Day 3 on the Lady Maryland

This post was written by Andrew:

Wow, what a day.
After spending an hour awake at midnight for night watch, we awoke this morning to the New York City skyline on the horizon. Just as we arrived on deck we were passing under the incredibly long Verrazono Bridge. Our wonderful ship cook Thorton had prepared some delicious french toast, but there was little time to enjoy before things got really exciting and we had to attend to the ship. The crew was nice enough however to let us whip out our camera and take pictures of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty as we motored on by. Those who took the helm today had a tough job because of the strong currents and huge amount of boat traffic in the New York Metro area. As we headed North on the East River, we passed all sorts of amazing landmarks like Governor's Island and Roosevelt Island, as well as many huge cargo ships, massive barges and the Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Tri-boro, Throgs Neck, Whitestone, and Queensboro bridges. It was pretty amazing

Later that day, after we had successfully maneuvered the most treacherous waters on the East Coast (Hell's Gate), we docked in Oyster Bay and spent the afternoon playing on the beach. Some of us tried to go swimming, but most of us returned to explore a small stream that flowed into the bay. With stomachs full of ice cream (our first taste of dry land life in almost three days), we found many creatures; including, young American eels, small crabs, shrimp, a horseshoe crab and snails. Seven of us worked together to build a huge dam. However, just as soon as we placed the last barrier into place, the main wall gave way. We all gave up after that and headed back to the Lady Maryland. We were lucky enough to take a cold shower under a fresh water spigot that we found on the dock and then we ate another delicious meal of pasta salad and garlic bread.
It's been a long three days on the Lady Maryland, but we are all having fun and becoming very good friends. I hope I sleep well tonight, because one thing I'm sure of is that tomorrow will be another hard and exciting day.