Whales 1 - Day 6

In the morning, when I woke up, we were just passing under a bridge. Finally we were going to see the whales in the Cape Code Bay (the whale’s country)!!!! When we arrived to Caped Code the wind was really strong so we were able to sail without the engines. I tried to stir the wheel but it was really hard. The compass turned even crazier than before when we turned on the engines. B and A help me out with it. For the science part, we went fishing again and this time we caught several sand dollars and a lobster!! We also learnt about how to classify the animals. And... finally... we saw her on the distance, just a few miles after we passed the Pilgrim Monument. She was huge and beautiful.Even though we didn’t see it’s whole body, we were still very excited. Watching the whale while sailing on the Lady Maryland is now one of the best memories of my life!!

PS: the food was very delicious as normal :)

-Octopus

Whales 1 - Days 3 & 4

On the early morning of June 26th; the crew and I were awaken with the Statue of Liberty welcoming us to New York City. Then, later in the morning we fished up some glorious treasures in the river: a seahorse and pregnant blue crabs. The firsts this season! After a delicious lunch of bacon burgers, it was time for science watch! We tested the water for its pH, salinity level, the amount of nitrate and phosphate and other things I forgot! That night we anchored and did our first night watches. Waking up almost in the open ocean we headed straight onto our course. Once again we fished up another glorious treat, a skate and lots of spider crabs.We also got our first lessons about whales! Later, in the afternoon, we docked at a nearby town and ventured to a small local museum filled with a ton of antiques and info about the town and boats. We finished the 27th with some delightful dissecting of squids. Then, using their ink sacks we wrote wonderful letter with their ink. And we also got another night of sleep on deck.

- YL

Whales 1 - Living on the sea

The young crew woke up very early in the morning. Some of us woke up at 5:25am since the night before we were saying “ wake me up in the morning”, without specifying the time. So, as we all woke up, we noticed that the waves and weather were a bit harsh. For that reason, some of us got seasick, but we are fine now. As the day progressed, we learned new things about estuaries and navigation, among other cool facts about Lady Maryland. The meals have been great filled with food anyone can enjoy. Learning how the ship works and how to manage it was interesting due to the enthusiasm of the crew. It is really comfortable being here and getting to know all kinds of people. At the end of the day, we were all ok, the weather became very calm and we were all happy enjoying the sunset. I only hope to see this program grow and become more popular so that many other kids have this opportunity.

- AZT

Whales 1 - So, it begins!

Our adventure started today! One of the best trips that Talented Youth can have in their lifes is to sail on The Lady Maryland. This beautiful Pungy schooner will be our home for the next 9 days and we have started to get to know it. Get ready to follow our stories! Every night  we will try to have a different member of our young crew share with you all the things they learned by doing it.

“ The day started off with us learning safety, to make sure if someone fell overboard we could retrieve them (this has never happened on The Lady Maryland). We even did a drill to make sure everyone knew their positions. After familiarizing ourselves with our new home, we went fishing using the trawling method and caught Jimmy, Jeff, Rebecca and Thanos. The first three being perch and the last a blue crab. Thanos may or may not have tried to eat Rebecca. All and all, today was definitely interesting, and we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”

GS & NB