirts (tunicates) we found on the docks and saw both of their siphons. We talked about estuaries and watched how fresh and saltwater mix. Tonight, we are learning from Helen how to tie different knots and doing anchor watches as we wait offshore for another day.

Sarah teaching (clockwise) Alan, Isabel, Carolina, Rohan, and Jay on board.

Riley and Maaz pumping out the bilge.

Adrian keeping the Lady Maryland on course.

A busy day tying off sails at sea.

Riley, Jay, and Rohan helping Tony and Helen set out the chain to anchor for the night.

Knot making with Helen!

CTY Whales Trip 2 | Session 2 | Days 3-4

We made it to New Bedford! It took a while and a bit of rain, but we had a blast. Last night, we had Anchor watches to make sure we didn't drift off. Yesterday night and this morning we trawled the Massachusetts waters for creatures! We conquered our fears of the spider crabs and loved chilling with the sea stars. We also went to the Whaling Museum and learned about the history of the industry and revel in the size of a blue whale (the largest whales out in the deep blue)!

Carmen and Lydia showing Adrian, Arthur, and Riley how to navigate.

Grace steering the Lady Maryland.

Everyone in the mouth of a toothed whale at the museum.

Port watch (and Tony in the back) showing off our sea star friends!

Class down below to avoid the rain!

The skate we caught in our trawl net.

CTY Whales Trip 2 | Session 2 | Day 1-2

Our first two days on Lady Maryland have been busy and filled with wonder and excitement. We learned how to raise and lower sails, check the status of the schooner, steer, be a lookout, and how to clean the toilets. If the captain teaches us too much more, he might not need to do any work!

Today, we had "shore time" in Provincetown and took a break on the beach playing frisbee. Our new friends, the hermit crabs, were everywhere! There were also green crabs in the water. We learned that green crabs are invasive, they don't naturally live in these waters. They compete with other crabs for food and make it harder for the native crabs to survive. Green crabs have such a negative impact that it is legal to kill them. However, we decided to spare them since they loved Isabel's feet so much.

Whale watching was our favorite thing so far. Today was a special treat. We went to where many whales were feeding. The educator on our tour said there were between 43-53 individual whales that he could identify by their flukes! There were Humpback, Minke, and Fin whales, oh my! Our trip was not only unique because of the large number of whales we saw, but because we also got to see them blow bubble nets. This is when the whales blow a large ring of bubbles underwater to trap and confuse their prey!

We can't wait for another day on the water and wish Grace's mom a very happy birthday!

Emily holds up a large green crab for Jay, Riley, Grace, Maaz, and Arthur.

Maaz and Jay reenact a scene from Titanic while looking for whales.

Some of the humpback whales we saw feeding today!

CTY Whales Trip 1| session 2 | Day 8-9 : The unforgettable trip

Last two days of this trip... what a awesome voyage has been. We have learned a lot and it has been a grateful experience. The teamwork that was build in to each of us showed each other the key to success. We learned a lot. We got to see whales again , we got to fish and we got to share and learned not only about the sea but of each other and the life of a sailor of the Lady Maryland. Finally we got to Salem... This will be the unforgettable trip of each other.This ten words describe the feeling of each one of us on this trip.

Unforgettable 

Unique 

Discipline 

Cool 

Incredible 

Amazing 

Impressive 

Unbelievable 

Daring 

Mighty 

Preparing to haul the fishing net 

The fishing net 

Raising the jib sail 

Preparing boat checks

Learning about the species that we caught 

Look out for boats and other harmful things.

Sand dollars 

Starfish 

We caught a flounder 

We got the opportunity to whale watch in the lady Maryland 

Final day swimming right beside the boat 

Thanks to the whole crew you made this experience valuable and grateful 

CTY Whales Trip 1 | session 2 | Day 7: Sails to great seas

And off we go to Salem ! It's so amazing the feel of sailing. To know that you're not causing any type of polution in the sea , no type of gas emissions and the fun of using the sails to guide your way through the sea. Feels awesome! Our morning was jam packed of action. We woke up , had breakfast, washed  the dishes and started our sailor routine. We raise the heavy anchor , pulled as a team the heavy sails up and started to learn navigation techniques. We even got the chance to steer the boat !! While a group was working with the sailing part , the other part was learning of and hunting plankton . The educators showed us the importance of plankton in the food chain and that those little crablike planktons were called "Porcelain Crabs". The crew helped us learn how to grab your excess rope and turn it in to a "Coil". This helps organize the rope and prevent it from tangling. Our day become night and we prepared to eat and drop off the anchor. We anchored on the end of the Cape Cod Canal. It's so sad that we are so close to our destination. Tomorrow we hope the sea,sun and wind is on our favor. 

 Porcelain Crabs 

One of the crew members teaching us how to do a Coil

Learning how to do a valentine coil .

The girls doing a excellent job coiling 

Rolling the fire hose after cleaning all the mud in the anchor 

David working as the captain, leading us to Salem .