Lady Maryland: Trip #3 (Day Six)

This morning was an early all-hands on deck wake-up: 6:00AM – we had a long way to go to get to Gloucester. The crew and cadets were underway by 7:00AM but that morning the weather was not cooperating as large storm clouds with lightning and thunder were on the horizon on the boat’s course!

It was decided to alter the course to go around the storm which would mean a much longer journey than anticipated. Unfortunately, even with this maneuver, the storm caught up with us but the cadets stood on watch as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. The rain lasted less than an hour and the clouds gave away to warm rays of sunshine.

Lady Maryland was making her way across Stellwagen Bank - a major summer feeding ground for whales in the North Atlantic. The cadets were hoping to spot a whale but none of them anticipated so many and so close to the boat. There were Humpback whales left and right and the excitement on the boat was contagious! The cadets were running from one side of the boat to the other, jumping, screaming, clapping… camera shutters were clicking away like there was no tomorrow! The whales put on a spectacular show as they were feeding.

Because of the storm and the unexpected whale-watching, Lady Maryland was a couple of hours behind schedule but the crew brought her safely to dock in Gloucester harbor while the cadets doze away after such an exciting day.