Lady Maryland: Lady Maryland: Trip #4 (Day Four)

“Everything about the day was good, but my favorite thing was anchor watch because I did all of the bearings and checked everything by myself.” - Scott

Today has been a day full of sunshine and a whole lot of learning as we continue to travel down the coast!

This morning we woke up to a calm sea and beautiful skies as we sailed away from Provincetown towards Sakonnet River in Rhode Island. Last night we each stood watch for an hour to ensure that the dock lines didn’t tighten too much or the fenders get pushed out of place as the tide shifted, as that could result in broken lines or a banged up ship. Despite some drizzle through the night, everything went well, and everyone was happy to wake up once again to clear skies. We’ve been extremely lucky with weather so far!

After breakfast, we split up, the Port team cleaning the galley and main salon while the Starboard team kept watch on deck. This was a very important job, as we spent the morning navigating through the Cape Cod Canal, where there was a lot of traffic and only a narrow waterway compared to what we have been sailing. The cadets did a great job working together and communicating about other ships as we made our way through and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the canal, including some awesome mansions along the water.

Once through the channel into Buzzards Bay, the crew had a surprise for us – trawl fishing! This is a type of fishing that involves dragging a large, weighted net behind the boat for a period of time in order to trap fish and other sea life. After working together to lower the net into the water (and smelling the net for good luck!), we talked about the dangers of trawl fishing and the detrimental effects it has when used as a means of catching large amounts of fish and sea life in commercial fishing. Luckily, the Lady Maryland has a license to use a small trawl in these waters for research purposes as long as we record what we find and throw it all back unharmed. When we raised the net, we had caught multiple crabs, mollusks, and shellfish. The cadets spent some time identifying the different species using field guides before carefully returning them to their natural habitat.

After helping to man the ship for awhile, it was back to learning – this time discussing the pH levels of the water and the changing nature of the oceans due to Co2 pollution. The cadets designed their own experiment to test how varying pH levels affect crab shells, immersing shells in fresh water, salt water, and vinegar, the vinegar representing what could happen to creatures with calcium carbonate based shells should the ocean continue to be polluted. We’ll check back on the experiment in a few days!

Once anchored in Sakonnet River – which the cadets were excited to find out shares some views with Roger Williams, though we couldn’t see the campus – Captain Michael asked if anyone wanted to go for a little swim. Positive responses were unanimous, and so we spent the rest of the evening jumping off the ship into the water (and washing up, finally, with biodegradable dish soap!), eating a great dinner on the deck, learning about constellations in the perfectly clear night sky, telling ghost stories, and finally, watching a fireworks show that just happened to be directly in front of the ship (we responded with blasts of the ship’s horn and lots of clapping!). It couldn’t have been a better night, and we all settled into our sleeping bags on deck under the stars, agreeing that it had been one of the best days we’d had so far. We'll wake up again for anchor watch, and tomorrow morning, we'll head to Block Island for more surprises and adventures!